Antiques-History-Objects and This Week's Video
August 22, 2025 Volume 597
Bits and Pieces.
The Height of Restraint:
Pure White Porcelain Moon Jars of the
Joseon Dynasty
kim hyunjung,
associate curator of the fine arts division, Korean National Museum
The Joseon Dynasty was a time when the dignity of the royal court and the lofty character of the scholar, all based on the principles of Confucianism, were fully expressed in art. A literati air and grace is indeed seen as the defining aesthetic characteristic of Joseon white porcelain. This of course applies to the white porcelain works produced in the King Yeongjor.1724–1776 and King Jeongjor. 1776–1800 era of the 17th and 18th centuries. In this period of history, Joseon suffered both the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598 and the Manchu invasions of 1636 1637 but managed to rise above the devastation to achieve political,
social, and economic stability and prosperity.
Culturally, this period was the second golden age of Joseon. Various kinds of white porcelain were produced at the official government kilns: pure white porcelain, and white porcelain with designs painted in underglaze cobalt blue, iron brown, or copper red pigments. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the so-called “moon jar” was produced (Fig. 1). These pure white, large porcelain jars known as moon jars were popular from the latter half of the 17th century to the mid-18th century. They were so-named because of their shape big, full and round like the moon. They are considered the acme of Joseon white porcelain for their restraint and simplicity, which comes from the pure white color and elegantly round form.
Such qualities are unique to the moon jar and cannot be found in the ceramics of China and Japan. WHITE PORCELAIN AS MANIFESTATION OF JOSEON IDEALS AND WORLDVIEW Joseon was a Confucian nation that placed great importance on the concept of li, or “ritual propriety.” In the Confucian cultural tradition, ritual propriety refers to the norms of social order and behavior that form the basis of human ethics as well as the composition and procedure of Confucian rites. According to The Analects of Confucius, the master, citing ritual propriety was the practice of be nevolence, said “to subdue oneself and return to propriety is perfect virtue.” To put ritual propriety into practice, the Confucian scholars of Joseon considered restraint to be the most important factor in overcoming self-interest. Restraint is the ability to control and adjust one’s desires or emotions so that they are never excessive. The scholars also considered inner purity to be important and hence strove to live modest lives in harmony with nature. Modesty in this sense refers to a simple human nature without greed.
The virtues of restraint, purity, modesty and living in harmony with nature were reflected in Joseon white porcelain. White porcelain is a technically more sophisticated form of ceramics than Goryeo celadon. First, the vessel is made with pure white refined clay containing no iron, then fired in a kiln over 1250° Celsius, which is higher than the temperature for celadon. To take the temperature of the kiln to such a high level, a lot of firewood is needed. White porcelain was chosen as the royal ceramic for the court in the early years of the Joseon Dynasty. The state-run kilns (gwanyo) were located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, where there was plenty of white clay and firewood, and hence was well suited to the production of white porcelain.
Since the source of firewood eventually ran out, however, the official kilns were moved once every ten years or so within the Gwangju area. In 1752, the 28th year of the reign of King Yeongjo, a permanent kiln was established in Bunwonri, Gwangju, to ensure stable white porcelain production. The setback in white porcelain production suffered after the Japanese and Manchu invasions was a serious matter for a Confucian nation such as Joseon which placed great importance on national rites. Pure white porcelain took on a grayish tone, and when the import of cobalt pigment was blocked iron pigment was used instead. When stability was regained in the King Sukjong era, r. 1674 - 1720 the gray-toned porcelain became white again. In the first half of the 18th century, some high quality, pure white moon jars were made at the kiln in Geumsa-ri, Gwangju.
With the production of vessels satisfying the tastes of the scholars as well as the royal family, the art of white porcelain reached new heights. Blue-and-white porcelains were decorated with motifs symbolizing the virtues and dignity of the scholars such as the four gracious plants—orchids, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, and bamboo (Fig. 2)—as well as Koreanized versions of popular Chinese painting, Autumn Moon Over Lake Dongting洞庭秋月 (Fig. 3) and Zhang Han Leaving for the East River.張翰歸江東
GENEROUS FORM AND SIMPLE LINES
The profundity of the moon jar is borne out by the generous form and simple lines. As the height of the jar and the diameter at its widest point are roughly equal, the body has the roundness of the full moon. Most moon jars are more than 40 cm high. The short neck, slanted outwards, began to change in the mid-18th century to an upright neck (Fig. 6). As it was very difficult to shape a large vessel on the wheel, from its foot to the body, shoulders and mouth, all in one go, the top and bottom parts were made separately and later joined together.
The technique of joining two parts together was introduced from China in the early Ming Dynasty.1368–1644 It was a very practical way of making large jars. But in the Chinese examples, the line where the two parts join is smoothed down and hard to see. In the Joseon moon jars, however, the join often came apart or twisted in the firing process making it difficult to produce a perfectly round shape. Not all round shapes are the same. A moon jar that is not quite Fig. 6 Large White Porcelain Jar (moon jar) Joseon, 18th century H. 46.0 cm, D. 20.3 cm (mouth), 15.0 cm (bottom) ssu 3658 Fig. 7 Large White Porcelain Jar (moon jar) Joseon, 17–18th century H 43.8 cm, D. 21.4 cm (mouth), 44.0 cm (body), 16.6 cm (bottom) National Treasure No. 310 National Palace Museum of Korea The photographer Koo Bohnchang said he sought to express in photography the vagueness of white porcelain (Fig. 9). He took the pictures at the moment he felt the moon jar was showing its true colors. That moment, he said, was when the moon jar appeared to be most indistinct. Through his work, Koo forged out of the moon jar a new quality and spirit.
The moon shines down on all people. The moon is one and the same, but everyone looks at their own different moons. In the same way, the enigmatic moon jar makes everyone who sees it discover a different kind of beauty in it. The deep white forged out of restraint and simplicity—the moon jar represents the height of the special kind of beauty prized in the Joseon Dynasty. At the same time, the moon jar is a door to a new world of inspiration and creativity join
ing past, present and future. perfectly round has the symmetry of asymmetry and looks different from differing angles (Fig. 7). Such imperfection imbues the calm and quiet jar with a subtle sense of movement and change.
The moon jar has a natural roundness and fullness as if it is the real moon. The irregular form of the moon jar, expressed in simple lines, is certainly a shape found only in Joseon wares. It is the height of formative beauty. LIKE THE MOON THAT SHINES ON ALL The moon jar of such wondrous shape has inspired many artists and writers, giving them the urge to create. The early modern Korean artist Kim Whanki painted many pictures featuring the moon jar motif (Fig. 8). In a collection of paintings titled Baekjasong (Ode to White Porcelain), Kim Whanki said that all the lines in his paintings echo the lines of white porcelain. In other words, he said that whether the paintings be of a woman, a mountain, the moon, or a bird, they were all inspired by ceramics. The artist had discovered
his lines in the lines of the moon jar.
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