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Although the Song dynasty suffered from foreign invasions and disturbances throughout its reign of over three hundred years, still it enjoyed considerably growth in its economy. Cultural development was accompanied by the raising of the living standard of the people. Ceramics of the time were produced in many famous kilns for the local market as well as for export to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe through the ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou in China. Potters of the Song dynasty obtained distinguished improvements in the clay, glaze and techniques of ceramic production, forming a unique dynastic style.
This exhibition features more than two hundred masterpieces of Song ceramics, drawn from the cream of Dr. Simon Kwan's collection. For comparison purpose, the exhibition also includes wares be longing to the Yuan, Liao and An dynasties. The exhibits fully reflect the achievement of the potters of the time and will be of great value for academic research.
May I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Simon Kwan for his generous loan of exhibits, as well as his effort and support. Not only has he provided an opportunity for the public to view and share his precious collection, he has also kindly written the caption entries. Dr. Kwan is an earnest scholar as well as a learned collector. I would also wish to thank Mr. Liu Xin-yuan for contributing the special essay in the catalogue.

The Song Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese ceramics. Its kiln industry had thrived to an intensity that found no equals in the entire history of China. Ceramic wares of the Song dynasty were not a mere continuation of the Yueyao celadons and the Xingyao white wares of the Five Dynasties; they saw an advancement of decorative techniques from carving to moulding, applique, underglaze blue and polychrome, which were to have a tremendous impact on the ceramic industry of the later periods. Song potters were also proficient in the mastery of different firing skills including to fire the wares up-right, inverted, or with supporting spurs and pads, which the potters of the later dynasties inherited with little innovations. It was a pity that during the Ming and Qing periods the focus of appreciation fell more on superficial decorations than ceramic forms. Perhaps the stone wares of Yixing and sculptures of Shiwan are the only exceptions. The splendid achievement of the Song ceramics is, thus, a topic worth of reference and investigation. We hope that this catalogue can be both informative and inspiring to the readers.
Basically, Song ceramics can be divided into two main categories: official wares and populace wares. Official wares, represented by the renowned kilns of Ru, Guan, Ge, Ding and Jun, and characterized by a plain and unadorned surface to reflect the Song pursuit for literary elegance, were made exclusively for the social elites. Contrarily, populace wares, produced by innumerable private kilns throughout China, carried a rich variety of vivid and bold decorations to reveal the aesthetic appeal of the common people. The exuberant beauty of these populace wares has won numerous commendations from ceramic connoisseurs of our century. However, they were never given any high esteem during the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods and thus had little chance of being included in the collections of "elegant objects of the elites", although they might had once been amongst the tribute items to the Court. This explains the absence of the Yaozhou, Cizhou, Raozhou and Jizhou wares in the imperial collection of the Qing dynasty. This catalogue might serve as a supplementary reference.
Archaeological discoveries of the past four decades had given us a preliminary idea of the major Song kilns, apart from providing ceramic students and collectors with invaluable references, elevating the level of connoisseurship and increasing the accuracy of dating. This catalogue contains over 200 pieces of Song ceramics with representative items from all major kilns operated under the reigns of Song, Liao, An and Xixia. A number of Five Dynasties and Yuan examples have also been included for reference purpose. This group of items has been thoughtfully assembled to give the readers a better picture of Song ceramics.
May I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Liu Xinyuan of the Ceramic Research Institute of Jingdezhen for contributing an authoritative essay to this catalogue. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to Mr. Gerard Tsang, Mr. K. C. Ho and the staff of the Hong Kong Museum of Art for their efforts in the compilation of the catalogue.