 Tangsancai
refers to the tri-coloured glazed pottery of the Tang
Dynasty (618-907 A. D.), a painted earthenware which appeared
in the wake of celadon. It is called "tri-coloured
" because yellow, green and white were normally used,
although some pieces are also in two or four colours.
Developed on the basis of the green and brown glazed-
pottery of the Han Dynasty, it represented a peak in the
development of Chinese ceramics and was already well-known
in the world in its time.
 Unearthed
tri-coloured Tangs are usually horses, camels, female
figurines, dragon-head mugs, figurines of musicians
and acrobats, and pillows. Of these, the three-coloured
camels have won the greatest admiration. They are presented
as bearing loads of silk or carrying musicians on their
backs, their heads raised as if neighing; the red-bearded,
blue-eyed drivers, clad in tunics of tight sleeves and
hats with upturned brims, reproduce true-to-life images
of men from Central Asia of that time as they trudged
along the Silk Road to the tinkle of camel bells.
 The
tri-coloured glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty was
developed some 1,300 years ago by drawing on the skills
of Chinese painting and sculpture and employing on the
bodies the techniques of clay-strip forming and incising.
The lines thus produced were rugged and powerful. Then
glazes of different colours were painted on and, while
chemical reactions took place in the process of firing
in the kiln, they dripped naturally so that the colours
mingled with each other and formed smooth tones.
 The
tri-coloured Tang flourished during a rather short period
of time (the 8th century) of the dynasty, when pottery
pieces of this category were used by the aristocrats
as funerary objects. So the finds today are limited
in number and are considered to be rare treasures, valued
for their brilliant colour and life-like shapes.
Imitations now produced in Luoyang, Xi'an and other
cities of China are well received as tourist souvenirs
because of their close resemblance to the authentic
works.
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