Rare Treasure: Ru Porcelain 稀世珍宝：汝瓷

汝瓷是中国五大名瓷（汝、官、钧、哥、定）之一，因产自河南汝州而得名。在中国陶瓷史上有“汝窑为魁”的美誉。
Ru porcelain is one of top five porcelains in China (Ru, Guan, Jun, Ge and Ding porcelains) which gets its name as it is made in Ruzhou, Henan Province. Ru porcelain enjoys a good reputation of “paramount Ru kiln” in China’s porcelain history.

北宋后期，汝窑被皇室垄断，专为宫廷烧造瓷器，即“汝官瓷”，简称“汝瓷”。宋徽宗继位后废汝用钧，大观元年，宋徽宗又废钧用汝，但已经达不到文庙时期的水平。
In the late northern Song Dynasty, ru kiln was monopolized by the monarchy to produce porcelain for the royal court, that is, “Ru Guan porcelain” or “Ru porcelain” for short. When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty succeeded to the throne, he replaced Ru porcelain with Jun porcelain. And in the first year of Daguan, Empror Huizong replaced Jun porcelain with Ru porcelain again, which, however, couldn’t reach the point in the Confucius temple period.
传世汝官瓷全世界仅存不足70件，分别珍藏于北京故宫博物馆、台北故宫博物馆、上海博物馆、英国达维特基金会的几大博物馆，成为举世公认的稀世珍宝。
Globally, there are only less than 70 Ru guan porcelains handed down from ancient times which are reserved in the Palace Museum in Beijing, Taipei Palace Museum, Shanghai Museum and David Foundation, the UK respectively and become universally acknowledged rare treasures.
汝官瓷胎质细腻，工艺考究，它以名贵玛瑙为釉，色泽独特。随光变幻，观其釉色，温润古朴；抚其釉面，平滑细腻，如同美玉；观其釉面，呈蝉翼纹般细小开片，釉下有稀疏气泡，在光照下时隐时现，如晨星闪烁。在胎和釉结合处，迎光观察，微现红晕，给人以赏心悦目的美观。
Ru guan porcelain is defined by exquisite body and rarefied techniques. It is glazed with precious agate, showing unique color and luster. Glazing color changes as light changes, demonstrating the gentle and primitive features; glaze surface is smooth and fine like beautiful jade; looking at the surface, it seems like tiny pieces in the shape of cicada’s wings and there are sparse bubbles under the glaze as flickering and twinkling as stars at down. If we observe the juncture of porcelain body and glaze against the light, we can find slight blush, reflecting its eyeable appearance.
根据釉色汝瓷大致可分为：天兰釉、天青釉、月白釉、豆青釉、卵清釉等几大种类。
Ru porcelain can be divided into several types based on glazing color: sky blue glaze, azure glaze, bluish white glaze, pea green glaze and egg white glaze.