Yuan Homes, Furnishings and Household Goods in China, 1271–1368

Yuan households occupied established towns and farming regions as Mongol rulers built new imperial centres. Domestic space brought together cooking, rest, storage and work. Excavated residences at Dadu, present-day Beijing, reveal both spacious compounds and much smaller dwellings; ceramics and furniture help explain the tasks carried out inside them.

Housing reflected a household’s resources as well as regional building traditions. A family with several courtyards could separate activities among halls and side rooms, while a compact dwelling put cooking and sleeping close together. At court, palaces existed alongside ordos, the Mongol rulers’ palace tents, preserving a more mobile way of arranging imperial accommodation.

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Courtyards, compact dwellings and heating

The Houyingfang residence at Dadu had a main courtyard with principal rooms, side buildings and additional courts. Its scale and elaborate finds identify a prosperous setting. Other excavations give a different picture: row houses at the Jianhua factory site shared a wall, and a very small dwelling found at the site of Middle School 106 contained a stove and a kang, a raised heated platform. The contrast makes differences in domestic resources visible in actual buildings.

A kang provided a warm surface for sitting and sleeping. Hot gases from a fire passed through channels beneath the platform before escaping, so its masonry retained heat. Combining a cooking fire with a heated living surface made fuel serve more than one purpose, particularly useful in a northern winter. A dwelling with one stove and one kang organised much of household life around this concentration of warmth and cooking.

Furniture and the uses of domestic space

By the Song dynasty, chairs, benches, stools and higher tables were in common use across society. This marked a change from a domestic life centred more heavily on mats and low furniture. Tables could support everyday activities, while chairs and stools provided raised seating. A folding stool, adapted from designs associated with nomadic peoples to the north and west, offered a portable option within the broader Chinese furniture tradition.

Wooden furniture used joints and framed members to support seats, tabletops and storage surfaces. A mortise-and-tenon joint fitted a projecting end into a matching socket, holding parts together without relying only on nails. Lacquer protected and decorated selected surfaces; cushions or mats could make a hard platform more comfortable. Tables, seating and screens allowed activities to be arranged within a room as well as between rooms.

Ceramic vessels for daily use and display

Longquan celadon provides evidence for both practical vessels and more specialised uses. Produced in Zhejiang and nearby areas of Fujian, Longquan wares continued at high levels during the Yuan. The range included dishes, vases and lidded wine jars. Some wares served ordinary needs; others were used on altars or placed in burials.

Longquan potters shaped much of their work on a wheel. Large vases could be made in sections and joined together. The green glaze colour came from iron oxide fired in a reducing atmosphere, in which oxygen was limited. Kilns were long brick structures built up a slope; potters placed vessels in protective containers called saggars during firing. Differences in kiln temperature and firing conditions helped produce shades ranging from grey-green to blue-green. Yuan examples include wares with iron-spot decoration and dishes with raised or incised designs.

Longquan celadon circulated well beyond its production region. A ship that sank off the Korean coast in 1323 carried more than 9,600 pieces of Yuan-period celadon, probably bound for Japan. Trade also brought new porcelain wares to wider markets during the Yuan.

Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain

Blue-and-white porcelain developed at Jingdezhen in the early fourteenth century. Production began around 1300–1320 and the technique was established by the middle of the century. Potters painted cobalt pigment onto a dried porcelain body, covered it with a clear glaze and fired it at high temperature. The blue decoration sat beneath the glaze, so it could withstand the firing. The pale, translucent body depended on Chinese porcelain-making techniques, while much of the cobalt used at this time came from Persia and was treated as a precious material.

Jingdezhen wares included dishes, jars and vases. Some decoration drew on Islamic designs, reflecting connections between Chinese production and overseas trade. Muslim merchants based at Guangzhou helped carry Chinese porcelain towards markets in Southwest Asia.

Drainage and the street outside

City infrastructure affected domestic surroundings too. Excavations at Dadu’s Xisi crossroads found a street drainage channel; stone covers allowed people and vehicles to cross it. Such drains carried water away from streets and helped protect the earthen city from flooding. They connect the interior concerns of keeping a home dry with maintenance beyond the household’s walls.

For the wider setting, see Yuan Households, Social Status and Everyday Work in China.