Multivariate statistical analysis of the major chemical compositions of Ru Official ware and Jun Official ware

The Qing Liang Temple Ru Official kiln in Baofeng, Hennan province and the Jun Tai Jun Official kiln in Yuzhou, Hennan province, are two of the famous antique kilns in China. Highly valued, the porcelains from the two kilns are well recognized. The two kilns, close to each other, produced both Ru porcelains and Jun porcelains. The Ru ware and the Jun ware seem very similar, as a proverb said that there is no discrimination between the Jun porcelains and the Ru porcelains. But do they hav no common in fact? Can they be classified exactly? To answer these questions, the chemical composition of some Ru and Jun ware samples and the source of their raw materials were studied. The main chemical composition was determined using proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique, and the data obtained were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis. The experimental results showed that the sources of the raw materials of the most of Ru and Jun porcelains are close, but different in some aspects, while the sources and the competition of their glaze are highly different. It is a good method to discriminate the Ru ware glaze from Jun ware glaze by comparison of their major chemical compositions. The method could be useful for further research on the source of raw materials, the relationship of the sources and the identification of the Ru and Jun porcelains. Meanwhile, it can also provide some scientific information to improve the quality of the imitation of antique porcelains.