A comparison of doucai and wucai [Photo provided by China Guardian]

To distinguish doucai and wucai, the white and blue compose the main frame of doucai and the other colors are used to filled the blank areas, while wucai doesn’t have a design outline. The white and blue is painted on the base just the same as the other colors of red, yellow, green and so forth. In other words, the semi-finished doucai product is a white and blue ware, while the semi-finished wucai product is a ware with incomplete figures.

As the doucai and wucai have clear lines and the firing temperature is slightly higher than that of famille-rose and enamels, and the colors are not so soft, they are also called yingcai (literally, “hard color”) while the famile-rose and enamels are called ruancai (literally, “soft color”).