From the long history of China, or from the development of western civilization, we can see that the relationship between design art and technology is just like the close relationship between plant growth and soil. Since modern times, the development of natural science has promoted the combination of science and technology, making the division between technology and art increasingly prominent. Modern humanism resurfaced, and the combination of art and technology was re-recognized from a new angle.

A primitive stone tool, emphasizing practicality and function.

At first, humans only used natural stones or sticks as tools. Later, for practical needs, human beings mastered the technology of knocking and polishing stone tools in their labor, which improved the use value of stone tools. This is the first time that human beings use technology to combine practicality and aesthetics, and endow objects with both material and spiritual functions, which is the starting point of human design activities.

Various practical needs make technology diversified. The "Dingcun people" in the "ancients" stage were able to make triangular sharp cones, round stone balls of different sizes, and polygonal stone balls with equal distribution. During the nearly 250,000 years from "Dingcun people" 300,000 years ago to "cavemen" 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, that is, in the process of evolution from "ancients" to "new humans", primitive people's handcrafting skills have been continuously enriched and improved. They can make stone balls with different diameters and excellent roundness by hand, and they can punch holes in stone balls with quite high hardness.

Mastering the shapes, types and manufacturing techniques of stone tools shows that in the Paleolithic age, human beings had a vague understanding of the laws of basic modeling beauty such as balance and symmetry by making tools. With the development of stone-making technology, in addition to a large number of stone tools, there are also non-practical marker stone tools, which are used by people with special identities on special occasions. In the middle and late Neolithic Age, jades in eastern China developed rapidly, especially in Hongshan Culture in Liaohe River Basin and Liangzhu culture in Taihu Lake Basin, which represented the achievements of jades in this era. As far as the production methods of jade are concerned, there are generally four categories: jade pieces, thick jade pieces with bas-reliefs, three-dimensional jade carvings and large cylindrical horseshoe-shaped jade pieces. The production of jade is the highest level of stone-making technology, and the two exquisite jade pins in Hongshan Culture mark the emergence of professional craftsmen in China. Dozens of jade treasures and jade cong were buried in the tombs of Wujin Temple Pier in Fuquan Mountain, Qingpu, Yuyao, Zhejiang Province. Jade has become a symbol of showing off the extraordinary ability of the tomb owner and expressing the authority of the tomb owner. A large number of jade beasts, jade birds, jade fish and so on. Has been unearthed, from scraper, chopping tools, triangular nails and other practical labor tools, into "Huangyan to worship the earth, Cangbi to worship the sky" sacrificial utensils, ritual vessels and decorations, indicating that due to the development of technology, decoration is possible in primitive society and develops rapidly.

Second, ceramics "technology carries the Tao"

In the Neolithic Age, people discovered the method of making pottery, which was the earliest creative activity to change one substance into another by artificial means through chemical reaction. At that time, the design level and production technology were closely combined and had a harmonious relationship. Early hand-kneaded pottery was arbitrary in shape, just for practical purposes. Later, there was the method of building with mud slats, and then there was the wheel system technology, which standardized the modeling of utensils, not only improved the production efficiency, but also standardized the modeling and decorator pattern.

Primitive porcelain appeared as early as Shang dynasty, which was realized by the selection of raw materials and the exploration of firing technology in the process of pottery making. By the Warring States period, with the continuous improvement of the structure of the Dragon Kiln, the conditions for firing modern porcelain were already met. The main differences between pottery and porcelain are: first, the raw materials are different, clay is used for pottery and porcelain clay is used for porcelain; Second, the kiln temperature is different, pottery is low, about 800OC, while porcelain is high, about1200 oc; ; Third, the physical properties are different, the texture of pottery is brittle and porous, and the texture of porcelain is dense and solid. The development of China porcelain has gone through different stages from celadon, white porcelain, red porcelain to colored porcelain. The perfect combination of technology and art has made China's porcelain art reach the height of world admiration. In the Tang Dynasty, Yue Kiln was rich in celadon, such as jade and ice. Changsha kiln does not depict specific patterns, but uses glaze color changes to express abstract beauty. The Song Dynasty was the heyday of ceramic development. As far as the coloring principle of porcelain is concerned, white porcelain can only be produced if the iron content in glaze is greatly reduced, the high temperature process is mastered and the calcium oxide content in porcelain tire is more. From celadon to white porcelain is a technological leap, and artistic expression can only be realized on the basis of technology. The appearance of white porcelain laid the foundation for the development of blue-and-white porcelain and colored porcelain. The appearance of Jun kiln colored porcelain is another breakthrough in porcelain-making technology, which is the result of properly controlling the different characteristics of flame in technology. Porcelain in Song Dynasty is mostly plain and unadorned, and the main means of beautification is its own sense of form and crystal enamel. It is a completely refined, simple, regular and exquisite way, and it has become a common phenomenon to express abstract beauty with glaze color. In addition to plain porcelain, opaque glaze and semi-opaque glaze also have three forms of expression: carving, stringing and deformation. Transparent glaze is decorated by carving, scraping and printing. In Song Dynasty, the decorative patterns of metal containers and even some handicrafts were imitated and used for reference, such as bronzes in Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties and gold and silver vessels in Tang and Song Dynasties. All these were determined by the popular ideology and aesthetic concept at that time. Song people's love and imitation of antiquity made the displayed porcelain inherit Gu Zhuo's dignified modeling, draw lessons from simple and unsophisticated decoration, and combine exquisite and rich glaze colors to open up a new artistic world. It had a far-reaching impact on the future ceramic art.