Underglaze red porcelain is renowned for its high production difficulty and extremely low yield rate. This technique began in the Yuan Dynasty, flourished in the early Ming Dynasty, matured during the Yongle and Xuande periods, and reached its peak in the early Qing Dynasty. The red color in these porcelains is due to copper filings, similar to those found on the aprons of coppersmiths.

Underglaze red is a type of decoration where copper red pigment is painted directly on the porcelain body, then covered with a transparent glaze, and fired at high temperatures to achieve the final design. Its process is almost identical to that of blue and white porcelain. However, achieving a successful underglaze red piece is much more challenging, often resulting in blurred patterns. Consequently, the designs on blue and white underglaze red porcelain are relatively simple, and the porcelain body is generally coarser than that of contemporary blue and white pieces. Early pieces often feature dragon motifs on white bodies, and those from the late Yuan period have noticeable turning and joint marks. The glaze is highly transparent with a glassy texture, sometimes showing a bluish-white hue, and the red color is often pale and unstable.

In the mid to late Yuan Dynasty, alongside the maturing blue and white porcelain techniques, the underglaze red technique also advanced, producing more pure red colors. Due to the stringent requirements for firing temperature and kiln atmosphere, most Yuan underglaze red pieces tend to be blackish-gray, with bright red ones being rare.

Yuan blue and white underglaze red porcelains use copper-based materials to create designs. After firing at over 1000 degrees Celsius, they exhibit dark red patterns. Copper is highly sensitive to temperature variations: if the kiln temperature is slightly lower, the red will appear black; if slightly higher, the red will burn off. Experts from the Palace Museum have noted that authentic Yuan blue and white underglaze red pieces often show significant color differences between the front and back due to the limited technical control of kiln temperatures at the time, resulting in low yield rates. Their coloration is less vibrant and uniform compared to later imitations.

Although underglaze red porcelain was created during the Yuan Dynasty, its production was extremely limited due to the technical challenges. Using copper as a coloring agent, various designs were painted directly onto the white body, covered with a glaze, and then fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere to produce the red color. The high level of difficulty in this process means that very few pieces have survived to the present day.