Chinese porcelain wares have been shipped to other countries as early as the Tang Dynasty; categories included

Qinghua narrow-necked vase with edged lid. Ming Dynasty. Collection of the Fundacao Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, Portugal.

wares and so on. By the Song Dynasty, the ceramics industry was flourishing in

development, as countless products were introduced by the various kilns. Foreign

demand for Chinese ceramic products increased as the days went by. The shipbuilding industry, which was closely related to the shipping business of Chinese goods, was already a highly developed discipline by the Nor thern Song Dynasty.

    Ships with 10 masts and 10 sails were built to accommodate 400-500 people and as much as 150,000 kg worth of load. The newly invented mariner's compass was put into use, as well as a full range of equipment on the ships. At the same time, The Song government set up city shipping departments in the cities of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Ningbo and Hangzhou (the first three were sea harbors; Hangzhou was the capital and the south terminal of the Grand Canal). Personnel were dispatched overseas to negotiate trade deals, as incentives were offered for taxes over such commercial activity, even rewards were sometimes offered. By the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Dutch came to Quanzhou to buy, resell and ship porcelain goods; the trading prices were equivalent of gold. There were three categories of porcelain vessels exported at the time, which were the celadon, white porcelain and Qingbai. Song Dynasty porcelain crafts and technology were also introduced to other countries. There were imitation Yue and Ru kilns wares found in the Korean peninsula. Shiro Kato, the "father of Japanese porcelain," had also been to Fujian to study porcelain-making; he created black glazed porcelain ware after returning to his country.

    Even though Yuan Dynasty ceramics took up only a fraction of several millennia

worth of Chinese ceramics history, the large quantities of overseas orders during the Ming Dynast were an outstanding contribution. The main export wares included

Longquan celadon, Jingdezhen Qinghua, Cizhou white porcelain with black patterns and so on. They not only posed influence on the ceramics industries of the Korean peninsula, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Iran, Turkey and others, even the painting and decorative arts of these areas were influenced by the export wares. This was an effect on Sino-foreign cultural communications that can never be overlooked.

    By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chinese porcelain wares attained an even higher peak in overseas export. Prior to the Ming Dynasty, porcelain production took place all over the land. However, by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jingdezhen outshined all other areas and became the undisputed center of Chinese porcelain production. Many factors contributed to its success. The decline of many other kilns throughout China and

White glazed jar with the inscription "government office of medicine" under the base. Ding kiln.Northern Song Dynasty. Collection of the Ulricehomns Museum of Oriental Art, Sweden.

From the Jiajing to the Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty, the production volume of Jingdezhen Imperial kilns increase many folds; commoner's kilns in the Jiajing period numbered over 900, with 100,000 potters. The ceramic goods produced, aside from being sold to Japan and Southeast Asian countries, were also sold to Europe.

    The imperial ambassador (eunuch) Zheng He brought with him many exquisite

Qinghua wares on his voyages west, which earned Chinese porcelain the highest of prestige overseas. By mid-Ming, or after the 15t" century, as European navigation industries thrived, merchants from Portugal, Spain and Holland sailed their enormous ships, carrying full of flint stones, telescopes, horologes, aluminum wares and other goods, traded along their routes before eventually disembarking in China. From China, they purchased large quantities of porcelain, silk and tea to be resold in Europe.

For these ships, the damp-resistant porcelain goods were the perfect merchandise to be shipped across the oceans. They were placed at the bottom of the ship's hold with silk and tea on top. This kind of commercial activity was extremely lucrative, and not only made the economy boom, but also induced cultural communication and friendly relations between the East and the West.

     From the 17th century onwards, the porcelain trade between China and Asian and European countries progressed into a new phase. At that time, upper-class Europeans were indulged in the fad of collecting Chinese porcelain ware, which contributed to the immense increase in export volume for Jingdezhen. The Dutch introduced popular European container models and decorative motifs to China, so that the daily household porcelain made by Jingdezhen can suit European tastes even better.

Therefore, porcelain decoration aside from the traditional birds, flowers, animals and people, started to include the European dan symbols, foreign writing, image of the mariner's compass, manuscripts, fountains, as well as Western landscape paintings. The models included large deep-walled bowls with patterned mouths, kettles, bevel-rimmed dishes and so on. The most popular of all vases at the time was called "Jiaodeli," which was a cubic vase essentially modeled after wine flasks in Europe, with patterns of tulips on its neck. Its decorative method was very similar to other Qinghua porcelain made for the Europeans.

Xing kiln ewer with white glaze. Tang Dynasty. Collection of the Ulricehamns Museum of Oriental Art, Sweden.

    From 1602 to 1644, the Dutch East India Company sold over 420,000 pieces of

porcelain to the islands of Indonesia. In 1613 alone, over 380,000 pieces were shipped out from Batavia to no less than a dozen destinations. The earliest surviving product order document, discovered so far, was an order placed by the Dutch East India Company in 1608 for Jingdezhen porcelain through Chinese resellers in the Malai Peninsula. The order form clearly labeled the specifications of the porcelain, including style, type of vessel, sizes and so on. These items were all specifically tailored to suit the daily living habits of the Europeans, and were shipped to Europe right after they were made. From a report on porcelain purchasing made by the Dutch inspector general in Taiwan to its Amsterdam company, we know that when he wanted to purchase porcelain ware such as large dishes, large bowls, cold beverage containers, large jars, large cups, small cups, mustard jars, wide-edged flat dish and so on, he often provided Chinese merchants with wooden models and drawings of all sorts of containers with inscriptions.

These were used as references to help the Jingdezhen artisans make their porcelain to the interest of the Europeans. The export wares were also marked as specimens, which were all custom-ordered and made; paid in advance. These export-only porcelains were not used by the Chinese at all. This is also one of the reasons that many ceramic masterpieces created by the Chinese are rarely seen in China.

    Amidst the porcelain trade at the time, aside from foreign merchants, Chinese

merchants from Nanjing and Guangdong were all a part of this competitive arena.

According to the Dutch, after the Dutch colonists seized Java, the ships of the Dutch East India Company would often come across Chinese merchant fleets docked there, who were trading beautiful porcelain and silk with the locals there. Japanese merchants were mostly deeply interested in tea, thus came to Jingdezhen to purchase ceramic tea ware. There was once a merchant in Kyoto, who specialized in Chinese handicrafts and really had a love for porcelain. He dealt large quantities of porcelain goods in his business. Through merchants in Nanjing, he requested craftsmen to make models of the best Japanese tea set from Oribe and the best water jars from Enshu, which were then sent to Jingdezhen for making of the porcelain versions.

    At the end of the Ming Dynasty, with upheaval within the Ming government, the Imperial kilns ceased production. The commoner's kilns at Jingdezhen benefited from newly discovered source of Kaolin and were now free of the restraint posed by the Imperial kilns. Jingdezhen craftsmen produced products of different styles and characteristics for the particular needs of its customers. For the Japanese, since the Oribe tea merchants and drinkers all prefer bold and unrestrained designs, Jingdezhen artisans therefore made Qinghua porcelain with highly impression

(Left) Qinghua military ewer with flower patterns, H 21.5 cm. Ming Dynasty. Military ewer has a variety of categories. It appeared and was exported since Song Dynasty. (Right) Imitated Ming Qinghua military ewer, H 22 cm. Tokugawa period, Japan. The layout, brushwork,and pattern of its decorative design are pretty similar to its Chinese counterparts.

were highly acclaimed by the Japanese; many pieces dating from this time period are still preserved today. The Qinghua porcelain of Jingdezhen during that time had two variations - thick and thin.

    Those with a thick body were mostly shipped to Japan (The Honglucai exported to Japan had largely thick bodies with a few exceptions, and have created a unique bold style), while the thin bodied pieces stayed within China or were sold to other countries.

    To target the European market, Jingdezhen's craftsmen created a batch of highly decorative Qinghua porcelain with exquisite designs. These porcelains came in many forms such as bowls, pots, vases, plates and more; the plates were rather numerous. Their surfaces were first divided into geometric windows of either equal or unequal areas; each area would be adorned with images of fruits,flowers and other gorgeous designs. The large geometric windows were fitted with smaller windows in between, which contained the "eight treasures," "pearl and jade" and other patterns.

    These geometric windows were like the petals of the lotus flower, thus were referred to by the Japanese as "lotus hands" and the Europeans called them "Clark Porcelain." At the center of the plates were paintings of still life or landscape that were rather popular then in northern Europe. There was also a type of wine flask with floral wheel decoration, which was decorated with designs of tulip on the neck, and lotus patterns on the body. Its modeling was exquisite and attractive, with a similar form and shape to European silverware.

Their crafting was extremely meticulous, with thin and refined bodies. These products received love and praises from people in every European country, who were buying these items of art no matter what the cost. The Europeans, after purchasing these porcelain wares, treasured them with extreme care and love, and often fitted them with metal accessories. Some porcelain bowls were made overly thin, and to prevent burning of the hands when in use, they were fitted with a metal ring that connected the mouth and base of the bowl; tasteful handles adorned either side. On the aforementioned wine flask, a silver sheath can be attached to its mouth and connected to the neck with a silver chain. These types of accessories not only made the use of porcelain ware more convenient, but with added beauty at the same time to enhance the overall experience.

Qingbai Meiping vase with engraved dragon and cloud motifs. Yuan Dynasty. Collection of the Ulricehamns Museum of Oriental Art, Sweden.

    In the first year of the Chongzhen period (1628-1644 A.D.), with a larger demand

than supply of Lotus Hand porcelain wares, the Japanese tea merchants from Oribe also placed orders for something similar, which were neatly designed and illustrated, highly decorative tea ware, with certain Japanese elements. This action spurred a whole new batch of "Xiangrui" styled porcelain for daily uses. The painting technique used for these new porcelains were different from export Qinghua and Honglucai to Japan; the former being a painting-centered craft while the latter being reliant on patterns and designs. Xiangrui porcelain was more varied and unpredictable, as illustrations and graphic patterns, realistic and abstract images can all appear on it at the same time, complementing and contrasting each other. The name Xiangrui came about because these porcelain wares were all marked with the Xiangrui seal print below the base; while some had Japanese writing printed at the bottom. Some Japanese scholars believe that Xiangrui porcelain were the creation of a Japanese artisan living in China, and after being made and sold in China for about twenty years, the craft was introduced to Japan.

However, some scholars say otherwise, believing that Xiangrui was the work of the Chinese and had nothing to do with the Japanese. Regardless of the differing opinions, the Chinese ceramics industry by the end of the Ming Dynasty truly inspired Japan. Many places in Japan including Arita, Imari, Kyoto and others began their own porcelain production and the wares were also exported to Europe. Especially during the early Qing period, with the newly established Qing regime still not fully rooted in the country, all international trade was stopped in China as sea shipments were banned. Seeing this as a great opportunity, Japan capitalized on the situation and created large quantities of porcelain based on the Chinese products and sold them to European buyers. Even on the undersides of these Japanese made porcelain wares, inscriptions of the Chinese dynasty and years can be found. For this very reason, the Japanese porcelain craft was wide spread and prospered.

    Jingdezhen by the end of the Ming Dynasty, aside from Qinghua porcelain, also

produced colored porcelain, or caici. As explained previously, Jingdezhen produced much bold and freestyle Honglucai for the Japanese tea merchants, this was done by adding the colors of red, green and yellow on top of Qinghua, with red as the primary color. In addition, there was a new breed of colored porcelain, called the Da-Ming Wucai, literally "Five Colors of the Great Ming." Da-Ming Wucai's style was akin to that of the Qinghua porcelain made for European markets, but was also influenced by the Honglucai's free and expressive style, thus it used red, yellow, blue, green, purple and black pigments as decoration. Da-Ming Wucai was very particular and refined, enriching color composition and inducing a lavish and bold style at the same time. With already great demand domestically, Wucai of the late-Ming was also purchased by the Japanese and Europeans in very impressive quantities. This particular time period was the pinnacle of export business for Jingdezhen's porcelain from commoners' kilns.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, suffering from domestic political instability, an adamant ban of the seas was in place from emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661 A.D.) on through the early years of emperor Kangxi (1662-1722 A.D.). The trade ban was lifted in 1684, the 23rd year of the Kangxi period. China also began a movement of porcelain export even greater in scale than the Ming Dynasty. At that time, China had retained the Japanese and wester

Qinghua Octagonal Yuhuchun vase with floral patterns. Yuan Dynasty.

    In the early 18th century, many European countries were granted the right to

establish trade organizations in the city of Guangzhou. The earliest of which to receive the privilege was the British East India Company in 1715, followed by the French in 1728, the Dutch in 1729, the Danish in 1731 and the Swedish in 1732. This created for a more favorable export condition for Chinese porcelain. By this time, some countries have received the permit for direct passage and docking at Guangzhou (the permit was only temporary before), which further facilitated the direct shipment of Chinese porcelain to Europe. As Chinese porcelain trade developed, many countries established specialty stores that resold, distributed or placed orders for Chinese porcelain.

According to the British publication "London Guide" in 1774, there were at least 52 of such stores in London. From the latter half of the'17~h century to the 18th century, Chinese porcelain was welcomed in all parts of the world, especially in Europe, not only as daily commodities for the masses, but also as items displaying wealth. There were two main channels of outbound porcelain shipment, one through the Qing government as gifts of state to the ambassadors of other countries; the other through trade between the commoners' kilns and foreign merchants. Normally, the porcelain wares through the government channels were produced in imperial kilns, while the traded porcelain goods were mostly of commoners' production.

     A considerable portion of the export wares were custom made by the commoner's kilns for the overseas markets according to specifications on the orders. Especially those products intended for the European markets, the types, modeling and decorations of which were tailored to suit the changing preferences of the Europeans each year.

    With still increasing demand for porcelain from other countries and the need for more porcelain for daily use within the country, Jingdezhen's kilns regardless of Imperial or commoners' kilns met with unprecedented prosperity. They created more innovative products. Including the unmatched Qinghua porcelain, the splendid Wucai porcelain, the meticulously crafted imitation antique porcelain, and the newly created Fencai, the cloisonn6 enameled porcelain and so on. All of these categories were truly astounding successes.

When foreign merchants came to China, they first arrived in Macao, then traveled to Guangzhou. In the mid-Qing Dynasty, ships flocked the ports of Guangzhou and Macao, displaying a highly flourishing commercial scene. Some domestic merchants tried to cater to European tastes. They fired white porcelain in Jingdezhen and shipped them to Canton, and would then hire other artisans to imitate Western paintings and add colored painting to the white porcelain. Then by the south shore of the Zhujiang River, the porcelains were fired and turned into colored porcelain. Finally these colorful porcelain wares were sold to European merchants. An American traveler in 1769, the 34th year of Qianlong, paid a technical visit to the Canton coloring and further processing plant by the Pearl River. It was described, "In a workshop with a long span of space, about 300 artisans were painting images on porcelain wares. Different types of decorations were being affixed to the objects.

There were old-aged workers, as well as child laborers of around six or seven in age. It was most surprising that there were at least 100 of this type of workshops around." This kind of processing workshop was called GuangcaL which made many production kilns for colored porcelain in Jingdezhen obsolete.

    The large scale porcelain trade during the Ming and Qing Dynasties held

not only commercial purposes; it was also a form of bilateral cultural exchange. Chinese porcelain, a form of art and culture of the Chinese, resulted in immense influence on many other countries. For example, the influence porcelain imposed on Europe was dual-phased. The first phase was from 1594 to 1720, during which Europeans purchased large quantities of porcelain from Jingdezhen. At this time, the Europeans viewed Chinese art as the most perfected art in the world; Chinese culture was the most splendid of them all; and even the political system of China was the most flawless system in existence. All in all, the Europeans looked upon China with eyes of yearning, as if it were a distant, mysterious utopia worthy of imitation.

    In 1702, the Germans secretly began research and development of celadon, and they succeeded indeed. In 1710, the Germans again established white porcelain kilns. These events made Germany the first country to unveil the precious secrets to making hard porcelain. After 1720, the Europeans learned of porcelain-making techniques through missionaries in Jingdezhen, and thus began making its own mass production of porcelain. Therefore, the first phase of porcelain purchasing progressed to the second phase, a time of imitations roughly from 1720 to 1760. During this time, with admirations for China, the Europeans not only imitated the Chinese in porcelain-making, but also in architecture, furniture and glassware designs. This imitation induced the emergence of the once immensely fashionable art style of Rococo in Europe. The curator of a German Museum said in his book that Chinese porcelain influenced Rococo in very obvious ways. It was apparent in four aspects: (1) Relaxed atmosphere, freedom (a character often found in Qinghua porcelain from Jingdezhen in the late Ming Dynasty); (2) Irregular lines and curves, also similar to the freeness of Qinghua porcelain; (3) Border decorations with floral patterns and motifs (something learnt from Chinese porcelain); (4) The use of lines with high expressiveness, as this was something never before seen in Europe, but

already existing in Qinghua porcelain from Jingdezhen.

    The export of Chinese porcelain influenced the culture and arts of many

other countries, but vice versa, their specific cultural preferences in their

product orders began to direct the way Chinese design and make porcelain.

Many hybrid porcelain wares with Chinese and Western elements were created. Some porcelain merchants were also artists, such as enamel artists, painters and so on. They constantly renewed their designs used to place custom orders from Jingdezhen through the East Indian Company. The Swiss East India Company had its own in-house artists. One such artist was a missionary and artist specifically responsible for designing porcelain vessels which were to be made and ordered from China.

 Many designs of gold and silverware, glassware and ceramic products, loved by the Europeans, were directly adopted by Jingdezhen artisans in making ceramic wares. Some of these wares have been exported since the Qing Dynasty until the present from Jingdezhen, such as coffee utensils, tea wares, dining ware sets, wide-edged plates, egg-shell lamps, illustrations on porcelain and so on. Custom orders of different countries have different aesthetic standards; some required realistic renderings of flowers, figures, landscapes and architecture to adorn the surface of porcelain, while others wanted insignias of commemorative value to be applied to porcelain. All these elements gradually but surely became a part of Jingdezhen's traditional porcelain arts, quietly changing the traditional styles. Aside from the commoner's kilns, even the Imperial kilns were imitating western forms and decorative designs. These influences from foreign cultures were not only embodied in the forms, colors and decorative motifs of ceramic wares, it also created a window for the Chinese to understand the outside world.

At the time, the influenced of Western art on Jingdezhen came not only through the Western buyers, but also from the imperial court which was fond of western arts. Many early missionaries with a good relationship with the Qing Emperors were all very accomplished men in the fields of culture, arts and science and technology. They injected the most advanced European knowledge of mathematics and astronomy and the fruits of art and technology into China. On one hand, they did it out of respect and fondness for Chinese culture so as to give all-around and systematic introduction of Western society to all of China; this strengthened trust and friendly relations between them and the Chinese rulers. Emperor Kangxi, with his attention for Western technology and relentless pursuit of refinement in porcelain-making, hired French and Italian painters to take up posts the imperial kilns serving the imperial family. Their paintings styles were fully reliant upon the rules of perspectives used in Western paintings.

The art of enamelware, the most classy of all handicrafts in Europe, was incorporated into porcelain-making and horology. Meanwhile, much of the porcelains from Jingdezhen imperial kilns were based on illustrations and wooden models provided by the foreign artists working for the imperial offices. Chinese European artists even participated in the design of the Garden of Perfect Brightness (the old summer palace). The emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng (1723-1735 A.D.) and Qianlong (1736-1795 A.D.) all valued the production of porcelain wares very much. In addition to incorporating foreign artistic elements, many new forms of porcelain products and masterpieces became available. The outside culture and aesthetic standards were tightly bonded with local cultures, forging the magnificent and exquisite style of Qing Dynasty arts.