1、
The famous "Silk Road" in the Han Dynasty communicated the exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures, and China gradually became known as the "Silk Country"; After entering the Middle Ages, with the export of Chinese porcelain, China began to be known as the "porcelain country" again. From the end of the 8th century, Chinese ceramics began to be exported. From the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, it reached a climax. The varieties of ceramics exported during this period include Tang Sancai, Xingyao (including Dingyao) white porcelain, Yue kiln celadon, Changsha kiln painted porcelain, and olive-glazed celadon (i.e., bowls and jars used as storage containers in kilns in the coastal area of Guangdong). The export regions and countries are: North Korea and Japan in Northeast Asia; Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in Southeast Asia; Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India in South Asia; Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman in West Asia; Egypt in North Africa; Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. At this time, there were two main sea communication routes, one was from Yangzhou or Mingzhou (now Ningbo) through Korea or direct to Japan; The second is the route from Guangzhou, to Southeast Asian countries, or out of the Strait of Malacca, into the Indian Ocean, through Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan to the Persian Gulf. At that time, some ships continued to sail west along the Arabian Peninsula to reach Africa. The porcelain of the late Tang Dynasty and early Song Dynasty unearthed from the medieval relics of the above-mentioned Asian and African countries was transported through these two routes.
From the Song and Yuan dynasties to the early Ming Dynasty, it was the second stage of Chinese porcelain exports. At this time, the porcelain varieties exported to foreign countries were mainly Longquan celadon, Jingdezhen Qingbai porcelain, blue and white porcelain, glaze red porcelain, underglaze black color porcelain, Jizhou kiln porcelain, Ganzhou kiln porcelain, Fujian, Liangguang kiln celadon produced by some kilns, Jianyao black porcelain, Zhejiang Jinhua Tiedian kiln imitation Jun glazed porcelain, Cizhou kiln porcelain, Ding kiln porcelain, Yaozhou kiln porcelain, etc. In particular, it is worth mentioning that the above-mentioned North Korean Xin'an submarine shipwreck has been excavated 11 times, and more than 20,000 pieces of ceramics have been unearthed, except for a very few Korean porcelain and Japanese porcelain, all of which are produced in China, and the vast majority of them have been identified as belonging to the kiln. The countries exported porcelain to the Song and Yuan dynasties increased greatly compared with before, including all the countries in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, most of the countries in South Asia and West Asia, the countries on the east coast of Africa and Zimbabwe and other countries in the interior. In the Song, Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the routes mainly included routes to Northeast Asia and Southeast Asian countries and the Indian Ocean routes to the Persian Gulf and other places. During this period, China's maritime achievements were mainly manifested in the Indian Ocean routes. One is to travel west along the coast from the Persian Gulf to the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea, and then land to Mecca; It is also possible to disembark at the port of Edhab on the Sudanese border, carry it to the Nile, and then down the river to Fustat (ancient Cairo); It is also possible to cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Red Sea to the countries of East Africa. The second is to open up a direct route across the Indian Ocean from the port of Malé in the Maldives to the east coast of Africa.
The more than 200 years from the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty were the first period for the export of Chinese porcelain. The exported porcelain is mainly Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain, colored porcelain, Guangdong Shiwan porcelain, Fujian Dehua white porcelain and blue and white porcelain, Anxi blue and white porcelain, etc. Among them, the more delicate export porcelain is mostly foreign firing products, and its modeling and decorative patterns are mostly Western colors, and some are painted with family, company, group, city and other pattern signs in the ornamentation, called heraldic porcelain. During this period, the export of porcelain was very large, with about 200,000 pieces exported per year in the 17th century and about one million pieces per year at its peak in the 18th century. The export countries include the Korean Peninsula and Japan in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. One of the transportation routes is from the coastal ports of Fujian and Guangdong in China to Africa in the west, and then bypasses the Cape of Good Hope and sails along the west coast of Africa to Western European countries; The other is from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, Xiamen Zhugang to Manila, Philippines, and then crosses the Pacific Ocean to the port of Acapulco in Mexico, and then travels by land, passing through Mexico City to the port of Veracruz, a port on the Atlantic coast, and then boarding a ship to the eastward to Western European countries. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Chinese porcelain was marketed all over the world by sea and became a worldwide commodity, playing a positive role in the development of human history.
In the 17th century, the royal family and court of Western Europe began to collect Chinese porcelain. A celadon bowl with the coat of arms of Count Kazelenburg (1435 1455) in the Lande Museum in Keisel, Germany, is the earliest surviving dating Ming dynasty porcelain in Europe and has been a family heirloom of the Hessian family for centuries. After Portugal opened up new shipping routes, porcelain became the most precious gift of European society. Vasgar da Gama and Armanda both won the hearts of King Manuel I of Portugal with their porcelain. The blue and white jug bearing the coat of arms of Manuel I (1469 1521) in the Jose Cortes Museum in Lisbon is the earliest porcelain made in China for export by special order for Western Europe. During the Zhengde and Jiajing periods, most of these orders were sold to Europe through Portugal. In 1604, the Dutch sacked the Portuguese galleon Santa Caterina, which had returned to Europe with porcelain, named the Chinese porcelain Kraaksporeleint, and shipped it to Amsterdam for auction, with the participation of King Henry IV of France and King James I of England.
Originating at the end of the 17th century and continuing to the end of the 18th century, the European Rococo art style is characterized by vividness, grace, lightness and nature, and the artistic style it advocates is the same as the refinement, softness and elegance of the Chinese art style. The Rococo style prevailed in France, and the French were particularly fond of Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain. At that time, France was the center of European literature, art, drama, etiquette, costumes, and decoration, so objects with "Chinese style" were circulated throughout European society.
When porcelain first entered Europe, the French called celadon celadon the hero of "The Shepherdess Estane", which was popular in the society at that time. King Louis XIV of France ordered Prime Minister Mazaran to set up a Chinese company, and went to Guangdong to order porcelain marked with French armor coats of arms, and there was a special room in the Palace of Versailles to collect Chinese ceramics; The British in the 17th century directly used the term "chinaware" to refer to porcelain from China. Queen Mary II was also fascinated by Chinese porcelain, and many glass cases were set up in the palace to display all kinds of porcelain. As a result, the British society became popular with Chinese porcelain decoration and daily use, and porcelain gradually became an indispensable furnishing in the living room and interior room.
The word China also became synonymous with porcelain as Chinese porcelain spread widely in Britain and continental Europe, making "China" and "porcelain" an inseparable pun.
According to the China entry "The English-Chinese Word-Ocean Dictionary" (compiled by Wang Tongyi, National Defense Industry Press, 1987), the meaning of China as porcelain is derived from the Persian chini (Chinese or Chinese), due to the influence of the representation of China for China, the vowel sound change, from chini to China, It became a proper noun for porcelain.
It is not known when this change was finalized, but it is certain that it is based on the brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese ceramics and the resulting road of ceramic transmission that this unique Chinese object is loved by people all over the world, and China and porcelain are forever united.