Chinese Porcelain Fit For An Emperor From Jingdezhen
Date: Thursday July 2, 2009Posted in: Entertainment
Jingdezhen is called the porcelain capital of the world for a reason. For the past fifteen hundred years, the small town in southern China produced most of countrys porcelain, with a large proportion of it being made exclusively for royal families.
This storied history is a very important piece when it comes to solving the Chinese porcelain industry puzzle.
In the 13th century, Kublai Khan founded the first royal kiln in Jingdezhen. He loved the porcelain made there for its pure white color. White became an important color under the Khan, and it is under his rule that Jingdezhen porcelain really got going.
Following the Khan’s idea, ruler after ruler continued or order kilns be opened in Jingdezhen specifically for the royal family’s use. At some points in history, there were over 50 kilns in Jingdezhen just for this purpose.
There was so much work to be done that Ming dynasty emperors decided to set up a post to oversee the making and shipping of their orders. They sent their best henchmen to fill the post, who were expected to bring back the most beautiful porcelain the world had ever seen.
These royal administrators were to make sure that no one other than the emperor and his family even saw the porcelain produced by the imperial kilns. If any piece was deemed unworthy of the royal palace, it was smashed into pieces and buried. The techniques were also closely guarded. If any potter was caught teaching others how to make such great porcelain, he could be executed.
Making such great porcelain was never an easy task. Some emperors sent troops halfway across the world to find colors and other designs that became essential parts of royal Chinese porcelain.
As time went on, emperors passed on and gave way to new dynasties and rulers in China. But the royal kilns of Jingdezhen were not disbanded until the last dynasty fell.
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