Page 146 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

6 Fujian and Hizen Ware: A 17th Century Evidence of the Manila … 117

During the 16th century, the closing of Chinese ports to foreign traders inter-
rupted the growing trade in the South China Sea (Desroches 1997). The demand for
porcelains by the East and Southeast Asian markets did not ease up; on the contrary,
it increased.
The late 16th century marked the opening of Manila to a more global maritime
trade. The Manila Galleons connected markets in the East and West in an intense
trading network that involved Philippine waters and brought about the tremendous
influx of mass-produced Chinese export ceramics (Fig. 6.1) (Cuevas 2014: 27).
In the middle of the 17th century, the trading of ceramics included not only
Fujian wares, but Hizen ceramics from Japan, among others. The production of
Japanese or Hizen wares in Arita, Japan in 1635 was the byproduct of China’s
restrictive trade policy. The exportation of Hizen porcelains to Southeast Asia,
Mexico and Europe through Chinese junks and VOC (Vereenigdae Oostindische
Companie) or the Dutch East India Company ships from the port of Nagasaki,
Japan started in the middle of the 17th century. Hizen porcelains were manufactured
with designs and forms copied from the Chinese technology.
While a major trade item on the Manila-Acapulco route, not much information
may be found on how Hizen porcelains arrived in the Philippines (Nogami 2006).
What we do know is that 16th century Chinese records noted that during the Ming
ban and the resulting demand for wares outside imperial control: Fujian emerged as

Fig. 6.1 Trade route of the Manila Galleon