Page 3 - Export Porcelain and Globakization- GOOD READ

decor and shapes was only the starting point. The strong demand for porcelain
prompted, in many regions, local initiatives to produce similar items. Most of the
main Asian ceramic production centers which were established after 900 along the
Silk Road or the maritime routes were to some extent influenced by Chinese design or
techniques: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Persia in the Middle East; Vietnam, Thailand,
Cambodia and Burma in South East Asia; and Korea and Japan in East Asia. The three
color ceramic (san cai) of the Tang dynasty has also been produced in the Islamic
world, celadon stoneware mainly in Vietnam, Thailand and Korea, underglaze blue
porcelain in Vietnam, Korea and Japan and a similar underglaze green decoration in
Burma. Moreover, the “blue and white” is the most widespread decoration style in
Asia and Europe, and we can find it not only in its place of origin, in the province of
Jiangxi in South East China, but it was copied in Mameluk Egypt and Syria, and
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Timurid Persia in the 15th century , in the Ottoman Iznik during the 16th century, and
in Safavid Persia until the 19th century. Chinese influence can also be recognized in
Europe, where the production of Faience in Italy, Portugal, France, the Netherlands
and Germany was an attempt to imitate the Chinese blue and white porcelain. And it
applies also to the design of the first true European porcelain produced in Meißen in
Germany. However, all these ceramic centers have developed their own style. The
turquoise celadon ware along the Silk Road in Syria (Raqqa) and Persia (Kashan) and
the green inlaid celadons of Korea during the Koryo dynasty (918-1392), such as the
Vietnamese blue and white porcelains reached a beauty and finesse able to compete
with the best products of China during the Song dynasty, when the celadon production
had reached its peak, or of Ming China when blue and white porcelain became
popular. Thus, it would be unfair to call these products simple copies of Chinese
originals. They are products of cultural exchange, creating universal globalized pieces
of applied art. The blue and white ceramics are particularly an expression of the
Eurasian culture.
The Silk Road, of course, was not only a commercial tie between the East and the
West. It also facilitated the expansion of thought and religions, and with them also
new designs, forms and patterns. Buddhism came to Central Asia, Tibet, Mongolia,
China, Korea and Japan, from Nepal and India via the Silk Road. The impressive clay
figurines in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in the Western Chinese province of Gansu,
and the Terracotta Buddha and Bodhisattvas and votive tablets made of molded clay
in Tibet and Mongolia, are evidence of the exchange of religious belief that originated
in India and mixed with the artistic taste of the Tang dynasty and local design. The
lotus flower became the most widely used Buddhist decoration element on Asian
ceramics. Lotus flowers and petals are painted, carved, incised, and imprinted on
ceramics, the form of rims and covers of jars and bowls often make reference to the
lotus leaf, and lotus fruits and seeds can be identified on plates, tureens and inside
bowls. The royal celadon ceramics of Korea during the Buddhist Koryo dynasty
(918-1392) are not only masterpieces of art, but express by form and decoration
Buddhist belief. Korean celadons cannot deny the Chinese influence. However, it
might be reasonable to say that the celadon art in terms of innovations reached its
peak in Korea, rather than in China. Several new decoration techniques were
developed or further refined such as the inlaid work (sanggam), engobe painting and
openwork style.
Islam made its way from Damascus and Baghdad, via Persia, towards northern
India, and along the northern or southern route of the Taklimakan desert to West
China, and by sea to the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, to North Africa, the Iberian
Peninsula and the Balkans. With Muslims travelling along the old Silk Road, Islamic
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