Page 6 - Export Porcelain and Globakization- GOOD READ

Map 2: China: Provinces, main cities, and kiln sites

Pushed southwards by northern nomadic tribes who established the Liao, and later
the Chinese Jin dynasty, the Song dynasty (960-1279) moved its capital from Kaifeng
in the north to the port city of Hangzhou near the production centers of porcelain.
Export, mainly by sea, became an important source of income for the Government.
Japan and South East Asia were the most relevant destinations for export ceramics.
During the Mongolian Yuan dynasty which ruled China from 1279-1368 the
monochrome celadon ceramics (see plates 2 – 5) were exported from kilns in
Zhejiang province to West and South East Asian countries, such as Indonesia and
Vietnam. Maritime trade in the China Sea was enabled by the invention of the
compass and better ship technology. The Sinan shipwreck, discovered in 1974 off the
Korean coast, had a cargo of almost 10,000 14th century celadons from Fujian. The
export of porcelain to Europe did not play an important role until the second half of
the 16th century, after the Portuguese discovered new sea routes passing the Cape of
Good Hope and the Indian Ocean towards Indonesia, the Philippines and China.
However, at that stage the interAsian trade made up more than 80% of the Chinese
ceramic exports – Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines were the main destinations for
maritime trade. However, European ships – first Portuguese and later the Dutch East
India Company played an increasing role in facilitating the inter-Asian trade between
China and Japan through Macao, and later through the Dutch entrepots on Taiwan,
Dejima Island in Japan and Batavia (Jakarta) on Java Island.
The kilns of Jingdezhen – the capital of porcelain – in Jiangxi province in the South
East of China produced during the Song and Yuan dynasties monochrome pale blue or
pale green were (qingbai) (see plate 7) and the production of the so-called blue and
white porcelain (qinghua) did not start until around 1320. The term “blue and white
porcelain” stands for white porcelain with a cobalt blue decoration on the white shard

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