Page 99 - Jindezhen Porcelain Production of the 19th C. by Ellen Huang, Univ. San Diego 2008

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China. Tao lu was in some sense an assemblage of all the previous writings on various

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ceramic wares, kilns, collection, and production practices. By bringing together a myriad of
previous disparate sources in one individual book, Tao lu's comprehensiveness qualifies it

as the first specialized book to present an account of Jingdezhen porcelain administration,

techniques, and styles since the invention of ceramics in China around 8000 B.C.E. up

through the late eighteenth century. The book includes numerous references from previous

scattered remarks about porcelain as recorded in county and provincial gazetteers of Fuliang

and Jiangxi, treatises concerned with agriculture and crafts, and connoisseurship literature.

Among the books cited were such connoisseurship manuals as the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

classic on tea called Chajing ঩຾ (Classic on Tea) by Lu Yu陆ϻ (729-804), the late-

Ming text on art and archaeological objects called Gegu yaolun ࣸ̚ࠅሞ (Essential

Criteria of Antiquities), Wen Zhenheng's˖ቤЖ (1585-1645) Zhangwu zhi ڗيқ

(Treatise on Superfluous Things), a Qing dynasty text Wenfang sikao˖גໍϽ, and

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technical treatises such as Tiangong kaiwu ˂ʈකيof 1637. Zheng Tinggui by no

means hid his reliance on the previous texts as section ten included the sources upon which

he drew to explain such factoids as differences between two shades of celadon or origins of

the word tao (ceramics). By bringing together the smattering of written descriptions on

ceramics, Jingdezhen Tao lu can be said to have folded all these titles and works under a

general topic heading called "Jingdezhen ceramics." Hence the title specifically consisted of

the name Jingdezhen. Because of its thorough citations and references to ancient lesser

known texts, Jingdezhen Tao lu brought to light an entire tradition of texts on ceramic

objects in the Chinese language. Due to its subsequent circulation and broad appeal,

Jingdezhen Tao lu was not only canonized, but also made possible the canon on porcelain

because of its research.