Page 35 - Zhangzhou Or Swatow The Collection of Zhangzhou Ware at the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

The Trade of Zhangzhou Ware inhoudidddd

The Trade to the Indonesian Archipelago

Chinese porcelain was one of the most successful trade goods in the global network. The merchants, most of
them from the southern China provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, exported vast quantities of ceramics to
Japan and Korea, South East Asia, India, the Middle East, even East Africa.

The kilns, where Zhangzhou ware was made, were discovered in the southern province of Fujian. This province
has a long ceramic tradition. Particularly during the Song (907-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties private
kilns around Zhangzhou had produced qingbai wares and celadons for a local market as well as for export.

Zhanghou ware was not made for a local market. Almost no specimens were discovered by archaeological
surveys in Fujian province. But it is found in enormous quantities throughout the archipelago, Philippines and
Indonesia, and Japan. Obviously, it was produced mainly for the inter-Asian trade.

Zhangzhou is situated in the south of Fujian province, only around 50 km from the important seaport of
Yuegang, where shipments with ceramics would start.

When the Ming court had opened the new port of Yuegang in Zhangzhou county in the 1540’s, and the official
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trade ban was lifted in 1567, trade flourished immediately. By the end of the 16 century, more than 100 ships
each year sailed from Yuegang to Japan and many Southeast Asian destinations, serving different groups of
clients.

The same period saw a massive emigration from Chinese coastal provinces like Fujian to Southeast Asia;
Chinese communities settled there, but kept close commercial ties to their home province, thus establishing a
network of trade which facilitated the spread of Fujian export items like Zhangzhou ceramics to Southeast Asia.

The kilns of Zhangzhou started to fall in decline after the fall of the Ming in 1644. The final blow was dealt
when the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722) of the new dynasty ordered in 1662 an evacuation of all residents from
the coastal regions of Fujian and Guangdong. The strategy was to cut off any coastal support for the resistance
against the new dynasty of the Qing (1644-1911).

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