Who did China trade porcelain with?

Porcelains were only a small part of the trade—the cargos were full of tea, silks, paintings, lacquerware, metalwork, and ivory. … While silver forms probably served as the original source for many of the forms that were reproduced in porcelain, it is now thought that wooden models were provided to the Chinese potters.

Porcelain Promoted China’s International Trade But in the Song era (960–1279), Chinese porcelain was exported in unprecedented quantities thanks to the prosperous maritime trade. China was then the most prosperous technologically advanced country in the world.

Porcelain, one of the many secrets of China, became a coveted trading item along the silk roads starting in Han China (25-220 AD). “Since ancient times, porcelain has been considered China’s fifth great invention — the others being the compass, gun powder, movable type, and paper” (Yuanyuan).

Chinese ceramics were first exported in large quantities during the Song dynasty (960-1279). The government supported this as an important source of revenue. Early in the period, ports were established in Guangzhou (Canton), Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo to facilitate commercial activity.

What was porcelain used for in ancient China? … In the ancient world porcelain was a necessity. For everyday use, it was used to create cups, plates, and other useful items. Exquisite, high-quality porcelains were usually housed as decoration or served as gifts.

This true, or hard-paste, porcelain was made from petuntse, or china stone (a feldspathic rock), ground to powder and mixed with kaolin (white china clay). … During the firing, at a temperature of about 1,450 °C (2,650 °F), the petuntse vitrified, while the kaolin ensured that the object retained its shape.

After this, a number of European nations established companies trading with the countries of East Asia, the most significant for the porcelain being the Dutch East India Company or VOC. Between 1602 and 1682 the company carried between 30 and 35 million pieces of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain.

Under the system, the Qianlong Emperor restricted trade with foreigners on Chinese soil only for licensed Chinese merchants (Cohongs), while the British government on their part issued a monopoly charter for trade only to the British East India Company.

Though domestic trade moved in all directions, foreign trade was pretty one-sided. Qing China had an incredibly favorable balance of trade with Western countries, meaning China exported way more than it imported. The most important foreign good China imported was not a good at all but a currency: silver, to be exact.

Porcelain was introduced to Central Asia via the Silk Road during the 9th century. … During the Yuan (1279 – 1368) dynasty under Mongolian control, the porcelain development continued without any disturbance. Furthermore, a reduced home demand enabled a flourishing export trade to be built up.

Porcelain was invented during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 BC) at a place called Ch’ang-nan in the district of Fou-Iiang in China. Scientists have no proof of who invented porcelain. They only know when it was invented by dating objects of porcelain they find.

Chinese porcelain influenced the ceramics of importing countries, and was in turn, influenced by them. For example, importers commissioned certain shapes and designs, and many more were developed specifically for foreign markets; these often found their way in to the repertory of Chinese domestic items.

Chinese export porcelain or Canton ware is known by many names. You would recognize a piece of it if you had one from its characteristic blue and white color, so don’t let all the different names fool you.

Distinguished porcelain production areas in China include Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, Liling in Hunan, Dehua in Fujian, Shiwan in Guangdong, Tangshan in Hebei and Zibo in Shandong, etc.. Blue and white porcelain, blue and white rice pattern porcelain, powder doped color decorated porcelain and colored glaze porcelain are …

Today, porcelain’s application has been extended to various fields. In electronics, porcelain (and ceramic derivatives) is widely used for insulating material due to its excellent non-conductivity. … In medicine, porcelain is used in dentistry for caps/crowns, also known as “porcelain jackets”.

Porcelain has a high level of mechanical resistance, low porosity and high density, which, on a daily basis, provide it with durability, innocuity, soft touch and beauty. It is a unique product, for it is important that you know the differences when related to other ceramic materials.

China vs Porcelain Actually, the two terms describe the same product. The term “china” comes from its country of origin, and the word “porcelain” comes from the Latin word “porcella,” meaning seashell. It implies a product which is smooth, white, and lustrous.

Both tiles are clay-based and kiln-fired, but porcelain is technically a specialized type of ceramic. The clays used to make porcelain have a higher density and are fired longer at a higher temperature than ceramic.

It is thought that the first porcelain was made by firing the ceramic materials to the necessary temperature. By so doing, they made a kind of light but strong ceramic that was preferable for artistic and decorative purposes, and it has been in high demand ever since.

Merchants traded grain, wool, fish, wine, and copper from one area of Europe to another. Major shippers: Venetian, Genoese, Catalan and Hanseatic (German) shippers; merchants from Flanders, Venice and Genoa; Catalan & Hanseatic merchants after the mid-13th century.

The East India Company, which monopolized the British Asian trade for over 200 years, made Calcutta and Canton its key bases. It shipped textiles and opium from India to China in exchange for tea, silk, and porcelain for English consumption.

The Europeans of course were not shipping the silver to China as an act of donation or charity. They were getting goods in return, such as silk, porcelain, and later especially tea.

The North Riverbank in Ningbo (nowadays known as the Old Bund), was the first in China, opening in 1844, 20 years before the Shanghai bund.

Manchu, also called Man, people who lived for many centuries mainly in Manchuria (now Northeast) and adjacent areas of China and who in the 17th century conquered China and ruled for more than 250 years.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, under the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), China produced tea, silk, porcelain and other goods for European consumption on an unprecedented scale. Although Europe had always had an appetite for Eastern luxuries, two main factors facilitated the explosion of trade at this time.

Qing conquest and administrative rule (1720–1912) The Qing rule over Tibet was established after a Qing expedition force defeated the Dzungars who occupied Tibet in 1720, and lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.

Silk Road, also called Silk Route, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the Silk Road.

Chinese Technologies Introduced into the West via Silk Road The Chinese Four Great Inventions (paper making, printing, gunpowder and compass) as well as the skills of silkworm breeding and silk spinning were transmitted to the West.

Merchants on the silk road transported goods and traded at bazaars or caravanserai along the way. They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas.

Though evidence for its existence dates to as early as the 8th century AD, it is thought that the true evolution and development of this ceramic technique only fully came to be realized in the Tang Dynasty, and reached the zenith of its glory during the Qing Dynasty.

Porcelain was unknown to European potters prior to the importation of Chinese wares during the Middle Ages. … After mixing glass with tin oxide to render it opaque, European craftspeople tried combining clay and ground glass. These alternatives became known as soft-paste, glassy, or artificial porcelains.

The term ‘china’ comes from its country of origin, and the word ‘porcelain’ comes from the Latin word ‘porcella,’ meaning seashell. … The first porcelain used for vessels was made of kaolin clay combined with granite in China—hence the familiar name—many centuries ago.

Porcelain was white gold, valued for both its durability and its delicacy, and also prized for its exotic origins. Marco Polo first brought it to Europe, from China, in the fourteenth century: a small gray-green jar amid his bounty of silk brocades, spices, and vials of musky scents.

The Ming dynasty was known for its wealth, cultural expansion and vases. But, what made its porcelain so valuable? … But it was the improved enamel glazes of the early Qing dynasty, fired at a higher temperature, that acquired a more brilliant look than those of the Ming dynasty.

Canton or Cantonese porcelain is the characteristic style of ceramic ware decorated in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong and (prior to 1842) the sole legal port for export of Chinese goods to Europe. As such, it was one of the major forms of exportware produced in China in the 18th and 20th centuries.

Compared to bone china, porcelain tends to be significantly heavier and more brittle, which can lead to chipping.

Blue and white porcelainChinese blue and white jar, Ming dynasty, mid-15th centuryChinese青花瓷Literal meaning”blue and white porcelain”showTranscriptions