Jingdezhen Porcelain

By

For over 2,000 years, Jingdezhen is known as the Porcelain Capital of the world. Originally known as Xinpin, its name was changed when Emperor Jingde (1004-1007) of the Southern Song dynasty, decreed all the pieces made for court to be marked ‘made in the Jingde period’.The porcelain industry experienced further development at Jingdezhen during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when skills became perfected and the quality refined; government kilns were set up to cater exclusively to the need of the imperial house.For centuries, the city has been considered to be China’s most important center for porcelain production. Ceramics were produced here as far back as the Han dynasty (206-220BC). The imperial porcelain was so exquisite that it was described as being “as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, with a sound as clear as a bell”.Today, Jingdezhen remains a national center for porcelain production. The most famous types of porcelain from Jingdezhen are the blue and white porcelain, which has been produced since the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368AD) and the rice-patterned porcelain that was introduced in the Song dynasty. Jingdezhen, the ancient ceramics metropolis, has been regenerated with new vigor since the founding of New China. It now boasts a ceramic research institute and a ceramic museum in addition to five kaolin quarries, 15 porcelain factories, two porcelain machinery plants, one porcelain chemical plant, two refractory materials factories and dozens of porcelain processing works.