Jingdezhen porcelain () is Chinese porcelain produced in or near Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province in southern China. Jingdezhen may have produced pottery as early as the sixth century CE, though it is named after the reign name of Emperor Zhenzong, in whose reign it became a major kiln site, around 1004. By the 14th century it had become the largest centre of production of Chinese porcelain, which it has remained, increasing its dominance in subsequent centuries.Vainker, 176, 216; Rawson, 238–239, 242 From the Ming period onwards, official kilns in Jingdezhen were controlled by the emperor, making imperial porcelain in large quantity for the court and the emperor to give as gifts.
Porcelain production in Jingdezhen was divided into two distinct systems: Imperial Kiln Factory () and the private kilns (). The Imperial Kiln Factory was officially established in 1369 during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty, located at Zhushan (Pearl Hill) in the city center. It was directly administered by the court and produced porcelain exclusively for the imperial household. These wares were subject to strict quality control; defective pieces were destroyed on-site to prevent them from entering the market. The factory operated regardless of cost, prioritizing artistic excellence over commercial considerations.
Although apparently an unpromising location for potteries, being a remote town in a hilly region, Jingdezhen is close to the best quality deposits of petuntse, more contemporarily called pottery stone’Phase Composition And Morphology Of Pottery Stone Microcrystalline Powders Synthesized By Hydrothermal Method’ A. Larpkasemsuk, S. Chuayjuljit, D. Pongkao Kashima. Advanced Materials Research (Volume 664) ’Effects Of Analcime Zeolite Synthesized From Local Pottery Stone As Nucleating Agent On Crystallization Behaviors And Mechanical Properties Of Isotactic Polypropylene’ S. Chuayjuljit, A. Larpkasemsuk, P. Chaiwutthinan, D. Pongkao Kashima, A. Boonmahitthisud. Journal Of Vinyl And Additive Technology. Volume24, Issues. Special Issue: Additives And Fillers, May 2018. Pages E85-E95‘State Of Flux - Feldspar Developments Continue Apace.’ Asian Ceramics. September 2002, pp. 32–33, 35, 37.‘Refinement Of The Low-Grade Pottery Stone By Hydrothermal Treatment.’ K.Kimura, H.Tateyama, K.Jinnai. Deutsche Keramische Gesellschaft. Proc. Silicer '90 Nurnberg, 26–28 September 1990, p. 103–110. in China, as well as being surrounded by forests, mostly of pine, providing wood for the kilns. It also has a river leading to river systems flowing north and south, facilitating transport of fragile wares.Vainker, 176 The imperial kilns were in the centre of the city at Zhushan (Pearl Hill), with many other kilns four kilometres away at Hutian.Krahl
It has produced a great variety of pottery and porcelain, for the Chinese market and as Chinese export porcelain, but its best-known high quality porcelain wares have been successively Qingbai ware in the Song and Yuan dynasties, blue and white porcelain from the 1330s, and the "famille rose" and other "famille" colours under the Qing dynasty.
Official kilns The Mongol Yuan dynasty established a body, the "Fuliang Porcelain Bureau" to regulate production, and the next Ming dynasty established official kilns to produce porcelain for the emperor; Jingdezhen continued to produce Imperial porcelain until the end of Imperial rule.Vainker, 176–178 (in more detail 176–213) The imperial kilns were situated at Pearl Hill (Zhushan) in Jingdezhen; some scholars give a date of 1369 for the commencement of production.Kerr, 16, 132 But there continued to be many other kilns, producing wares for many distinct markets.Vainker, 195
The imperial court, except during periods of crisis, generated a huge demand for porcelain. Apart from the vast main palaces and other residences, for much of the period the many princes had subsidiary regional courts. There were imperial temples to be supplied, each of which was given monochrome wares in different colours, as well as several monasteries and shrines. The porcelain to which different ranks of the imperial household were entitled were set out in minute detail in regulations. The final version of these, from 1899, specified that the Empress Dowager Cixi was allowed 821 pieces of yellow porcelain, while the Empress had 1,014. A concubine of the first rank had 121 pieces of yellow with a white interior, but those of the second rank had yellow decorated with green dragons.Vainker, 211 Ming
The Ming dynasty is normally dated as beginning in 1368, but there was a long revolt against the Yuan dynasty, and Jingdezhen was lost by them in 1352.Vainker, 180. Usually, but not always, the "Yuan period" stops at 1352 for Jingdezhen. By 1402 there were twelve imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, then one of three areas with imperial kilns. Production was controlled by a ministry in the capital, by then in Beijing, far to the north. Production was on a huge scale, employing hundreds if not thousands of workers, whose tasks were divided into several specialities to increase efficiency and consistency. In 1433 a single order from the palace was for 443,500 pieces of porcelain, all with dragon and phoenix designs. Court artists were by now supplying drawn or woodblock printed designs from the capital. These enormous quantities were distributed by the palace to the subsidiary courts of the many Ming princes sent to govern provinces, as well as being presented as gifts to other notables, and sent abroad as diplomatic gifts. Some may also have been sold, especially for export.Ming, 86–89 Sometimes antique pieces in the Imperial collection were sent to Jingdezhen to be copied.Valenstein, 287
A recently excavated Ming princely burial has yielded the first example to survive until modern times of a type of gaiwan set known from 15th-century paintings. There is a blue and white Jingdezhen stem cup, that has a silver stand and a gold cover (this dated 1437), all decorated with dragons. Presumably many such sets existed, but recycling the precious metal elements was too tempting at some point, leaving only the porcelain cups.Ming, 87 Other imperial porcelains may have carried gilding, which has now worn away.Vainker, 186
Under the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424), reign marks were introduced for the first time, applied to porcelain and other types of luxury products made for the imperial court.Vainker, 186–187; Ming, 167 The supremacy of Jingdezhen was reinforced in the mid-15th century when the imperial kilns producing Longquan celadon, for centuries one of China's finest wares, were closed after celadons fell from fashion.Ming, 97, 100 Apart from the much smaller production of monochrome stoneware "official Jun" wares from Henan, used in the palace for flowerpots and the like, Jingdezhen was now the only area making imperial ceramics.Ming, 92–99
A wide variety of wares were produced for the court, with blue and white (initially ignored by the court but acceptable by 1402) accompanied by red and white wares using a copper-based underglaze red. This was sometimes combined with the cobalt blue in blue and red pieces.Ming, 86; Vainker, 184–186 Under the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426–1435) a copper-red monochrome glaze was used for ceremonial wares, of which very few survive. These ceased to be produced after his death, and have never been perfectly imitated, despite later attempts. This suggests the close personal interest some emperors took in the imperial potteries, and also that some secrets must have been restricted to a small group of potters.Vainker, 187–188 The Ru ware of the Song dynasty had a similar pattern. In this reign enamel or overglaze decoration was developed, which was to dominate the finer wares in future centuries.Vainker, 187
In the late Ming period, the reigns of the five emperors from 1488 to 1620, there was little innovation in styles of decoration, though some alterations in the colours used. In this period the enormous quantities of porcelain made in China seem to have led to low prices and a loss of prestige, at court and in Chinese society in general. Those who could afford to do so still ate from gold, silver or jade;Vainker, 195 it was in the Islamic world, where the Quran forbad tableware in precious metal, that rulers ate from Chinese porcelain. One disgraced official, whose goods were seized in 1562, had his valuable items confiscated, but not his collection of 45,000 pieces of porcelain, which were sold with his other effects. By the reign of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1573–1620) there was a serious decline in quality.Vainker, 199
However the same period saw the spread of porcelain collecting among the scholar-gentry, who were mostly interested in older pieces, though generally not going further back than the Song. This is not the first period of antiquarianism and archaism in Chinese taste, but it has proved long-lasting, and had a considerable effect on subsequent production, producing waves of revivalism, imitation and much downright fakery—the three often being hard to distinguish.Vainker, 195–199; Valenstein, 282–287
Transitional wares
As the Ming dynasty declined, with serious military and financial crises, the imperial court ceased to support the official Jingdezhen kilns, which were largely left to find their own funds from other markets. This situation lasted from 1620 to 1683, when the new Qing dynasty, after some decades struggling with Ming forces, finally resumed large-scale use of Jingdezhen for official wares under the Kangxi emperor (r. 1662–1722). The larger kilns and a major part of the town were destroyed in 1674 by Ming forces after the Revolt of the Three Feudatories had become a civil war.Kerr, 16 From 1680 to 1688 the reconstruction of the industry was under the control of Zang Yingxuan from the Qing Board of Works. Organised production of court porcelain had resumed by 1683, and the institution of forced labour replaced by waged employment. Succeeding controllers were appointed by the provincial administration up until 1726, when Beijing appointed Nian Xiyao.Kerr, 18–19
Wares of this interim period are often called "Transitional", and include the Tianqi porcelain mostly made for the Japanese market. The effect on the Jingdezhen potters was "liberating", as the range of subject matter in decoration greatly expanded. Printed books had become much more widely available, and were used, directly or indirectly, as sources for scenes on porcelain. Conveniently for the historian, many pieces began to be dated. Towards the end of the period the first famille rose porcelains appeared; the various colour "families" were to dominate production for the luxury market under the Qing.Vainker, 199–200
Qing
The imperial kilns were revived with 6 kilns and 23 workshops, dividing the other parts of the production process between them. Massive orders for the imperial palaces and temples resumed. While imperial taste in decoration remained somewhat conservative, the technical quality of Kangxi imperial wares reached new heights.Vainker, 200–202 The imperial kilns led the development of the new palettes of overglaze enamels; famille verte, developed in two phases, was followed by famille rose, and later others. There was also development of subtle, varied and mottled glazes for monochrome pieces. Sang de boeuf glaze was a copper oxide red, as was peachbloom glaze, which was probably blown onto the piece as powder. These were the last major technical innovations at Jingdezhen, along with a technique for firing gold onto porcelain, rather than mercury gilding completed pieces.Vainker, 200–207; Valenstein, 219-242