|
 This
city on green hills in
northeastern Jiangxi
Province is world famous
for its elegant china.
Known as Xinping in
ancient times, the city
began to make porcelain
as early as the Han
Dynasty around 200 B.C.
During the reign of the
Emperor Jing De
(1004-1007) of the Song
Dynasty, all the
products made here bore
the reign mark of “Jingde,”
and the name of the city
was therefore changed to
Jingdezhen (Zhen in
Chinese means town). It
became a national
porcelain-producing
center in the Ming
Dynasty; its products,
estimated at hundreds of
thousands of pieces
every year, were
exported to many other
parts of the world. The
number of kilns at that
time ran to several
hundred. Four kilometers
southeast of the city
are the ruins of the
Hutian kiln, built
during the Yuan Dynasty.
Pieces of the blue and
white porcelain ware
first made in that
period were discovered
in the ruins of this
kiln, which covered some
forty square metres.
The china produced in
Jingdezhen in one
incidence id described
to be “as white as jade,
as thin as paper, as
bright as a mirror.” It
makes a bell-like sound
when struck. The
products are beautifully
designed and richly
decorated with mostly
traditional designs.
Varieties include the
well-known blue and
white porcelain and
another type produced by
putting openwork
decorations under a thin
layer of bright glaze to
intensify the effect of
transparency and
delicacy.
Jingdezhen’s products
are exported widely to
more than a hundred
countries. |
