China's Porcelain Capital: The Rise, Fall and Reinvention of Ceramics in Jingdezhen

摘要

The West has been familiar with the porcelain of China for centuries and most major museums and art galleries have collections of celadons from the Song dynasty, the blue-and-white of the Ming, and the export and armorial ware of the Qing. It is therefore strange that until relatively recently, the town of Jingdezhen, where most of the highest quality porcelain was produced, for both the court and commerce, was almost unknown outside China. Jingdezhen's inland location, away from the major commercial and tourist centres, is one reason; until the modernization of China's transport system the only way to travel there was by air or by boat.