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Social and economic factors in the Chinese porcelain industry in Jingdezhen during the late Ming and early Qing period, Ca. 1620–1683

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Hsu Wen-Chin
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In the study of Chinese ceramics, the XVIIth century is a period of particular interest, when many changes took place which affected porcelain production in Jingdezhen, the porcelain centre in China. These were fluctuations in economic activity, social upheaval, political turmoil and foreign penetration in trade. However, very few records, dated material or archaeological finds of this period exist which can provide us with a better understanding. This problem is particularly acute from the late Wanli period (1573–1620) to the reinstatement of imperial supervision in Jingdezhen around 1683, the so-called Transitional Period. For this reason, there is still controversy about dating the porcelain of this period, one which has been overlooked, except for a couple of sentences in books on Chinese ceramic history. This attitude, popular in China, arises partly from the traditional neglect of folk wares, and also from the lack of material evidence available for study. Fortunately, Chinese porcelain of this period has been highly regarded by westerners from the day it reached their countries, and this long-lasting enthusiasm has resulted in several studies which have increased our knowledge of it.

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 120 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 135 - 159
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Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1988

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References

1 This painting of the late Ming period, entitled Nandu Fanhui Tu (Roaring Gathering in the Southern Capital), depicts the busy street and market scenery in and outside Nanking city; a proof of its being a thriving commercial and handicraft industrial centre in the late Ming period. This painting bears a spurious signature of Chiu Ying (ca. 1510–1551). Colour on silk, W. 44 cm, L. 350 cm. China Historical Museum, Peking.Google Scholar (See Hongjun, Wang, Liu Ruzhong “Mingdai Houqi Chengshi Jingji de Fanrong he Shehui Shenghuo de Bianhua—Mingren Hui Nandu Fanhui Tujuan de Chubu Yanjiu”Google Scholar (The Prosperity of Urban Economy and the Change of Social Life in Nanjing City During the Late Ming Period—the Preliminary Research on the Ming Painting Nandu Fanhui Tujuan), Chungguo Lishi Bowuguan Guankan (Bulletin of the China Historical Museum), no. 1, 1979.Google Scholar

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11 Guangbi, Li, “Mingdai Shougongye de Fazhan” (The Development of Handicraft Industry in the Ming Dynasty), in Zhongguo, vol. 1, pp. 31–46.Google Scholar

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15 Minghuidian, chapter 189, “Gongjiang” (Artisans and Craftsmen) section 2. (From Shiqi, Cheng, op. cit., p. 464).Google Scholar On average, there were, during the Ming dynasty, about 270,000 to 280,000 artisans and craftsmen registered with the government.

16 Qingshilu, chapter 16, on Shunzhi period. (Shiqi, Cheng, op. cit., p. 466).Google Scholar

17 Labour came from a number of areas around Jingdezhen, including Boyang, Leping, Fuliang, Anren, Dexin, Wannian, Yugan, Nanchang and Duchang. Pu, Lan, Jingdezhen Taolu, chapter 8, p. 161.Google Scholar (Hereafter cited as Taolu.)

18 Taolu, p. 162.Google Scholar The change in Jingdezhen had been very slow, therefore, the size and organization there is believed to have changed very little from the late Ming to the early Qing period. Apart from war time, early Qing conditions in Jingdezhen could be applied to that of the late Ming period. (See Miaotai, Liang, “Mingdai Houqi Jingdezhen Zhiciye Zhongde Ziben Zhuyi Mengya” [The Embryo of Capitalism in the Porcelain Industry in Jingdezhen during the Late Ming Period], Mingqing, p. 471.Google Scholar)

19 Pottery and Ceramic Research Institute of Jiangxi Province ed., Jingdezhen Taoci Shigao (Draft History of Jingdezhen Pottery and Porcelain) (hereafter cited as Draft History), Peking, 1956, p. 109.Google Scholar According to this source, one kiln in the Qing dynasty is believed to have been able to fire four times as many pieces of ware as a kiln in the Ming dynasty.

20 Ying, Tang, Taoye Tushuo, 1743.Google Scholar Quoted in Taoshuo, 1774,Google ScholarYan, Zhu. (Taoshuo, translated and annotated by Zhenglun, Fu, Peking, 1984, pp. 11–51.Google Scholar)

21 Shimao, Wang, (ca. 1573–1620), Eryou Weitan, in Shuofu Xubian, chapter 18, pen 142, p. 8a.Google Scholar The translation of the quotation is from The Pattern of The Chinese Past, by Elvin, Mark, Stanford, 1973, p. 285.Google Scholar

22 This rebellion against the Manchu government had spread in the Jiangnan region and the South-Western part of China. Sanfan Jishi Benmo (The Complete Account of the Three Feudatories), by Lurong, Yang, Shanghai, 1935.Google Scholar

23 Passages in Porcelain and the Dutch East India Company, by Volker, T., indicate this situation by saying that, in the year 1644,Google Scholar “because of internal troubles in China there would probably not be any fine porcelain shipped because the province where it was made was full of war”, and that “the masters of these ships (coming from Formosa) have lamented the war in China and ‘the great mortality among the porcelain makers’“. (Volker, T., Porcelain and the Dutch East India Company, Leiden, 1971, p. 50.Google Scholar) Information in Sanfan Jishi Benmo also reveals the involvement of potters in this war. For example, one passage states that during this rebellion, the pottery calligrapher Zhao Tingrui drowned himself because of his participation on the rebel side. (Sanfan Jishi Benmo, vol. 3, p. 4b.Google Scholar)

24 Mengzhu, Ye (ca. 1628–1700), Yueshipian, vol. 7.Google Scholar This book was published in about 1692. A passage on porcelain from this book is included in Mingdai Shehui Jingji Shiliao Xuanbian (Selected Sources for the Study of Social and Economic History of the Ming Dynasty), Guozhen, Xie ed., vol. 1, Fujian, 1980, p. 157.Google Scholar

25 Raozhou Fuzhi (Gazetter of Raozhou Prefecture), 1684, vol. 10, p. 80.Google ScholarFuliang Xianzhi (Gazetteer of Fuliang County), 1682,Google Scholar the chapter on pottery administration (Taozheng Pian).

26 Draft History, p. 108.Google ScholarTingyu, Zhang, Mingshi (History of the Ming Dynasty), Peking, 1974, p. 1999.Google Scholar

27 Taolu, chapter 10.

28 Draft History, pp. 108,Google Scholar 109.

29 This incense burner is illustrated in Transitional Wares and Their Forerunners, by Kilburn, Richard,Google Scholar pl. 56. The 1628 plate discussed below, in the collection of Mr. Morris Whitehouse, is illustrated in the same book, pl. 54, and in Oriental Blue and White by Garner, Harry, London 1979,Google Scholar pl. 59b.

30 For comparison, it is interesting to know that the Imperial Weaving and Manufacturing Bureaus in Suzhou and Hangzhou were officially closed down in 1627. As a result, according to written records, in the early Qing period, the buildings were crumbling and the factories were deserted. Zheyi, Peng, “Qingdai Qianqi Jiangnan Zhizhao” (The Textile Industry in the Jiangnan Area During the Early Qing Period), Lishi Yanjiu, 1963, no. 4, pp. 91,Google Scholar 92.

31 Passages in Taolu, chapter 3, reveal that the Qing dynasty imperial kilns were first constructed in 1655. In this year, an order for dragon jars was placed by the court, but the work was not completed. In 1660, another order was made for large dragon jars and terminals (or tiles), but again, this order was not fulfilled. In 1661, the imperial inspector in Jingdezhen appealed to the court to stop the operation of the imperial kilns.

32 Taolu, chapter 10.

33 Taoshuo, chapter 1, and Taolu, chapter 2.

34 This short story is included in Xingshi Hengyan by Menglong, Feng, and first published in 1627. Peking 1956Google Scholar edition, chapter 34.

35 See Christie's catalogue of Fine Chinese Export Porcelain, March 7, 1984,Google Scholar no. 268. Unfortunately this piece is not illustrated and the signature of the name of the potter (or pottery painter) has not been mentioned.

36 In Stoke-on-Trent the percentage of women workers in the pottery factories is as high as 60%. See “Tale of Two Cities”, Management Today, Oct. 1985, p. 152.Google Scholar

37 The subject of fictional themes on Transitional porcelain and their relationship with contemporary literature and woodblock prints has been studied by the present author. See my Ph.D dissertation “Representation of Fictional Themes on Chinese Transitional Porcelain (1620–ca.1683)—With Special Reference to the Romance of the Western Chamber”, LondonUniversity, 1984.Google Scholar Also by the same author, “Fictional Themes on Chinese Transitional Porcelain and Their Sources of Decoration”, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1986, pp. 1–146.Google Scholar

38 Taolu, chapter 3. According to this book, in Jingdezhen there were five kinds of yaohu (kiln household). These were:

a. Shao Yaohu—either kilns burning pine-faggots to produce rough wares, or brushwood to produce fine wares. This was also calledpeiyaohu (Raw Clay Household).

b. Dapei Yaohu—households firing raw ware made in other workshops. They either used pine-faggots or brushwood.

c. Shaolun Yaohu—Households firing their own-made raw wares and raw wares made in the other households.

d. Chai yaohu—workshops producing fine wares. These may include a, b, and c above.

e. Cha yaohu—households producing inferior wares. They may also include a, b, and c above.

39 Miaotai, Liang, op cit., p. 473.Google Scholar

40 Ibid. p. 473.

41 Fuliang Xianzhi, section on Pottery Workers.

42 Yingxing, Song, Tiangong Kaiwu, 1637; reprinted in Hong Kong, 1975, pp. 198–199.Google Scholar This book has been translated into English by Zen-Sun, E-Tu and Sun, Shiou-Chuan, as “T'ien-Kung K'ai-Wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century”, Pennsylvania, 1966.Google Scholar

43 Taoye Tushuo, op. cit., p. 75.Google Scholar

44 Information in Taolu throws light on the organization of the porcelain factories and the division of labour in the Qing period. According to this information, works were divided into five sections, yao (kiln), hu (household), gong (workers), zuo (establishment) and jia (specialist). A kiln comprised households, and there were five kinds of kiln households (see note 38). Each household employed numerous workers, from clay-milling workers to kiln firing workers, each of whom was a specialist. These skilled workers were divided into groups on the basis of their skill, and there could be up to seventeen groups of such kinds. In all there were eighteen porcelain establishments, and each was headed by a specialist known as jia. (Taolu, chapter 3, pp. 79–85)

45 Mingshi, chapter 6, Shihuo Zi (agriculture and commercial goods). Zheng Xiumeng etc., Jianming Zhongguo Jingji Tongshi (Outline of Chinese Economic History), Harbin, 1984, pp. 378, 396.Google Scholar

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47 According to the record in Fuliang Xianzhi, in 1528, fighting which resulted in deaths broke out between pottery workers from Leiping and kiln owners from Fuliang on the matter of payment. In 1605, pottery workers from Raozhou fought with the kiln owners from Duchang, over questions of poor working conditions and payment. (Draft History, pp. 239, 240.)Google Scholar

48 Fuliang Xianzhi, vol. 1,Google Scholar chapters on Custom (Fengsu Pian).

49 Draft History, pp. 121–122.Google Scholar

50 This blue and white vase is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 769–1883. It is well finished, and painted with the best quality copper blue of that time with a scene of scholars and female musicians playing music in a garden. The drawing is very fluent and skilful, and shows a distinct late Ming style and subject matter. This vase could be dated to the Chongzhen period (1627–1644). D. 20 cm; H. 44 cm.

51 Baochang, Geng, Mingqing Ciqi Handing (Appraisal of the Porcelain of the Ming and Qing Dynasties). Hong Kong 1984, p. 144.Google Scholar Mi Wanzhong was a contemporary of Dong Qichang (1555–1636), and a rival to him. They were known as “Nan Dong Bei Mi” (Dong of the South and Mi of the North).

52 Tiangong Kaiwu, op. cit., chapter 7, p. 196.Google Scholar

53 Taolu, chapter 4. The regulation of the Ming government was that a merchant should pay tax to the government before purchasing goods. On the day of trading, he should give the tax receipt to a middleman, who in turn checked the goods for him and made sure that nothing went wrong. This middleman also had the responsibility of reporting this trading deal to the government. In this way, the government could be sure of collecting each trade and commercial tax. Chongri, Liu and Yunpeng, Zuo, “Dui Yaren Yahang de Chubu Tantao” (The Preliminary Study on ‘Middleman’ and ‘Sales Agency’), Mingqing, p. 192.Google Scholar

54 Ever since the Song dynasty (906–1279), Huizhou merchants had been engaged in domestic trade, but it was not until the middle of the Ming dynasty that they came to play an important part. Their rise was mainly due to the salt trade, but this soon expanded to include other commodities, e.g. silk, tea, cotton, book printing, and porcelain. During the late Ming and early Qing period, their trading activities extended all over the country. Yiling, Fu, Mingqing Shidai Shangren Ji Shangye Ziben (Merchants and Commercial Capital During the Ming and Qing Dynasties). Peking, second edition, 1980, pp. 64,Google Scholar 65. Hiroshi, Fujii, “A Study of the Hsin-an Merchants”, Toyo Gakuho, 1953–1954, vol. 36,Google Scholar nos. 1,2,3.

55 Congri, Liu, Zuo Yunpeng, op. cit., pp. 187–204.Google Scholar

56 Because of the unreliability of the Ming dynasty official population registration record (Huangce, Yellow Book), the exact population in China during the late Ming and early Qing period is very difficult to know. According to the studies by Ho Ping-ti, the Chinese population in 1600 could have been as high as 150,000,000 (Ho, Ping-ti, Studies on the Population of China. Cambridge, Mass., 1959, pp. 23,Google Scholar 277). However, much lower figures were quoted by Shuye, Tong in his book History of the Development of Chinese Commercial Handicraft Industry.Google Scholar According to his information, the population in 1623 was about 51,650,000, and in 1664 was 19,000,000. These figures were suspected of being greatly underestimated. Whatever was the case, it is unquestionable that in the transition from the Ming to the Qing period, there was a dramatic drop in population in China, because of the widespread epidemics and the massacres of Han people carried out by the Manchus as a means of consolidating their power in China. (Elvin, Mark, op, cit., pp. 310,Google Scholar 311; and Shuye, Tong, op. cit., p. 283Google Scholar).

57 Shuye, Tong, op. cit., p. 255.Google Scholar

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59 Ibid., pp. 486,487.

60 Ibid., p. 487.

61 Mengzhu, Ye, op. cit., p. 157.Google Scholar

62 Volker, T., Porcelain and the Dutch East India Company as Recorded in the Dagh-Registers of Batavia Castle, Those of Hirado and Deshima and Other Contemporary Papers, 1602–1682. Leiden, 1954.Google Scholar Christie's, Amsterdam, , Fine and Important Late Ming and Transitional Porcelain Recently Discovered from an Asian Vessel in the South China Sea. The property of Captain Michael Hatcher. March 14, 1984.Google Scholar

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65 Wanli, Chen, “Songmo Qingchu Zhongguo Duiwai Maoyi Zhong de Ciqi” (Chinese Export Porcelain from the end of the Song Dynasty to the Early Qing Period), Wenwu, 1963,Google Scholar no, 1, p. 22. Volker, T., op. cit., pp. 59,Google Scholar 227.

66 Jingyan, Jia, “Mingdai Ciqi de Haiwai Maoyi” (Overseas Porcelain Trade of the Ming Dynasty), Zhongguo, vol. 1, pp. 47–51.Google Scholar

67 Draft History, pp. 252–253.Google Scholar This passage is quoted from Yehuobian by Shen Defu (1578–1642), in Yuanming Shiliao Biji Congkan, Peking, 1959,Google Scholar no. 1.

68 Dechang, Zhang, “Qingdai Yapian Zhangzheng Qian Zhi Zhongxi Yanhai Tongshang” (Sea Trade Between China and Western Countries in the Qing Dynasty Before the Opium War), Qinghua Xuebao, 1935, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 97–145.Google Scholar

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70 Elvin, Mark, op. cit., p. 284.Google Scholar In this book, Mark Elvin studies the question of why industrial revolution did not happen in China, and compares the development in the West.

71 Ho, Ping-ti, The Ladder of Success in Imperial China, pp. 86–91.Google Scholar Examples of artisans and merchants of the Ming and Qing period gaining official positions and raising their social status are given in this book, pp. 42–45,58,59.

72 Chin, Sandi and Hsu, Cheng-Chi, “Anhui Merchant Culture and Patronage”, in Shadows of Mt Huang: Chinese Painting and Printing of the Anhui School, Cahill, James ed., Berkeley, 1980, pp. 19–24.Google Scholar