The Ming Dynasty was the golden age of porcelain making. Each area and/or city in China that produced porcelain had its own specialty.
Most of the porcelain products that Admiral Zheng He took on his voyages were from China’s capital of porcelain in Jingdezhen.
By the time of the Ming Dynasty, there were about 20 kilns in Jingdezhen producing porcelain for the exclusive use of the Imperial family.
However, porcelain was also produced for the common people and for trade.
Again, the process of porcelain production was similar to a modern day assembly line. Sorry, Ford.
Chinese porcelain became famous throughout the world. Merchants from all of Europe and the Middle East were doing business with China.
For example, the amount of china one nation, the Netherlands, imported came to about 16 million pieces.
While Zheng He was on his voyages, the Forbidden City, the largest palace in the world, was being built in Beijing. Classical Chinese construction involved eight separate tasks, which have changed little in thousands of years.
Jin Hongkui, Deputy Curator of the Palace Museum says, “The golden yellow tiles of the Forbidden City contain many details that might go unnoticed by a less observant eye.
“For instance, each tile on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony has a miniature dragon sculpted on the tile’s head…
“These small details are a sharp contrast to the grand scale of the palace and this highlights the harmony of artistic and architectural effort that went into the Forbidden City.”
At the same time, the Temple of Heaven was being built in another part of Beijing.
Return to Ming Dynasty (1368-1643 AD) – Part 2, 1/3
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse 
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