Porcelain and Cultural Exchanges in China
2 min readBorn in China，porcelain becomes widely loved by people from all over the world due to its elegant shapes and exquisite decorations.With the spread of porcelain aroundthe world，the thousands years of splendid Chinese culture and art embodied by it also gets disseminated.During theprocess，porcelain not only acts as a window that enablespeople to know about China’s history，culture and art，but also as a bridge for the exchange and integration of Chinese and western cultures.
Chinese porcelain was exported overseas as early as the Eastern Han dynasty.During the Tang and Song dynasties，with the boom of economy and the expansion of exchanges with foreign countries，as well as the constant emergence of new porcelain products by famous kilns，porcelain exportation increased to a considerable scale.
Through the Maritime Silk Road，porcelain productions were continuously shipped to foreign countries，as has been demonstrated by all kinds of porcelain wares loaded on many wrecked ships found today.
Since the Yuan，Ming and Qing，“Zheng He’s Voyage to the Western Seas”from 1405 to 1433 was the first time in Chinese history that a government dispatched a huge fleet to South Pacific，Indian Ocean，Persian Gulf and distant Africa for the goals of establishing relations with other countries，expanding trade contacts and looking for treasures to satisfy the desire of the sovereign for luxuries.
It was during this period that Chinese porcelain came into fashion in the west，and more and more upper-class Europeans commissioned porcelain wares from China.
They were not only interested in traditional Chinese decorative motifs and styles，but also provided western-styled patterns and motifs to decorate the porcelain.Such practice perfectly combined Chinese and western cultures together，the best example being the diversified emblem porcelain wares.These wares were painted with coat of arms of European royal families，aristocrats and military troops，and were indeed important evidence of the cultural exchanges between China and the western countries.
In addition to the customized emblem porcelain，Chinese businessmen also noticed other preferences of westerners，and applied motifs from famous western paintings，Greek and Roman myths and legends，and even the Bible onto Chinese porcelain.These export porcelain wares marked with western features promoted cultural exchanges between east and west.
