Chapter 25 Section 11 Export of Song Dynasty Porcelain

The government of the Song Dynasty was more aware of the benefits of trade with overseas countries than the Tang Dynasty.At the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, it attached great importance to overseas trade and set up a special management agency for overseas trade. This measure standardized and regularized the foreign sales of porcelain.In the fourth year of Kaibao (AD 971), the Shibo Division was established in Guangzhou, and later in the important port cities of Mingzhou, Hangzhou, and Quanzhou on the southeast coast.Sixteen years after the founding of the country, that is, the first year of Taiping Xingguo (AD 976), the Shuyi Office ("Song History·Zhang Xun Biography") was established.In addition to setting up these yamen agencies specializing in overseas trade, people around the emperor (such as internal servants) were also sent to the South China Sea with valuables such as official letters (emperors), gold and silk, to solicit business, and some even brought empty money. The imperial edict, which is today's blank letter of introduction, is to be filled out after arriving in a certain country, and precious gifts such as gold and silk will be rewarded to the leaders of the Tibetan country, and local spices, borneols, rhinoceros teeth, pearls and other precious goods will be bought back.These proactive measures are very beneficial to promoting the development of Chinese and foreign trade activities, especially the export of porcelain.

The Song Dynasty, from the beginning of Zhao Kuangyin, implemented the national policy of emphasizing literature and refraining from military affairs. The soldiers have no permanent generals, and the generals have no permanent soldiers. The armed forces have always been weak. Therefore, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, they faced the invasion and attack of the Liao people and Xixia armed groups; The corrupt Northern Song regime was destroyed in a violent way.The court of the Southern Song Dynasty, who was partial to Hangzhou, did not think about making progress. Although it was only half of the country, the extravagance and corruption were not restrained at all.Due to the shrinking of the ruling area, the loss of the rich Central Plains and Guanzhong, and the increasingly heavy military expenditure, in order to increase fiscal revenue, the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty paid more attention to overseas trade than the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty.In the seventh year of Shaoxing (1137 A.D.), Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, issued an oracle saying: "Shiship (referring to maritime trade) is the most profitable. If it is handled properly, the income will be in the millions."In the 16th year of Shaoxing (1146 A.D.), an imperial decree was issued saying: The profits of the city ship are quite helpful to the country, and it is advisable to follow the old law to attract bribes from distant people (see "Song Huiyao Collection").In order to carry out maritime trade, the Song government appointed officials as businessmen and promoted some experienced and capable businessmen to manage this matter.It is an ordinary businessman, as long as he is active in business and can attract foreign businessmen to do business, he can compensate officials according to the goods he withdraws from the government and the amount of interest he receives. Even big food (Arab) businessmen can also work for officials.For example, Luo Xin, a big food merchant, sold 300,000 mins of frankincense, and Cai Jingfang, the leader of the Chinese caravan (called Gangshou), lured ships and received 980,000 mins in interest. They all got an official position called Cheng Xinlang.Pu Shougeng, an Arab businessman, was very capable. He was good at both business and management. The government of Song Dynasty appointed him as Quanzhou Shipping Secretary, and under his management, Quanzhou's overseas trade flourished.Until the Mongols came and the Yuan government ruled Quanzhou, instead of killing him, they let him continue to be in charge of the overseas trade work of the Shibo Department.

In this context, the establishment of porcelain kiln handicraft workshops in the Song Dynasty paid great attention to the choice of transportation lines, especially around coastal port cities. A large group of workshops appeared, producing products with similar artistic styles, forming a huge porcelain kiln system, which did not exist in the Tang Dynasty.In the Song Dynasty, Guangzhou, Chaozhou, Mingzhou, Quanzhou, Wenzhou and other cities developed vigorously, and the layout of Longquan Kiln, Jinhua Kiln, Xicun Kiln, Chaozhou Kiln, Dehua Kiln, Jian Kiln, Jingdezhen Hutian Kiln, Tongan Kiln and other kiln systems were all vigorously developed. To illustrate this point.China's coast is like an open fan. These important port cities are inlaid on the curved coastline, and the porcelain kilns around them form a large scale, such as the Dehua kiln system, Chaozhou kiln system, and Xicun kiln system. risen.Longquan Kiln is not by the sea, but it is easy to go to Wenzhou and Mingzhou (Ningbo) through the Oujiang River.Jingdezhen is on the fan handle, and other kilns are on the fan bone. It is not difficult to go to the port city to go to sea by land and water.Zhao Rushi in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote a book "Zhu Fan Zhi". He was promoted by the Bosi of Fujian Road City. He knew the situation of overseas trade, personally asked Zhu Hujia (foreign businessmen) for investigation, translated it in Chinese, and wrote this book. book.He learned that 56 countries and regions had trade relations with China, and foreign businessmen came to China to buy goods, including porcelain. According to Zhao Rushi's records, there were 15 countries and regions.According to the survey of place names in the South China Sea, the names of countries and places listed in Zhao Rushi's book include today's Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and Tanzania in eastern Africa.In fact, the export of Song Dynasty porcelain was far more than these regions. For example, Japan, North Korea, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Afghanistan, Iran and other countries that sold a lot of Song Dynasty porcelain were not mentioned.

Japan: Chinese porcelain was introduced to Japan very early, and more Japanese porcelain was imported in the Song Dynasty.Song porcelain has been found almost all over Japan.Mainland Japan, Kyushu, Shikoku to Okinawa and coastal islands.Especially for the Fukuoka subway project, archaeologists have cleared out the porcelain fragments of the Song Dynasty in China batch after batch.The level of these porcelain relics varies from high to low, and quite a lot of them are products of porcelain kilns in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong, such as the Cizao kiln by the sea in Quanzhou, Fujian. The products of this kiln are rough and hard, and some of them are brown underglaze.The technique of painting porcelain is quite similar to that of Cizhou kilns in the north, that is, using traditional Chinese ink painting techniques to draw broad-leaved plants and flowers in the tropical scenery of Fujian, and apply gray celadon glaze.Compared with the famous kilns of the Song Dynasty, the level is not high, and the price may be low. In addition, there are many green-glazed pottery wares produced by Cizao kiln.Black-glazed porcelain bowls, cups, and pots from the north and the south, and similar utensils also include works with brown-black glaze, caramel glaze, and low-temperature lead glaze.Some of these porcelains are from Guangdong, Anhui, and Zhejiang, and some are from Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, and Shaanxi.Relatively high level products include Fujian Dehua Kiln, Jianyang Kiln, Tongan Kiln, Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen and its surrounding porcelain kilns.The white porcelain, blue and white porcelain of Dehua Kiln, and the black porcelain of Jianyang Kiln are called Tianmu by Japanese scholars.The celadon with patterned grate and dot pattern in Tong'an kiln is called pearl celadon by Japanese scholars.The highly artistic works include the Ding Kiln in Hebei. When I visited Japan, I saw fine white and black porcelain from the Ding Kiln in the porcelain unearthed from the Fukuoka Subway, especially the exquisite Heiding Porcelain (fragment), which was produced in the Song Dynasty. Rare, hard to see, it's amazing to be unearthed in Japan.Fragments of Yue kiln porcelain in the early Song Dynasty were also found at the ancient cultural sites near Fukuoka Heiwadai Stadium.A large number of Chinese porcelains of good quality have been unearthed in various parts of Japan, including the products of Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen and its surrounding areas, such as the products of Qilizhen Kiln and Longquan Kiln in Ganzhou.Jingdezhen celadon includes bowls, plates, cups, saucers, boxes, bottles, and pots, while Longquan celadon mainly includes bowls, plates, bottles, and jars.There is another kind of utensil that cannot be seen in China, that is, the sutra tube, some of which are finely made, and the shape of the utensil is a slender straight tube. There are smooth carved and scratched flowers on the body, and the pattern is mostly lotus. There are various types of covers.More than 300 pieces have been unearthed and preserved in various places in Japan. The kilns produced still need to be carefully inspected. Most of them were produced in the late Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty. It is estimated that they were produced in Jingdezhen, or near Jingdezhen, or in Dehua kilns in Fujian. So far, there is no conclusion. .So far, no such sutra tubes have been unearthed from tombs or cultural sites in various parts of China. The sutra tubes may have been ordered to be burnt by the Japanese who came to the Song Dynasty.Unearthed at the same time as the sutra tubes are high-quality bluish-white porcelain boxes, covered jars, plates, basins, water injections and other utensils, all of which are very small in size.These innumerable discoveries show that Song porcelain was imported into Japan in large quantities and is deeply loved by the Japanese people.

Pakistan is a close neighbor of China, which is equivalent to the Tang and Song Dynasties. Its economy was very developed, and it has been an important transportation route for maritime trade in my country since the Tang and Song Dynasties.Through it, ships can reach countries in South Asia and West Asia.There are a lot of Song porcelains left in the country's important commercial and trade cities, or sea port cities, some left over after being damaged during transshipment, and some left over after being bought by local people and broken during daily use.In the ruins of Braminabad, the city was an important commercial center in the Indus Valley from the 7th to the 11th century. An earthquake occurred in the early 11th century, and the city was destroyed by a major earthquake.Archaeological excavations by British archaeologists unearthed fragments of living utensils such as celadon, white and brown glazed porcelain from the Tang and Song dynasties.The Barker site is an ancient cultural site in the Keerwa area of ​​the Makulan Mountains. Since the 1920s, European archaeologists have discovered fragments of blue and white porcelain in the early Northern Song Dynasty at this site.Between the two ancient economically developed cities of Karachi and Datta, there is a famous ancient cultural site called Gbagbo. Pakistani archaeologists have systematically conducted archaeological surveys and excavations since 1950.According to archaeological reports, on the hilly land of the Babo Mountains, Chinese porcelain pieces from the 9th century to the early 12th century can be seen almost everywhere.Most notable are the 10th-century Yue kiln celadon wares, some of high quality and finely lined.The bluish-white porcelain with lotus petals carved in relief may come from the Chaozhou kiln in Guangdong, as well as the bluish-white porcelain from Jingdezhen.Longquan celadon played an important role in export porcelain during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and high-quality Longquan celadon was also discovered at the Babo site.

Sri Lanka, a beautiful and rich island country, a shining pearl in the Indian Ocean, has a long history of culture. It is separated from India by the Palk Strait, and it is the only place for Chinese ships to go to the Arabian region.The Jaffna peninsula is a place where seagoing ships berth in the past, and it is also a transshipment station for Chinese ceramics and other commodities. Thousands of Tang Dynasty Yue Kiln, Changsha Kiln, celadon and celadon underglaze porcelain in Guangdong have been unearthed from the ancient ruins. White porcelain and three-color glazed pottery from Xing Kiln, Quyang Kiln and Gongxian Kiln in the north.The import of porcelain in the Song Dynasty will not be less than that in the Tang Dynasty.In the "Xinlan" article of Zhao Rushi's "Zhu Fan Zhi" in the Southern Song Dynasty, it is said: "Fan Shang Bo Yi uses porcelain and other goods as goods."In ancient cultural sites such as Jaffna Peninsula, Higri, and Bologna Nuwana, celadon from Changsha Kiln, white porcelain from Dehua Kiln in Fujian, celadon from Qingbai Kiln, and celadon from Longquan Kiln were found.

In Southeast Asia, Song porcelain has been unearthed in almost every country, and the influence of Song Dynasty ceramic craftsmanship can be seen everywhere.For example, Song Hulu ware in Thailand developed under the influence of the red and green color crafts of the Cizhou kiln system in the Song and Jin Dynasties.More Chinese Song Dynasty porcelains have been unearthed in various places in Vietnam, especially Longquan celadon is very popular among Vietnamese people.The porcelain handicraft industry developed in Vietnam mainly learns from Longquan celadon and manufactures bowls, plates, plates, and jars used in daily life.Not only the shape of the utensils is from Longquan, but also the content of engraving, scratching and pattern is from Longquan. Many works need to be carefully identified to distinguish Chinese Longquan celadon from Vietnamese celadon.It can be said that what is produced by Longquan celadon in China will soon be able to produce any shape by Vietnamese kiln workers.

A large number of Song Dynasty porcelains have been unearthed in Malaysia. These porcelains are mainly blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen, Longquan celadon, white porcelain and blue and white porcelain from Dehua Kiln, celadon and blue and white porcelain from Guangdong and Fujian, and white glaze from Fujian, Jiangxi and northern Hebei and Henan. Black flower porcelain, black porcelain.Famous porcelain kilns in Guangdong and Fujian such as Chaozhou Kiln, Xicun Kiln, Quanzhou Dongmen Kiln, Cizao Kiln’s celadon, blue and white porcelain, gray underglaze porcelain and porcelain imitating Cizhou Kiln.Collected in the Sarawak Museum, there are nearly a million pieces of porcelain fragments unearthed in Shengtubang, Sanjibuya, Sanjigaang, Niah Grottoes and other places over the past few decades.The largest quantity is all kinds of blue and white porcelain and celadon, Longquan celadon and celadon from Fujian area are also in large quantities, as well as black porcelain and white glaze, gray celadon glaze and black flower porcelain.Utensils include bowls, plates, dishes, boxes, washers, pots, bottles, cans, etc.The Buji Batu Lindeng site is located in the south of the Morbao River estuary in Malaysia. Archaeologists excavated the unearthed porcelain with printed blue and white porcelain of high quality. Some were produced in Jingdezhen and its surrounding areas, and some were produced in Fujian Dehua Kiln.

Brunei, in the north of Kalimantan Island, borders Sarawak, Malaysia. In the early 1950s, archaeological excavations were carried out at the famous ancient capital site Kedabadu, and celadon from southern China was found. According to the characteristics described by the excavators, such as The exposed part of the celadon rim is beige red, and beige red is what Chinese ceramic researchers call flint red and yellow clothes.Longquan celadon is the best porcelain with this feature, and it is also the most found overseas.In addition, the Dongmen Kiln in Quanzhou, Fujian, learned the style of Longquan celadon and produced a kind of celadon with a thicker carcass. The local people called it Tulongquan.Others include bluish-white porcelain, some with engraved decorations, and the products may have come from kilns in Jingdezhen or the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.There are black glazes in the style of the Cizhou kiln, while the dark brown glazed porcelain may come from the Cizao kiln in Quanzhou, Fujian.

The Philippines is a close neighbor of China. Due to its superior geographical location, it has long been the place where China's overseas trade must pass, a place for goods sales and a transshipment station. Zhao Rushi of the Southern Song Dynasty mentioned in "Zhu Fan Zhi" that the place of trade and commerce is the Philippines. Archipelago (Sanyu), Mindoro Island (Mayi), Palawan Island (Baluyou), Busuanga or Balangya (that is, Baji Lane mentioned in "Zhufan Zhi"), Babuyan Island (Bai Puyan), Polillo Island (Puriru) and so on.There are countless Chinese ceramics unearthed in the Philippines, and they are still being unearthed today. The Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines is conducting systematic research and has published a monograph introducing Song and Yuan porcelains unearthed in the Philippines.Most of the Song porcelain unearthed in the Philippines is Longquan celadon, and some celadon is thicker in texture, with a greenish-yellow glaze color, engraved with twisted lotus flowers, curly branches, and some with grate dots in rough and smooth lines.These porcelains are products of coastal kilns in Fujian and Guangdong, such as Chaozhou kilns, Xicun kilns, Tongan kilns, and Nanan kilns.There are quite a lot of products from Yue Kiln in Song Dynasty and Wuzhou Kiln in Jinhua.

At the Fustat site in Egypt, Yue kiln celadon bowls with lotus flowers, celadon plates carved with flying phoenix patterns and water wave dragon patterns were unearthed, Tongan celadon bowls with patterned grate pattern, Longquan celadon lotus petal bowls and jars, and Yaozhou kiln printed with wrapped branches Bowls and plates with patterns of flying phoenixes, blue and white porcelain bowls and plates from Jingdezhen, white porcelain carved bowls from Cizhou Kiln, etc.In some important cultural sites in eastern and northern Africa, a considerable amount of Song porcelain has been unearthed.Longquan celadon porcelain kilns with high artistic level may also produce some porcelain specially sold to Africa. For example, some well-made celadon jars and bottles were unearthed at the Fustat site in Egypt. There are many Longquan ceramics in Egyptian ceramic production. Some imitations of celadon are low-temperature glazed pottery, which are all daily utensils such as bowls, plates, and dishes, which shows the Egyptians' love for Longquan celadon.