My Stories of Chinese Porcelain

Porcelain, also called Chinese ceramics, is one of humanity's most ancient inventions. The stories behind this unique and exquisite material are fascinating, detailing how it made its way across the globe and gave the modern world the word "china". Follow the stories told by a well-known Chinese porcelain expert to learn more about these timeless masterpieces borne from the creativity of ancient China.

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Episodes

Episode 8: Challenges for Chinese porcelain

Despite China inventing porcelain and dominating worldwide production and trade for centuries, from the 19th century, due to the Western world's industrialization, the entire Chinese porcelain industry lagged far behind.

May 31, 2020•9 min

Episode 7: The 72 processes of making porcelain

Traditionally, there are 72 steps involved in the making of one Chinese porcelain piece. Other traditional crafts, like weaving, blacksmithing or carpentry, usually take place in a small workshop with simple procedures. Why does porcelain making require so many processes?

May 30, 2020•8 min

Episode 6: The rise of European porcelain producers

Even though porcelain originated in China, only a few commercial brands were created there. Despite being 1,000 years behind, the European porcelain industry was soon developing its own porcelain brands. What happened?

May 29, 2020•10 min

Episode 5: Imari ware and a story lost in the mists of time

Imari is a style of porcelain named after the Japanese port from which it was shipped to the West. At around the same period, the Chinese porcelain industry suddenly reached its peak and lost its glamorous appeal in the world market, replaced by this new Japanese porcelain.

May 28, 2020•8 min

Episode 4: Kraak ware and its European influence

Kraak ware has been popular in Europe for hundreds of years. However, it was not made in Europe but in China. To find out why this chinaware has a fancy Western name and how it looks, let's travel back in time to the Netherlands in 1602.

May 27, 2020•9 min

Episode 3: The story of blue and white porcelain

In Chinese pop singer Jay Chou's famous song "Blue and White Porcelain", he mistakenly suggests that the colors are a "light sky blue". In this episode, we find the truth about blue and white porcelain, as well as how it became a global obsession.

May 26, 2020•10 min

Episode 2: Chinese porcelain: a history of thousands of years

Jingdezhen is known as China's porcelain capital because it has been producing Chinese ceramics for more than 1,000 years. How did the small town get its name and why is porcelain called 'china' across the world?

May 25, 2020•17 min

Episode 1: A story told from porcelain fragments

One day in June 2005, Chinese fishermen found several pieces of ancient porcelain while out working on their boat. What information was found from these porcelain fragments and why are they considered by experts to be "living fossils" that have recorded histories and stories?

May 24, 2020•8 min

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