Export Porcelain In Foreign Trade From 16^th To 18^th Centuries

There are great changes in Ming and Qing dynasties inside and outside China, including the furious pirates around China's coast and westerners'appearance in Asia, which arouses Chinese government's great cautiousness about the outside world. Chinese government at that time changed their policies according to the concrete conditions along the coast. Due to some backward and continuous policies made in Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars take the point that China is isolated from other countries in Ming and Qing dynasties. However, when viewing Ming and Qing dynasties from the aspect of overseas porcelain trade, it's another occasion: China's porcelain export reached its highest point ever at that time. Countless porcelain is transported to foreign countries, which makes Chinese porcelain from a luxury to a common utensil. The prosperity of overseas porcelain trade arouses the writer's doubts about the opinion of"isolated China"in Ming and Qing dynasties. Thus, in the thesis, the writer tries to reflect the correlation between China and other countries in 16th to 18th centuries and make some correction on the viewpoint of"isolated China"by making a thorough study on the overseas trade of Chinese porcelain.Historical documents concerning the foreign trade of Chinese export porcelain reserved in foreign countries are rich and complete. Due to this, the article attaches great importance to these foreign materials about V.O.C, English East Indian Company and etc., taking the study of T. Volker, C.A. J?rg, John Goldsmith, Michel Beurdeley and others as reference. Besides, the article also concerns about the export porcelain in Ming and Qing dynasties salvaged from shipwreck.The article is divided into introduction, main body and conclusion, among which, four chapters are formed in the main body to discuss the subject. In introduction, the subject, document literature and the present situation of research are discussed. Besides, the phrase"isolated China"is also explored. Chapter one introduces the domestic and overseas background of the export of porcelain in Ming and Qing dynasties. In chapter two, four aspects of Chinese porcelain, including the production of porcelain, the inland transportation, the international sales network and the way of transaction, are discussed in order to present a vivid picture of porcelain trade. In the third chapter, the connection between China and other countries are reflected by discussing the cultural elements and the types of export porcelain. Chapter four is the statistics and analysis of the quantities of porcelain imported by various trade companies from 16th to 18th centuries. Based on the discussion in the above four chapters, it is concluded that China was not isolated from other countries in Ming and Qing dynasties. Also, it's inappropriate to predict the actual condition of a society by policies executed at that time.