Where Was Porcelain Invented?

The Chinese Origins of the World's Finest Ceramic

1. What Is Porcelain?

Porcelain is a high-fired ceramic material that is white-bodied, translucent, and resonant when struck. It is distinguished from earthenware, which is low-fired, porous, and opaque. The distinction between porcelain and stoneware is less clear, but porcelain is generally finer, harder, and more vitrified. In the West, porcelain is defined as a material that is translucent when held to the light, while in China it is defined as pottery that is resonant when struck.

The word "porcelain" is derived from the Italian porcellana, used by Marco Polo to describe the pottery he saw in China. The English term "china" became synonymous with the material because of its Chinese origin and the immense popularity of Chinese porcelain exports.

2. Complete Comparison Table: The Evolution of Porcelain

3. The Origins of Porcelain in China

Porcelain was invented in China over 1,000 years before its production in the West. The earliest examples of true porcelain date from the sixth century. However, the journey to porcelain began much earlier, with the development of high-fired stonewares and proto-porcelain.

Chinese potters were significantly aided by their country's richness in the raw materials required for ceramics. Kaolin (a white China clay) and petuntse (a feldspathic rock also known as porcelain stone) were abundant in regions like Jiangxi Province. These materials, when combined and fired at extremely high temperatures, created a translucent, vitrified body that was impermeable and resonant.

The development of porcelain was a gradual process. Neolithic China produced only earthenwares, but stoneware appeared as early as the Shang period. Improved control of kiln temperatures and growing knowledge of how to refine and combine raw materials led to the creation of porcelain.

4. Proto-Porcelain: The Early Precursors

Before true porcelain, Chinese potters produced proto-porcelain (or proto-celadon) during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. These wares were made using at least some kaolin fired at high temperatures, resulting in a harder, more vitrified body than earthenware. Proto-porcelain is China's earliest porcelain, dating back to 3,400 or 3,500 years ago.

Glazing techniques also developed in the late Bronze Age, probably inspired by accidental glazes that occurred when ash liquefied on the surface of a ceramic inside a hot kiln. During the post-Han Period of Disunity (220–589), potters at the Yue kilns in Zhejiang Province learned to apply liquid glazes to their wares before firing. These early greenish glazes were the forebears of celadon wares.

5. The Emergence of True Porcelain

True porcelain first emerged in Northern China in the 500s, as potters developed a paste based on kaolin to create elegant vessels with a plain surface. By the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), high-fired white wares with a clear glaze over a white body were being produced.

One of the most famous Tang innovations was three-colored ware (sancai), named after the bright yellow, green, and white glazes applied to the earthenware body. These wares were made in traditional forms as well as exotic guises like camels and Central Asian travelers, testifying to the cultural influence of the Silk Road.

6. Jingdezhen: The Porcelain Capital

The city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province became the undisputed center of Chinese porcelain production. With a history of more than 1,600 years, Jingdezhen is known as China's porcelain capital. In 1004, the town changed its name from "Changnan" to "Jingdezhen" and became one of four porcelain-making centers in China.

In the 900s, during the Song Dynasty, Jingdezhen potters developed a "one-component" recipe based on petuntse only. This produced delicate bowls with a bluish glaze, known as Qingbai (blue-white) wares, which contributed to the city's emergence as a porcelain center.

Further advances took place in Jingdezhen when kaolin was mixed with petuntse to form the "two-component" recipe. This resulted in a superior paste characterized by strength and plasticity. Recent archaeological discoveries and scientific analyses place the emergence of this recipe during the late Ming to early Qing period.

7. Blue-and-White Porcelain and Global Influence

Blue-and-white porcelain was first produced under the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368). Baked at an extremely high temperature, porcelain is characterized by the purity of its kaolin clay body. The importation of cobalt from central and west Asia provided brilliant blue hues for painted designs covered by a clear glaze.

Potters of the subsequent Ming Dynasty perfected these blue-and-white wares so that they soon came to represent the virtuosity of the Chinese potter. Jingdezhen produced vast quantities of imperial wares and exported products as far away as Turkey and Europe.

The range of available colors was vastly expanded during the early Ming Dynasty, when overglaze enamels joined monochrome glazes and underglaze-blue painting in the repertoire of ceramic decoration. Color shading was perfected during the Qing Dynasty, allowing ceramic decorators to reproduce on porcelain the effects of painting on silk or paper.

8. Why Porcelain Is Called "China"

The generic term "china" explicitly acknowledges the country's preeminence in the art of ceramics. Chinese porcelain was so highly valued and widely exported that it became synonymous with the country itself. European potters attempted for centuries to imitate Chinese porcelain, leading to the eventual discovery of artificial (soft-paste) porcelain in Florence about 1575 and true porcelain in Europe at Meissen in 1707.