Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen is a city in the northest of Jiangxi Province.

It is known as the “Porcelain Capital” of the world. The most famous types of porcelain from Jingdezhen are the blue and white porcelain, which has been produced since the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368AD) and the rice-patterned (linglongci) porcelain that was introduced in the Song dynasty (960-1279AD). Some think that the rice-shaped translucent patterns in linglongci china results from rice grains placed in the clay before it is fired. Actually, small holes are carved in the soft porcelain and it is the glaze that fills the holes and results in the translucent pattern after it is fired. Jingdezhen porcelain was described as being “as white as jade, as thin as paper, as sound as a bell, as bright as a mirror.” The city continues to be a major source of fine porcelain.

The major styles of Jingdezhen porcelain are:

Yaobian Porcelain

Yaobian vases feature a simple, natural shape combined with sophisticated colors. Their dominant purple-red glaze flows into cyan and moon white in a pattern that takes on a life of its own and enhances the beauty of the vase. Glazing the fired body of the vase multiple times, then baking at a low temperature creates such patterns. The copper, cobalt, titanium, manganese, and iron coloring elements combine to produce a variety of shades, mingling with the red glaze on the porcelain to create striking hues.

Celadon/Yingqing Porcelain

The production of monochromatic ceramics matured over several centuries in Northern China, achieving particular success with green-glazed “qingci” or “celadon” pieces. These were developed as Ru, Guan, Ge, and Jingdezhen ware to a high level. The delicately lobed and rounded bodies of these porcelains reflect the mastery of the artisans from this period.

Blue and White Underglaze/Qinghuaci Porcelain

Drawing the design with cobalt pigment onto the stoneware body, and painting over it with a transparent glaze creates the blue-white style, also known as “underglaze blue”. The piece is then fired at a high temperature. Blue-white porcelain was introduced during the Yuan Dynasty and has been continuously in production ever since, thanks to is bright colors, simple yet elegant patterns, and smooth glaze that never fades.

Wucai Porcelain

Wucai is a type of overglaze decoration. After firing the piece at a low temperature; red, green, yellow, blue, and purple enamels are applied to the white ware. Wucai has been popular since the early Qing Dynasty.

Doucai Porcelain

Doucai Porcelains feature an unusual combination of exquisite patterns, color coordination, and well-executed color filling. It reached its height in the Yonzhen and Kangxi reigns during the Qing Dynasty. The blue-white color is first applied under the glaze. Then red, green, and yellow are filled over the glaze and the piece is fired at low temperatures.

Famille Rose/Fenaici Porcelain

Famille Rose was developed during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, and is based on the Wucai and Doucai styles. Famille rose porcelains feature complex, ornate patterns with a balanced tone, detailed drawing, and steady color.

Haggling

When we were growing up in New Jersey, we would often go to Chinatown in New York City for a good meal and then Chinese groceries at the local shops. We were often embarrassed to enter the shops with my mom because she would always haggle with the shopkeepers, trying to get a bargain. It was even worse when she did it in New Jersey where it just wasn’t done. Sometimes though it would work and so it went on.

I thought that this was simply something my mom did. Little did I know that in China haggling is de rigeur. When you want to buy an item, you find out what the price is and then offer anywhere from a quarter to a third of the price. They will certainly lower the price. If they don’t come down to what you want to pay, walk away. Often they will chase you down with a lower price.

At first this dance was getting kind of old. I was like, “please just tell my how much it costs.” But it’s just the way it’s done and you just don’t pay the first price that is offered.

One dollar is equivalent to eight yuan. Sometimes, you have to keep yourself from getting carried away with the haggle. Once, I was haggling over the price of a t-shirt. The salesperson had come down from 80 RMB to 25 RMB and I was haggling over another 2-5 RMB. It finally occurred to me that I was getting a t-shirt for about $3 and the 25-50¢ I was holding out for wasn’t going to kill me. I had gotten caught up in “sport haggling.”

Obviously knowing how to count in Chinese is useful but all salespeople have calculators. They will enter their price on the calculator and show it to you. You then take the calculator and enter in your offer and then the game begins.

Another way to communicate is by using the Chinese system of hand gestures to communicate numbers. They have a great system of counting to ten using one hand. Here it is:

Here’s some related trivia, in basketball, jersey numbers used to be limited to numbers 0-5 such as 1 to 5, 10 to 15, 20 to 25, and so on. This was so that referees could easily use their hands to signal to the scorekeeper the jersey number of the player who committed the foul.