Inside Jingdezhen’s Chinese Porcelain Shop

Inside Jingdezhen’s Chinese Porcelain Shop

Jingdezhen is a prefecture-level city, in northeastern Jiangxi province, with a total population of 1,669,057 (2018), bordering Anhui to the north. It is known as the "Porcelain Capital" because it has been producing Chinese ceramics for at least 1,000 years, and for much of that period Jingdezhen porcelain was the most important and finest quality in China. The city has a well-documented history that stretches back over 2,000 years.

Throughout both the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the area of present-day Jingdezhen belonged to the Chu State. After the fall of the Chu, the area was incorporated into the Qin dynasty as part of Fan County in Jiujiang Commandery . Under the Han dynasty, the area belonged to Poyang County in Yuzhang Commandery. Under the Han dynasty, the particular area of future Jingdezhen was known as Xinping. Historical records show that it was during this time that it began to make porcelain.

The town was established during the Jin dynasty under the name Changnan, due to its location on the south bank of the Chang river. The town's name would be changed twice, first in 742 CE to Fuliang, and then in 1004 to Jingdezhen, its current name, after the era name of the Emperor Zhenzong of Song during whose reign its porcelain production first rose to fame. The town was placed under the jurisdiction of Fuliang County.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was considered one of China's four great towns in terms of commercial and industrial importance. The others were Foshan in Guangdong, Hankou in Hubei, and Zhuxian in Henan.

In 1855 during the Taiping Rebellion, Taiping forces destroyed all 9,000 kilns in Jingdezhen. They would be rebuilt after the war in 1866.

In the 19th century, Jingdezhen became a county.

On April 29, 1949, Communist forces took the city.

May 4, 1949, it was upgraded to a prefecture city. However, to honor its history, Jingdezhen retained it the word zhen meaning town in its name. Usually when a town is upgraded to a city, the designation of shi meaning city replaces that of zhen.

On June, 1953 Jindezhen was upgraded into a provincial level city.

In 1960, Fuliang County was merged into the city.

Jingdezhen was named one of top 24 national historical and cultural cities of the People's Republic of China on February 28, 1982.

In July 1983, Leping County was also merged into the city. In October 1988, Fuliang County was re-established, and in September 1992, Leping County was re-established as a county-level city.

In 2004, Jingdezhen celebrated the millennium of its becoming the porcelain capital and it is assuming its present name.

Due to the relatively low cost of living and the heritage of the porcelain industry, Jingdezhen has become a haven for young artists from all over China, who are often referred to known as Jingpiao.