A Journey to the World’s “Porcelain Capital”

More than 100,000 pieces of "sunken-in-sea porcelain" found in ancient shipwrecks in the South China Sea are mysterious and full of historical charm. Where did these porcelain pieces come from? And where were they shipped? With these questions, Joshua Dominick, an American expert, and Gao Shang, a foreign language reporter from Xinhua News Agency, started a journey to explore Jingdezhen, searching for stories about porcelain in ancient and modern Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges, according to the Information Office of Jiangxi Provincial People's Government.

Recently, American linguist Joshua Dominick and his Chinese friend Gao Shang came to Jingdezhen and discovered that Jingdezhen porcelain was sold all over the world as a popular item in as early as the Tang and Song Dynasties.

Joshua Dominick found Arabic characters on an ancient porcelain piece. And the "Su Ma Li Qing", a cobalt glaze for white and blue porcelain, is considered to be from the Middle East. This confirms that Jingdezhen ceramics developed with foreign exchanges through the ancient Silk Road. "Integration and innovation" is the tradition and spirit of the millennium porcelain capital.

Dilan, an international student majoring in ceramics from Turkiye, had an encounter with Joshua Dominick and Gao Shang in Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue in Jingdezhen. She was really amazed by the "young style" and "internationalization" here.

Jingdezhen innovates and flourishes with porcelain. The story of innovation continues in this city. Every year, artists from more than 50 countries and regions gather here. "Jing Piao (migrants from other domestic cities in Jingdezhen)" and "Yang Jing Piao (migrants from other countries and regions in Jingdezhen)" came to start businesses, get inspiration from this city with kilns and fire, exchange idea and open their minds from collision of thoughts.

Source: The Information Office of Jiangxi Provincial People's Government