According to historical records, "China White is superior to China porcelain." Also known as "the mother of white porcelain in the world". The starting and ending time of Dehua kiln porcelain production can be summarized by the word 10, that is, "it began in the Song Dynasty; Yuan Ming Yu Sheng; The decline of the Qing Dynasty. " As early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Dehua Wanpinglun Kiln produced white porcelain at the same time, but Dehua white porcelain became a representative variety in the national porcelain industry after the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Due to Dehua's long history of ceramic production, unique porcelain clay resources, unique fine characteristics of white porcelain and broad market demand, Dehua soon became famous for producing white porcelain, and became the center of porcelain industry in southern Fujian, representing the highest level of white porcelain production in China. According to archaeological excavations, pieces of celadon from the Northern Song Dynasty to the early Southern Song Dynasty were unearthed in Wanpingcang kiln site, and a large number of celadon fired in the Yuan Dynasty were found in Qudou Gongyao site. According to historical records, after the steady development of Dehua kiln in Song and Yuan Dynasties, especially the blue and white porcelain produced in Yuan Dynasty, most of them were sold overseas by sea and land transportation. Dehua Kiln should be one of the more important porcelain kilns in China in Yuan Dynasty. The famous Italian traveler Kyle Polo once introduced the production and sales of Dehua porcelain in his famous Travels of Marco Polo: where this tributary diverges from the mainstream road, there stands Tingji (Dehua) City. There is nothing worth noting here except making porcelain cups or bowls and plates. The process of making this kind of porcelain is like this: they dug a kind of soil from the ground, piled it up in a big pile, let it rain and wind, and never turned over, which lasted for 30 to 40 years. After this treatment, the soil becomes purer and finer, which is suitable for making the above-mentioned vessels, and then coated with glaze with appropriate color, and then put the porcelain into a kiln or furnace for firing. So people dig mud and pile up soil in order to store porcelain-making materials for future generations. Porcelain is sold in large quantities in the city, and a Venice silver seal can buy eight porcelain cups. Kyle Poirot's introduction aroused the strong interest of westerners. Dehua porcelain in the whole Yuan Dynasty had a good sales market at home and abroad, which laid a very superior economic foundation for the further development of Dehua kiln in later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, the white glazed porcelain of Dehua kiln was further developed. Craft masters developed a kind of white porcelain that was moist, milky and jade-like, which was unique in the national porcelain industry at that time. At this point, Dehua kiln reached its peak. In the chronicles of Quanzhou during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a saying that white porcelain came out of the mountains behind Dehuacheng Temple, white and lovely. In the Ming Dynasty, the kiln produced many decorative products, such as porcelain and plastics. Therefore, Tiangong Kaiwu said, "Dehua kiln, but it is not practical to play with exquisite figures by burning porcelain immortals." But in the Qing dynasty, bottles, cans, stationery and so on were prolific. Porcelain in Dehua kiln is very common in modern times, and Dehua in Ming Dynasty has always been the most expensive. Dehua kiln kept innovating, and fine products emerged one after another until the early Qing Dynasty. Dehua porcelain in its heyday is famous at home and abroad, and its special manufacturing technology has created its own brand for Dehua porcelain. Dehua porcelain has excellent fetal quality, dense porcelain, excellent light transmittance, white glaze, smooth and bright color, milky white as fat, and pink or milky white looming in the glaze under near-light perspective, so it is called lard white, ivory white, goose down white and china white, which has a special taste. Ji Yuanyuan commented in Tao Ya that the white porcelain flowerpots produced by Dehua are white, cheap and beautifully shaped, and Guanyin has colorful paintings, sitting statues and standing statues. Lan Pu's evaluation of Dehua Kiln in Jingdezhen, Lu Tao is self-evident. Dehua County, Quanzhou Prefecture is called white porcelain, which is quite moist, but its body is extremely thick and occasionally thin, but the Buddha statue is excellent. In the Republic of China, Xu Zhiheng's "Drinking Six Zhai Talking about Porcelain" was made in Dehua, and its color was very white, but it was quite bright. The white one looks like a kiln, but it doesn't open. The best porcelain is quite thick, with finger shadow in green, and the one with red in white is more expensive. The characters created have distinct personalities, beautiful shapes, realistic expressions and refined styles, and have a simple beauty of sculpture and raw materials.
During this period, Dehua porcelain modeling was also a master. Among them, He Chaozong is the most famous, and his Guanyin statues are various and deeply loved by the general public. He Chaozong, a famous porcelain sculptor in Dehua, recorded the following in the Annals of Quanzhou during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and Fujian during the Daoguang period: "He Chaozong, I don't know who, or Yunzu was born in Dehua, living in counties and counties. If he is like pottery, he is a monk, a scholar and a treasure on earth; He Chaozong, from Quanzhou, or Dehua, Ji Yun, now lives in Quanzhou. If there are ceramic statues, there are monks and monks, all of which are treasures in the world. " . Dehua porcelain is known as "oriental art" and enjoys a high reputation. It is collected by museums and folk in Hongkong, Taiwan Province, Southeast Asia, Britain, the United States and France. In addition, the flute made in Dehua Kiln is white in color and exquisite in shape, just as Zhou Liang said in Biography of Minshan in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. However, if there is no harmony, it will sound sad and far away from the bamboo forest. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were an important period for China's foreign trade. Zheng He's voyage to the West in the early Ming Dynasty was an unprecedented event in the history of world transportation. This large-scale voyage trade opened up a route from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, which greatly promoted the trade between East and West. Due to the further expansion of shipping, the export of porcelain has entered a new stage, both in the scope of marketing and the amount of marketing. Far beyond the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Although the status of Quanzhou Port in overseas transportation tends to decline during this period, ceramics in Quanzhou area are still exported overseas in large quantities through private businesses or other means. In the Ming Dynasty, it was mainly exported from Fuzhou Port and zhangzhou port, and it was transformed from the emerging Xiamen Port after the end of the Ming Dynasty. Trade with Minnan includes South Korea and Japan in East Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia. More than 50 countries and regions such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia, Iran, Iraq and the east coast of Africa in West Asia, among which 35 countries and regions buy China porcelain. Porcelain is still an important commodity in foreign trade. Dehua porcelain, with its favorable international environment, geographical conditions and superb technology, soon became a kind of export porcelain in China. And in the next few hundred years, it will be famous overseas. It can be said that the rise and development of Dehua kiln is closely related to overseas trade and the management mode of adapting to porcelain export. It attaches great importance to catering to the market demand at home and abroad, so it has achieved great success.
Buddhism was introduced to China from India in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and then to Japan with the cultural exchange between China and Japan. People in Nanyang Islands have long believed in Buddhism. Dehua porcelain clay is excellent, which is very suitable for firing holy white Guanyin. The burnt Guanyin, white and flawless, is as gentle as jade, which fully shows its otherness, compassion and generosity, gives people the feeling of strength, trust and hope, and easily arouses people's reverence and belief. These statues were exported to foreign countries, causing strong repercussions, especially in Japan and Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia. Among Christians in Japan, it is very popular as an icon of Maria, and the demand is almost amazing. Therefore, Dehua also produces Maria to meet the demand of the Japanese market. In addition, it also produces military commanders, which have long been popular in southern Fujian and are obviously Islamic.
It can be seen that Dehua porcelain, compared with porcelain produced in many kilns in China, has a prominent feature of facing overseas. Dehua Porcelain witnessed the prosperity of China's ancient foreign trade and China's special position on the Maritime Silk Road. The research results of underwater archaeology, which are constantly gaining new achievements, prove this point. A large number of blue and white porcelain belonging to Dehua were found in the archaeology of Huaguang Reef and Nanhai No.1.. As mentioned above, in the process of production development, the craftsmen of Dehua kiln pay great attention to absorbing foreign cultures, studying the customs and religious beliefs of people in various countries, and constantly designing the glaze color, modeling and decoration of products to meet the interests and requirements of consumers as much as possible, so their products have always been able to sell well in the international market. It is precisely because it has won such a broad sales market that it has promoted the vigorous development of Dehua kiln porcelain production.