Painting with Words: Gentleman Artists of the Ming Dynasty
From music to drama, cuisine to garden design, members of the Wu School excelled in all forms of creative expression. Centered on the affluent city of Suzhou and nearby towns, this driving force of Chinese culture during the Ming dynasty (1369–1644) took its name from a kingdom that once ruled the region. Of all their […]
Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages to the “West Oceans”
Eighty years before Vasco da Gama’s arrival in West India, a formidable Chinese navy ruled the China Sea and Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf and East Africa. Between the period from 1405 to 1433, China’s Ming dynasty launched seven voyages led by Admiral Zheng He to explore these vast regions, known […]
Chinese Porcelain
Chinese porcelain is a durable, beautiful, and historically significant example of ceramic art. It serves as an important industry in China and is greatly admired around the world. The basic recipe for producing porcelain consists of four steps: forming a piece, glazing, decorating, and firing. The firing takes place in a kiln at extremely high […]
Ming: 50 Years That Changed China
Curator Jessica Harrison-Hall introduces the British Museum’s collection which tells the history of the world for the world, with particular focus on ceramic works and the current BP exhibition Ming: 50 years that changed China at the British Museum 18 September 2014 – 5 January 2015 Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial […]