Bēizi
(杯子)
can mean cup but also can mean drinking glass. While production of glassware
started late in China compared to ancient Egypt and the region of Mesopotamia
where glassmaking originated from, ceramics were known much earlier in China and
the refinement of manufacturing eventually led to the development of porcelain.
Chinese porcelain was new and unique to travellers from Europe in the 13th
century, explaining why porcelain is even today still called “china”.
Not
knowing this type of ceramics, Marco Polo described it as “porcellana” when he
first discovered it, according to the Italian name of the cowrie sea snail, the
shell of which was the closest in resemblance to the white, translucent
appearance of porcelain he knew.
The
fascination with this new mysterious material let Chinese porcelain become a
highly demanded luxury good in the west. Porcelain was imported from China and additionally
western alchemists started to attempt producing this new material themselves. In
contrast to myths about porcelain manufacture that were still in circulation in
the 16th century, such as Scaligers assertion of porcelain being
made from powdered shells, porcelain is made of the clay mineral kaolinite together
with varying additional components. Kaolin is a white clay that forms by
chemical weathering of aluminium silicate minerals and owes its name to the
place Gaoling in the province Jiangxi (高岭 / Gāolǐng / “high mountainous ridge”, close to the city Jingdezhen known as China’s
Porcelain Capital), from where samples
of this resource were brought to Europe in the 18th century by a
French missionary.
Before
porcelain production eventually succeeded in Europe in the 18th
century (1708 in Germany), the demand for the “white gold” was met by Chinese
potters who started to produce specifically for export. Porcelain was produced
for export to Europe and North America between the 16th and 20th
century and was different in style from porcelain that was produced for the
domestic market, being painted with decorations that did not contain the symbolic
meanings that were common for the domestic market and decoration even contained
patriotic American or other countries’ motifs as a consequence of
personalization for customers. Unfamiliarity of Chinese potters with the
foreign motifs and customs even led to unique mistakes, such as upside down
painted Portuguese royal arms. However, not only decoration but also the shapes
of export porcelain were adjusted to western commodities, such as mugs or
candlesticks, which were not used in China and which were replicated in
porcelain from models that had been sent from Europe.
Porcelain
was traded among tea, silk and many other goods in ships, where it was stored
at the bottom of the ship due to its weight and because other goods needed more
protection from water and moisture than porcelain. Today the longevity of
porcelain is invaluable in maritime archeology for determining the origin and
probable destinations of shipwrecks. Porcelain found in a shipwreck in the
South China Sea, for instance, was painted with a goddess from Chinese folklore
or showed a woman with a hairdo like a flower that was fashionable among noble
women in late Ming dynasty, pointing to an Asian destination of the ship such
as Japan.
What
could better show the colors of Chinese tea to advantage than a cup made of
white porcelain? Or do you prefer to drink some liquor now? In the latter case:
干杯！(Gānbēi!
/ literally: empty the cup, meaning: Cheers!).
 |
|
杯子/ bēizi
/ cup, drinking glass
|
Sources and
further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_glass
Aspects of Ceramic History: A Series of Papers
Focusing on the Ceramic Artifact As Evidence of Cultural and Technical
Developments, Gordon Elliott, 2006, ISBN 0955769019, 9780955769016
Degenhardt, J. H. "Cracking the Mysteries of
“China”: China(ware) in the Early Modern Imagination." Studies in
Philology, vol. 110 no. 1, 2013, pp. 132-167. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/sip.2013.0003
- the word 杯子/ bēizi is part of HSK1 -
- the word 杯子/ bēizi is part of HSK1 -
Thank you :-)!
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