The Decline of Longquan Wares in Maritime Trade and the Emergence and Development of Imitative Longquan Celadon in the Mid-Ming Dynasty

QIN Dashu

Based on the materials and statistics of Longquan celadon excavated from on land and underwater sites in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region, combined with the production of Longquan kiln, this article expounds on the decline of Longquan celadon since the mid-Ming Dynasty, which dominated maritime trade during the terminal Yuan and early Ming dynasties, but declined sharply during the Xuande and Chenghua periods, and ultimately disappeared after the Jiajing period. Simultaneously, a number of kilns producing imitative Longquan wares emerged across various regions to meet the market demand for Longquan celadon. These imitative Longquan wares could be broadly categorized into three types: "domestic imitations as supplementary commodity," " imitations in the Indochinese Peninsula and Yunnan as competitive commodity," and "imitations in eastern Guangdong and southern Fujian as succedaneous commodity." The production of imitative Longquan celadon in coastal areas flourished for a short time span from Zhengtong to Jiajing periods. However, it was subsequently completely replaced by the blue-and-white porcelain produced by the Jingdezhen folk kilns in maritime trade. The article also discusses how imitative Longquan celadon by Jingdezhen kilns served as alternative competitive products before the prosperity of blue-and-white porcelain in the Ming Dynasty.