Early Maritime Trade between China and the Portugal: A Case Study on a group of 1552 year mark Blue and White Yuhuchun Bottles
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AbstractStarting from the end of the 15th century, Europeans entered the Age of Discovery. Among the Europeans who were keen on expanding their Ocean Empire, the Portuguese became the first to arrive at the China coast. After that, the maritime trade between China and the Portugal stepped into a long difficult period with ups and downs till the Portuguese occupied Macau (1553) and was allowed to sailing to the Canton port by the Ming Court in 1554. The trade afterwards entered its golden age and met its heyday shortly. Many details were revealed by the studies on the history of this period, but in contrast, our knowledge of the maritime trade in an earlier stage is still misty.
Due to the limitation of records in documents and archives, it is really difficult to figure out the details of the Portuguese activities near the Chinese Coast during the very initial stage of their arrival. But the facts are still traceable throughout the Chinese porcelain wares that were exported by the Portuguese at that time. In this paper, the author will focus on the study on a group of Blue and White Yuhuchun Bottles, on which, Portuguese marks with the same content are presented. The marks are showing that the bottles were ordered in the year of 1552 by a Portuguese merchant who was active in the maritime trade near the Chinese Southeast Coast. By tracing the details of trade and related activities conducted by this merchant, the paper will demonstrate the great contribution the early Portuguese merchants had made to the development of maritime trade with China as well as other Asian districts.
Acceptance Date24/11/2017
All Author(s) ListWANG Guanyu
Name of ConferenceInternational Symposium on the Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Material and Its Cultural Connotation
Start Date of Conference03/12/2017
End Date of Conference06/12/2017
Place of ConferenceGuangzhou
Country/Region of ConferenceChina
Year2017
Month12
LanguagesEnglish-United Kingdom
KeywordsMaritime trade between China and the Portugal, “discovering” Japan, Chinese porcelain wares ordered by the Portuguese, Shangchuan Island

Last updated on 2018-25-10 at 17:06