Negotiating Appropriation: Later Safavid Adaptations of Chinese Blue-and-white Porcelain

The beginnings of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in Safavid Persia are naturally connected with trade between China and Persia, which took place during the Yongle reign (1402–1424), when Sino-Persian exchange entered a new era. It is worth remembering here that between 1406–1433 China launched seven major maritime expeditions that reached as far as the Indian Ocean, Ceylon, eastern coast of Africa, Persian Gulf, and Persia. Interestingly, all of these brave voyages were conducted by a Muslim admiral named Zheng He (1371–1433).1) It is due to these courageous actions that the Chinese gained sophisticated geographical knowledge and established important trade connections. It is worth noticing here that the vast crew taking part in these trips also included merchants. In 1433 the expeditions were stopped all of a sudden most probably because of the fact that China’s economy was not yet sufficiently developed to continue foreign trade expansion, which was a rather marginal activity for the overall economic situation of the country. As later history proved, this thoughtlessly and rather short-sightedly made decision turned out to be unfavourable for China, when trade was successfully conducted by the Europeans. [...

Safawidzkie adaptacje chińskich talerzy typu kraak

Decorative motives known from the Chinese blue-and-white porcelain began to appear massively on Persian ceramics between the 14th and 17th century. Interestingly, the initial role of adaptations being a  substitute for an expensive original became something more – a source of inspiration for making new vessels decorated not only in cobalt blue but also in colorful slips. The article is dedicated to an analysis of Persian adaptations of Chinese kraak porcelain made during the Safavid period (1501-1732). Due to the fact that the process of adaptation was very complex and there is no 1:1 copy of a kraak dish in Iran, author in her research has to focus on comparing individual motifs instead of the whole vessels. She introduces new categorization of the adapted designs and divides them into 4 groups depending on how close they resemble the Chinese origi nals: in group 1 called literal adaptations the motifs are most similar to the originals; in group 2 named edited adaptations are those that have an element added or taken away; in group 3, altered adaptations, the designs undergo changes in style but still bear the basic characteristics of the originals; in group 4, free adaptations, are those that only resemble the Chinese ones

Ephemeral pictures painted with words: <i>jueju</i> by Tang Ying 唐英 (1682–1756) translated by third-year sinology students at the University of Gdańsk

This article aims at introducing Tang Ying (1682–1756), who is better known as the manager of the Jingdezhen manufacture than as a poet. Some of his short and expressive poems known in Chinese literature under the name of jueju 絕句 were translated by my students during our classical Chinese club sessions. Each translation is different not only because of the fact that each poem is different, but also because each of the students has his/her unique way of looking at the poems and understanding them. Poetry translation is one of the hardest tasks, as it requires not only knowledge of the language from which it is being translated, but also a unique skill in grasping a poem’s essence. Even though little is known about where and how jueju developed, the dominant theories speculate that they have their source during the Tang dynasty. They are known for their brevity and their poignant nature, which enchanted not only professional poets, but also “laymen” in this regard such as Tang Ying