Reign Names of the Chinese Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Marks that contain the reign name of one of the Chinese emperors of the Ming or Qing dynasty (called Jiniankuan = year recording mark in Chinese) may hint to the period of production, but are really quite unreliable. At least since the early Qing dynasty frequently earlier reign names were applied in marks.
An overall judgment of the porcelain piece is necessary to verify if its real age and period mark fit together.
Ming Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
Reign name
Reign name
Hongwu
1368
~1398
Jianwen
1399
~1402
Yongle
1403
~1424
Hongxi
1425
~1425
Shunzhi
1644
~1661
Xuande
1426
~1435
Kangxi
1662
~1722
Zhengtong
1436
~1449
Yongzheng
1723
~1735
Jingtai
1450
~1457
Qianlong
1736
~1795
Tianshun
1457
~1464
Jiaqing
1796
~1820
Chenghua
1465
~1487
Daoguang
1821
~1850
Hongzhi
1488
~1505
Xianfeng
1851
~1861
Zhengde
1506
~1521
Tongzhi
1862
~1874
Jiajing
1522
~1566
Guangxu
1875
~1908
Longjing
1567
~1572
Xuantong
1909
~1911
Wanli
1573
~1620
Taichang
1620
~1620
Tianqi
1621
~1627
Chongzhen
1628
~1644
For comparing the Chinese characters in ceramics marks the emperor's reign names for the Ming and Qing dynasties are given in Chinese on the following page.
See emperors reign names in Chinese
