The Chinese Emperors of the Ming and Qing DynastiesMarks that contain the name of Chinese dynasties or the reign name of Chinese emperors (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 reign marks bearing the name of earlier Ming dynasty emperors were used. In republican era porcelain the preceding Chinese dynasties and especially the emperors of the Qing dynasty were also used to increase the value of porcelain items.
For comparing the Chinese characters used in the marks of ceramics, the emperor's reign names for the Ming and Qing dynasties are given in Chinese on the following page. Please note that year notation according to the emperor's reign name, and the year of the reign in which something happened, was the most common way of recording history, events, etc. in ancient China. This was not limited to ceramics. See Chinese emperors reign names in Chinese Go to Chinese History Timeline Return to Antique Porcelain home page |
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