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- regarded as the culmination of all previous ceramic industry. Despite this strong imperial patronage, the greatest credit for this ceramic development must go to the three eminently successful kiln directors who served under these three emperors. They concentrated their energy and experimentation in the continuous improvement of the porcelain body. It was their creations of decorative motifs, colours and shapes that European potters admired and endeavoured to copy throughout the eighteenth century, and which have been endlessly copied to this day, with every sort of degradation.
It is these porcelains of the Qing dynasty which must be allowed their place alongside the most illustrious ceramic achievements of the past.
Kangxi was born when his father, Shunzhi, was seventeen and his mother fifteen. When his father died of smallpox, Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight. At first the country was ruled by regents, but when he reached the age of fourteen he boldly took control from the regents. He proved to be frugal, practical and conscientious in the discharge of his responsibilities. During his sixty-one-year-long reign, the empire increased in wealth and since 1681 enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity.
Because of his love of learning and enthusiastic patronage of the arts, he is considered one of the most admired emperors in Chinese history. He was determined to prove to his restless Chinese subjects that the Manchu conquest did not mean a return to barbarian ways.
Due to the unsettled conditions of the country, there appears to have been limited activity in the field of ceramics at the beginning of the Qing dynasty.
Porcelain manufacture during the reign of Kangxi can be divided into two primary periods: the late Transitional period (1662-83) and the period when Cang Yingxuan was director of the imperial factory at the ceramic centre of Jingdezhen from 1683 to 1726, which is sometimes referred to as the �golden age� of porcelain in China.
Kangxi Period (1662-1722)
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