Calendar of Events | What's New   Current Exhibits   Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch'ien-lung Reign Dates: 2008/10/10 ~ 2010/06/06 Gallery: 306 Visit website   The fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains in the collection of the National Palace Museum can be divided into two categories, painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains and yang-ts'ai porcelains. Masterpieces of unprecedented quality, these works had earned themselves the favor of the Ch'ien-lung emperor. During his reign, they were kept in the Ch'ien-ch'ing-kung Palace, where the emperor would admire them. The present exhibition concentrates on yang-ts'ai porcelains, although a number of fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains are also on view to demonstrate the differences between the two. The Museum has in its collection more than five hundred fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains, with the majority made between the 5th and 9th years of the Ch'ien-lung reign (1741-1744). They are, in fact, a manifestation of the emperor's vibrancy and confidence in the early years of his 60-year reign, a period of great achievement in many spheres, as well as in the arts. At the request of the emperor, the supervisor of the imperial kilns at Ching-te-chen by the name of T'ang Ying (1682-1756) personally oversaw the production of the imperial wares twice a year, in the spring and then again in the autumn. It was here that T'ang developed a continuous line of innovative techniques to please his emperor, to produce porcelains which would be admired as "the work of the gods," such as the openwork revolving vases. It was also T'ang Ying that developed the "pattern of flower brocade" technique of incised decoration, which brought out the best in the enamel colors of yang-ts'ai. T'ang Ying was also the first to employ the term yang-ts'ai to refer to these porcelains. The Chinese character yang hints at the connection to the West, as it means "ocean" and, by extension, objects from overseas. Also, the decoration on these porcelains employed Western painting techniques. The yang-ts'ai porcelains had the personal stamps of Ch'ien-lung all over them, bearing poetry composed by his own hand as well as imperial seals belonging to him. Clearly, then, the Ch'ien-lung emperor greatly admired these porcelains, and perhaps even saw them as an innovative style adequately reflecting his reign when at the height of his powers. Both yang-ts'ai and fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains used fa-lang enamel glazes, and this accounts in some way for the confusion that has surrounded them for many years. In fact, there are differences between the two in terms of where and how they were manufactured, as well as the decoration, poetry, seals and reign marks used. In the early Republican period the confusion was further exacerbated by the identification of the yang-ts'ai porcelains with the term fen-ts'ai. This exhibition will not only show 110 examples of yang-ts'ai porcelains, it will also seek to clarify the differences between yang-ts'ai and painted fa-lang-ts'ai porcelains, and clear up the confusion over the issue of fen-ts'ai wares.   Back to Menu   Copyright © National Palace Museum. 221 Chih-shan Rd., Sec. 2; Shih-lin, Taipei, 11143, TAIWAN +886-2-2881-2021 service01@npm.gov.tw