Changes

*''Japanese'': 磁製 ''(jisei)'',　磁器 ''(jiki)''

*''Japanese'': 磁製 ''(jisei)'',　磁器 ''(jiki)''

Porcelain is a particularly fine form of [[ceramics]], known for its clean white color; smooth, glass-like texture and sheen; light weight; and for its ability to be made extremely thin. Along with [[silk]], it was one of China's most prized exports for centuries, and a major element of its export trade revenues, becoming so highly prized and so highly associated with China in the West that porcelain wares came to be known popularly as "china."<ref>Similarly, [[laquerware]] was for a time popularly known as "japan," and the process of lacquering known as "japanning." This has fallen out of common usage, however.</ref>

Porcelain is a particularly fine form of [[ceramics]], known for its clean white color; smooth, glass-like texture and sheen; light weight; and for its ability to be made extremely thin. Along with [[silk]], it was one of China's most prized exports for centuries, and a major element of its export trade revenues, becoming so highly prized and so highly associated with China in the West that porcelain wares came to be known popularly as "china."<ref>Similarly, [[lacquerware]] was for a time popularly known as "japan," and the process of lacquering known as "japanning." This has fallen out of common usage, however.</ref>

The production of porcelain requires particular materials, including a white clay known as kaolin, and like any form of ceramics, a very particular set of firing conditions, including temperature and so forth. For many centuries, this technology was jealously guarded by China, with porcelain being produced nowhere in the world but China, Korea,<ref>Since c. 1400-1450. Gallery labels, Arts of Korea, LACMA.</ref> and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]<ref>Porcelain production technology was first introduced to Ryûkyû sometime during the [[Gusuku period]] (1100s-[[1429]]). Suzuki Kakichi, et al. "Ryukyuan Architecture: Its History and Features," ''Okinawa bijutsu zenshû'' 沖縄美術全集, vol 5, Okinawa Times (1989), 89. </ref> up until the early years of the 17th century, when it first began to be produced in Japan. Europeans, working from the finished product, attempted through trial-and-error to determine the process, but were not successful until the 18th century.

The production of porcelain requires particular materials, including a white clay known as kaolin, and like any form of ceramics, a very particular set of firing conditions, including temperature and so forth. For many centuries, this technology was jealously guarded by China, with porcelain being produced nowhere in the world but China, Korea,<ref>Since c. 1400-1450. Gallery labels, Arts of Korea, LACMA.</ref> and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]<ref>Porcelain production technology was first introduced to Ryûkyû sometime during the [[Gusuku period]] (1100s-[[1429]]). Suzuki Kakichi, et al. "Ryukyuan Architecture: Its History and Features," ''Okinawa bijutsu zenshû'' 沖縄美術全集, vol 5, Okinawa Times (1989), 89. </ref> up until the early years of the 17th century, when it first began to be produced in Japan. Europeans, working from the finished product, attempted through trial-and-error to determine the process, but were not successful until the 18th century.