Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Japanese Connoisseurship of Chinese Ceramics

The present essay attempts to address cultural history questions ranging from the reception of Chinese ceramics by fifteenth, sixteenth century Japanese society to emergence of indigenous Japanese ceramics as recipients of connosseurial attention. The essay looks at the questions from the perspective of intra-cultural regional variation. It concludes that so-called “Japanese style” (Ho-yang) ceramics were a regional variation that developed naturally from “Chinese style” (T’ang-yang) sources, rather than the result of a deliberate attempt by the Japanese to differentiate themselves from China. Furthermore, the similarities between he decorative arts of the Muromachi generals and the gifts bestowed by the Chinese emperor suggest that the military class’s admiration of Chinese style was an effort to borrow the system of noble titles employed by the Ming court and thereby usurp imperial authority. Therefore, the gifts bestowed by the Chinese court, which included ceramics, were not only objects of aesthetic appreciation, but also symbols of authority.