A Song of Sino-German People’s Friendship

Exports of Chinese porcelain have long provided beautiful articles for daily use and collection for the people of the world， and the spread of porcelain production technology has promoted its development worldwide. Germany was the first European state to produce porcelain. In 1710， with the discovery of kaolin clay in Meissen， Dresden， porcelain articles imitating those of China were successfully produced and， in 1747， a royal porcelain factory was set up in Ngmphenburg， Munich.

In January 2013， Prince Luitpold， great grandson of Ludwig III， the last king of Bavaria and the new the Duke of Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach， visited Jingdezhen at the head of a delegation seeking to develop friendship between the people of China and Germany and the enhancement of ceramic culture exchanges.

Many pieces of porcelain adorn Bavarian palaces and castles， museums and the wellknown Kaltenbery brewery， and there is also the 266-year-old Ngmphenburg royal porcelain factory modeled after the Chinese imperial porcelain plant.

Nurtured in Chinese ceramic culture since childhood， the Prince loves Chinese porcelain. The Royal Museum has collected several thousand pieces， many being blue and white porcelain treasures that were gifts from Chinese emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In March 2009， a Chinese cultural relic exhibition was held in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. More than 300 exhibits of porcelain， embroidery， etc. showed the deep friendship and long-standing cultural exchanges between the people of China and Germany.

On January 20， Prince Luitpold and his party visited the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute， an ancient kiln site， the Ceramic History Museum， the Jingdezhen Ten Porcelain Factories History Ceramics Museum where they received a warm welcome. The Prince was full of praise for the city’s thousand-year ceramic history， the excellent workmanship and the world-famous ceramic culture. The Kingdom of Bavaria had contact with the imperial court of China as early as in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1903 when Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and Duchess Marie Gabrielle visited China， Empress Dowager Cixi hosted a banquet in their honor. She presented them with a glazed red vase with a double-bat design made by the Imperial Kiln and paintings she created herself. The two paintings are now in the collection of the treasure hall of the royal family in Munich.

On January 21， the Prince and his party went to Jingdezhen’s Gaolin Mountain， the source land of high quality kaolin clay for ceramic production. As early as the Yuan Dynasty （1279～1368 CE）， artisans in China found kaolin clay and discovered that adding kaolin which carries 38% to 40% of aluminum oxide， to common china clay could improve the quality of ceramics.

The Prince was amazed to see the mountain slopes covered with snowwhite tailings of kaolin， glittering under the sun. The head of the scenic area told him that 140 years ago， Ferdinand von Richthofen， professor and president of the University of Berlin， came on an investigation tour of kaolin clay and introduced it to the world in the third volume of his book China.

Before the ancient kaolin mine， a clay collecting ceremony was held. The head of the Yaoli Scenic Area welcomed Prince Luitpold’s visit to Jingdezhen to learn about the history of porcelain and expressed the desire to strengthen cooperation with the Ngmphenburg Royal Porcelain Factory to promote technical innovation and make more beautiful porcelain. In his speech， the Prince again voiced his enthusiasm for his present trip in China and highly praised the discovery by artisans in Jingdezhen， saying that it had greatly advanced the development of porcelain production in the world. After the ceremony， he went into the mine to collect some kaolin， planning to take it back to Ngmphenburg and mix it with the material of the Royal Porcelain Factory to make a piece of porcelain that would be presented to China as a national gift.

The head of the scenic area presented him with Fudong glaze， a raw material for porcelain production that had been produced since the Song Dynasty （906～1279 CE）. The Prince said that he would place it in the porcelain raw materials exhibition room at the Ngmphenburg Royal Porcelain Factory.

Leading officials of Jingdezhen City met with Prince Luitpold and his party. Both sides agreed that Jingdezhen and Munich are highly complementary economically as Jingdezhen’s development strategy is focused on porcelain production， helicopter research and manufacture， and tourism， while Munich enjoying the advantages of having the Royal Porcelain Factory， and aircraft engine and BMW automobile industry， as well as tourist attractions such as old castles， royal museums， etc. The Prince expressed his willingness to work to promote friendly cooperation between the two sides.