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Craft, Culture and Exchange: François-Xavier d’Entrecolles unique Perspective on Jingdezhen’s Porcelain Technology in the Early Qing

Author(s)

Ziteng Wang

Affiliation(s)

School of Art and Humanities, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

The 17th to 18th centuries were a critical period for cultural exchange and knowledge transmission between China and the West. French missionaries became an important medium through which Europe understood Chinese material civilization and craftsmanship. As a French missionary who lived in China during the Qing Dynasty, François-Xavier Dentrecolles spent ten years conducting field investigations in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. He interviewed local potters, consulted local chronicles, and systematically recorded the raw material characteristics, production processes, and firing techniques of Jingdezhen porcelain in letters. This paper examines the various motivations behind Dentrecolles' detailed study of ceramic craftsmanship, considering his academic background, reasons for traveling to China, and experiences in Jingdezhen. The study also contrasts his findings with those of other missionaries from the same era to emphasize his unique scholarly approach in examining crafts, deciphering techniques, and documenting texts. This research seeks to elucidate the unique significance of Dent.

Keywords

François-Xavier Dentrecolles; French Missionary; Ceramics of the Qing Dynasty; Craft Technology; Sino-Western Cultural Exchange

References

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