Ricci Institutes

The Ricci Institutes, named after the sinologist Matteo Ricci, are research and publication centers directed towards the studies of Chinese ancient and modern culture as well as towards the intercultural dialogue between the Chinese World and the others spiritual traditions in the world. They were directly preceded by the “Bureau d’?tudes Sinologiques" that pioneered modern sinological research, an organization created by French Jesuits at the end of the 19th century in Shanghai.

There are four institutes in the world:

* The Taipei Ricci Institute, founded in 1966 by Father Yves Raguin, S.J.
* The Paris Ricci Institute, founded in 1972 by Father Claude Larre, S.J.
* The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at the University of San Francisco, founded in 1984 Edward Malatesta, S.J.
* The Macau Ricci Institute, founded in 1999 by Yves Camus, S.J. and Luis Sequeira, S.J.

These institutes are juridically independent and foster different research and publication programs, while cooperating on occasional projects. Although the Ricci Institutes are Jesuit-led works, directors and staff may also be lay persons, cooperating with Chinese or foreign sinologists.

Bibliography

* MASSON, Michel, s.j., ''Reporting on the Individual Reports IRACS’s 2003 Meeting at USF'', The Ricci Bulletin 2004, No. 7, February 2004, p. 9-16.

Reunion dinner

At Chinese New Year a reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. Fish is included, but not eaten up completely , as the Chinese phrase 年年有魚/餘; is a homophone for phrases which could mean "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year", since "yú" is also the pronunciation for "surplus". A type of black hair-like algae, pronounced "fat choy" in Cantonese, is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity". Hakka will serve "kiu nyuk" 扣肉 and "ngiong tiu fu" 釀豆腐. Because the things sound alike, the belief is that having one will lead to the other, like the old child's aphorism "step on a crack, break your mother's back".

Redology

Redology is the study of the novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Classics of China. There are many researchers in this field, most can be divided into four general groups. The first group is the commentators, such as Zhou Chun, Xu Fengyi, Chen Yupi, and others. The second group is the index group, which mainly includes Wang Mengruan and Cai Yuanpei. The third group is the textual critics, including Hu Shi and Yu Pingbo. The final group is the literary thought group. There are quite a few researchers in this group, most notably Zhou Ruchang.
# Critical thought - comprising scholars such as Zhou Chun, Xu Fengyi and Chen Yupi;
# Allegorical thought - comprising scholars such as Wang Mengruan and Cai Yuanpei;
# Investigative thought - principally Hu Shi, Yu Pingbo and Zhou Ruchang;
# Literary thought.

Intensive and Extensive Research

Professor Liang Guizhi divides redological research into two areas: intensive research, or research into realist novels of ancient times as represented by ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', and extensive research, which deals with texts written on its setting and background.

There are four branches of intensive research:

# Cao Studies
#: research into the family history and life of Cao Xueqin and how he is related to the novel.
# Comparative Studies
#: chiefly concerned with distinguishing between Zhi Yanzhai's editions and the unadulterated original . Research in comparative studies is also primarily involved with handwritten copies as they may bear closer resemblance to the original manuscripts.
# Zhi Studies
#: as Zhiyan Zhai was known to be a close friend of Cao Xueqin through whose notes can be found the original plot of chapters 80 onwards and anecdotal evidence of real-life circumstances from Cao's life.
# Investigative Studies
#: investigate or attest the plot of the final 28 chapters in reference to that of the first 80.

Research in later periods are built on these foundations. For example, recently, renowned writer Liu Xinwu has authored ''Qin Studies'', the culmination of a decade of research into Qin Keqing's pioneering research on ''Dream of the Red Chamber''.

Redological Schools

Most people believe that these can be divided into three schools: allegorical, archetypal and literary.

Professor Liang Guizhi believes that there are four schools of redological study:
# The school of literary criticism initiated from a Western literary perspective of the novel, adopted by Wang Guowei from the philosophical thought of Schopenhauer.
# The school of allegory that links ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' to historical events during the Qing dynasty, later represented by Cai Yuanpei, or Bao Jiadong's claim that the novel is a general account of culture within the Eight Banners system of the Qing dynasty.
# The largely refuted school that claims, as in ''Divided Dream of the Red Chamber'' co-written by Huo Guoling, Huo Lijun and Huo Jiping, that Cao Xueqing wrote the novel for a girl whom he admired, who later entered the palace as consort to the Yongzheng Emperor; Cao, in order to realize his political ideals, plotted with her in the fatal poisoning of the emperor, but was then usurped of would-be political rights by the Qianlong Emperor.
# The investigative school as represented by Hu Shi and Yu Pingbo, advocating that the novel was in at least some part autobiographical; this school is the brainchild of Zhou Ruchang, the founder of the comparative studies branch and the initiator of the school of literary thought within redology. Zhou is responsible for raising redological research to its peak within Chinese culture and for creating its current sense of reverence and prestige while at the same time pointing out its failings; he believes that ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' is a 'universal key' to the culture of China.

Redology: Xia Yi and Guan Yi

It is also possible to categorize Redology into two themes.

Xia Yi: This includes Cao Studies, Qin Studies, Comparative Studies, Zhi Studies and Investigative Studies. Qin Studies refers to the study of Cao Xueqin, the author himself, for which there is very few information available.

Guan Yi: This field studies the society set in the novel. This includes the people, arts, culture etc.

Redological Debates and Mysteries

There are a vast number of redologists and thus discords are difficult to avoid; according to Liu Mengqi's records there have been Seventeen Debates, Nine Public Cases, Four Mysteries and Three Dead Knots.

Seventeen Debates
#Hu Shih and Cài Yuánpéi debate
#The location of ''Dream of the Red Chamber''
#Are the feet of the female character in the novel or not?
#Debate in 1954
#Li Xifan and He Qifang's war of words
#Regarding "Fen Gua" and "Dian Xi Qiao"
#When did Cao Xueqin die?
#The debate between Wu Shican and Yi Tengshu on "The Introduction of Tang Cun"
#The authenticity of "Fei Yi Ji Ji Gao"
#About Cao Xueqin's self portrait
#Regarding the "Shi" Poem by Cao Xueqin
#Is Cao Xueqin the real author of the novel?
#The value of thirty years of redology?
#What exactly is redology?
#The pen war between Fan Conkui and Yu Fuguan
#Discussion of the Two Worlds of the Red Chamber by Zhao Gang and Yu Shiying
#The storm between Tang Degang and Xia Zhiqing

Nine Public Cases
#Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu; which one is better?
#How to evaluate last forty chapters of ''Dream of the Red Chamber''
#Are there anti-Qing dynasty sentiments in ''Dream of the Red Chamber''
#The authenticity of Chapters 64 and 67
#Who is the author of the "Fan Li" from the Jia Wu Edition?
#The edition systems of Dream of the Red Chamber
#Where is Cao's ancestry native place?
#What color flag does Cao's family belong to in Qing's system?
#Mystery of the missing Jing Edition

Four Mysteries
#Mystery of Jia Yuanchun's Deliberation
#Mystery of Jia Yuanchun's "Hao Shi Zhong" Song
#Why is the book called "Dream of the Red Chamber"?
#Mystery of the Twenty Jue Ju

Three Dead Knots
#Who is Zhiyan Zhai ?
#Who is the son of Cao Xueqin
#Who is the Author of the subsequent work?

Red Detachment of Women

The Red Detachment of Women is a ballet which premiered in 1964. It is perhaps best known in the West as the ballet performed for U.S. President Richard Nixon on his . Based on the novel of the same title as well as the film adapted from the novel by Liang Xin, it depicts the liberation of a peasant girl in Hainan Island and her rise in the Chinese Communist Party. The ballet was later adapted to a Beijing opera, and as the ballet itself, both stage and film versions were produced.

The film version of the ballet made Xue Jinghua and Liu Qingtang superstars along with a dozen other artists who were cast as protagonists in other model plays of the time.

It is one of the so-called eight model plays, the only plays, ballets and operas permitted in China during the Cultural Revolution . With ''The White Haired Girl'' it is regarded as a classic Chinese ballet, and its music is familiar to almost every Chinese person who grew up during that time.
It was made into a film in 1972 and is now part of the permanent repertoire of the National Ballet of China.

Despite its political overtone and historical background when it was created, it remains a favorite of music and ballet lovers nearly 30 years after the Cultural Revolution in China. Many numbers were based on the folk songs of Hainan Island, a place that, with its coconut trees rustling in tropical wind, evokes much romantic ethos. Though there are unmistakable elements of Chinese music, the music of this ballet was performed with basically a Western symphony orchestra.

It was written as a collaboration, with music by Du Mingxin, Wu Zuqiang, Wang Yanqiao, Shi Wanchun and Dai Hongcheng, and choreography by Li Chengxiang, Jiang Zuhui and Wang Xixian.

Synopsis

:Place: Yelinzhai, Hainan Island, China
:Time: The Ten-Year Civil War

:Main Characters:

*HONG Changqing, Commissar of the Red Detachment of Women
*WU Qinghua, daughter of a peasant, later a soldier, and finally the Commissar
*Lian Zhang, literally the Company Commander
*Xiao PANG, or "Little PANG," the Messenger
*Nanbatian, literally "the Tyrant of the South"
*OU Guangsi , Nanbatian's Lackey

Prologue

In his dungeon, Nanbatian, the despotic landlord, has imprisoned his tenants who are unable to pay their exorbitant rents. Wu Qinghua, daughter of a poor peasant, is chained to a column. Lao Si comes with the order of Nanbatian to sell Wu. Lao Si releases Wu from the chain. While Lao Si is in an unguarded moment, Wu kicks him, and he loses his balance and falls. Wu manages to escape while two other inmates hold Lao Si to the ground.

Major numbers:

* ''Pas de deux'' of two inmates

Act I

Immediately after the prologue. Night has fallen in the coconut forest and Wu Qinghua is desperately running away from Lao Si and his lackeys. She is soon recaptured. Nanbatian and his entourage arrive. The Tyrant whips Wu until she loses consciousness. A thunderstorm approaches, so Nanbatian and his followers leave and Wu is left for dead.

Hong Changqing, the Commissar, and Xiao Pang, the Messenger, who are on a reconnaissance mission in disguise, pass by. They save Wu and point her the way to the camp of the Red Army.

Major numbers:

* Dance of Lao Si and his lackeys
* Wu Qinghua's Solo No. 1
* Wu Qinghua's fight with Lao Si
* Wu Qinghua's fight with Nanbatian
* Group dance of slaves
* Wu Qinghua's Solo No. 2
* ''Pas de trois'' of Hong Changqing, Wu Qinghua and Xiao Pang

Act II

In the camp of the Red Army beside the Wanquan River, a newly formed Detachment of Women is being trained. Wu Qinghua arrives to meet Hong Changqing and Xiao Pang, who introduce her to others. In a solo dance, Wu tells the Red Army soldiers the enormity of Nanbatian's crimes. She then ceremoniously receives a rifle and is accepted as a member of the Women's Detachment. With determination, they plan to liberate the peasants and slave girls under the oppresion of Nanbatian.

Major numbers:

* Group dance of the Detachment members
* Rifle drill of the Detachment members
* Hong Changqing's bayonet dance
* Group bayonet dance of the Detachment members
* A young women soldier's solo
* Seven-inch dagger dance of the Red Guards
* Group dance of all
* Wu Qinghua's solo

Act III

In the luxurious of Nanbatian, an extravagant birthday celebration for the Tyrant is going on in the garden before his house. Mountains of gifts are brought in; visitors are arriving, Li girls are driven in with whips at their backs to dance for the guests.

Hong Changqing, disguised as a wealthy merchant from southeast Asia, arrives on the scene, calm and dignified, to congratulate Nanbatian on his birthday. Meanwhile, the members of the Women's Detachment have secretly gathered around the manor of the Tyrant. It has been agreed that Hong is to fire his gun at midnight as signal for the Detachment to break in to wipe out the Tyrant and his gang in one fell swoop.

At night, all people recede into the houses. Nanbatian comes out to see some of his guests off. Overcome by deep personal hatred, Wu Qinghua shoots Nanbatian, prematurely issuing the battle signal. Nanbatian is merely wounded and escapes from a secret tunnel with a few of his lackeys.

Nanbatian's prisons are opened, and the prisoners are liberated. Hong leads them in opening the granary of the Tyrant and distributing the grain.

Wu is reprimanded for her blunder, and her gun is removed from her.

Major numbers:

* Group dance of slaves
* ''Li'' Girls' dance
* Broadsword dance of Nanbatian's lackeys
* Xiao Pang's solo
* ''Pas de deux'' of Wu Qinghua and her comrade-in-arm
* Opening the granary and distributing grain

Act IV

Back in the camp of the Red Army. Hong Changqing, the Commissar, is giving a lecture to the soldiers in the early morning. Wu Qinghua comes to grips with her mistake. Hong and the Company Commander are pleased to see Wu's progress. The Company Commander returns the gun to her, and together they practice marksmanship and grenade throwing.

The local people visit the Red Army and present them with ''douli''s and lichees.

Suddenly, the sound of cannons is heard and Xiao Pang, the Messenger, arrives on horseback with the information that Nanbatian has assembled a large number of troops, and they are on their way to attack the base of the Red Army. The members of the Detachment immediately bid goodbye to their dear ones and set out to the battle field.

Major numbers:

* Hong Changqing's solo
* Group dance of the soldiers
* Wu Qinghua's solo
* ''Pas de deux'' of Wu Qinghua and Company Commander No. 1
* Dance of five female soldiers and the head cook
* ''Douli'' Dance
* ''Pas de deux'' of Wu Qinghua and Company Commander No. 2
* Dance of Hong Changqing and male soldiers
* Group dance of all

Act V

On the battlefield at a mountain pass. In order to annihilate the enemy's effective power, the main force of the Red Army strategically shifts to the rear of the enemy, and the Company Commander leads most of the members of the Detachment in moving away with the main force. Hong Changqing and a small group of Red Army soldiers and Red Guards form a covering force to divert the enemy. After a series of fierce fights, the goal is achieved.

As they prepare to withdraw, the enemy starts yet another attack. Hong gives his portfolio to Wu Qinghua and orders her and other members to retreat while he and only two other soldiers leave behind to fend off the enemy.

Hong's two comrades-in-arm are killed and he himself is captured.

Major numbers:

* Dance of Wu Qinghua and other soldiers
* Wu Qinghua's fight with an enemy
* Fight between two soldiers and two enemies
* Red flag dance
* Dance of Hong Changqing and two comrades-in-arm
* Dance of Hong Changqing and two enemies

Entr'acte

The main force of the Red Army is pressing forward with the momentum of an avalanche. Their group dance.

A memorable moment in the entr'acte is the precisedly synchronized ''grand jete'' of members of the Women's Detachment crossing the stage in a seemingly endless line, vividly suggesting they are as fast as an arrow flying in the air.

Major numbers:

* Group dance of the Red Army soldiers
* Sequence of synchronized ''grand jeté''

Act VI

In the lair of the Tyrant, Nanbatian and his lackeys are panic-stricken knowing that their end is approaching. The Tyrant runs out all his means to force Hong Changqing to surrender, but the Commissar vehemently denounces the enemy. Nanbatian threatens Hong with death, but the hero remains steadfast. At the end, Hong is burnt in a horrid fire under the giant banyan tree amidst a chorus of the Internationale, and he dies a martyr's death.

The main force of the Red Army has won their battle with the enemy. They storm the hideout of the Tyrant and kill him and his lackeys.

The Red Army emancipates Nanbatian's prisoners and Yelinzhai is liberated.

Wu Qinghua and the Company Commander look everywhere for Hong and find the truth. They all kneel in front of the place where Hong has died to pay their respects to the hero.

The Red Army Battalion Commander announces that Wu will succeed Hong as the Commissar of the Women's Detachment. Wu takes over Hong's portfolio, and she and her comrades-in-arm will continue their revolutionary cause.

Major numbers:

* Dance of Nanbatian and Lao Si
* Hong Changqing's solo
* Hong Changqing dying a martyr's death
* Red Army's assault on Nanbatian's lair
* Celebration of liberation
* ''Pas de deux'' of Wu Qinghua and Company Commander
* Mourning the martyr
* Group dance and the ''tableau vivant'' at the end

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and . The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass and the mineral mullite within the fired body at these high temperatures. Porcelain is sometimes referred to as china. This is because until the 17th century, China was the sole producer of porcelain.

Porcelain derives its present name from its resemblance to the cowrie shell, which in old porcellana, from feminine of porcellano, of a young sow , from porcella, young sow, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, pig, and from the Greek π?ρκο?, . Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and ; considerable , hardness, glassiness, brittleness, whiteness, translucence, and resonance; and a high resistance to chemical attack and thermal shock.

For the purposes of trade, the ''Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities'' defines porcelain as being "completely vitrified, hard, impermeable , white or artificially coloured, translucent and resonant." However, the term ''porcelain'' lacks a universal definition and has "been applied in a very unsystematic fashion to substances of diverse kinds which have only certain surface-qualities in common" .

Porcelain is used to make table, kitchen, sanitary, and decorative wares; objects of fine art; and tiles. Its high resistance to the passage of electricity makes porcelain an excellent . Dental porcelain is used to make false teeth, caps and crowns.

Scope, materials and methods

Scope

The most common uses of porcelain are the creation of artistic objects and the production of more utilitarian wares. It is difficult to distinguish between stoneware and porcelain because this depends upon how the terms are defined. A useful working definition of ''porcelain'' might include a broad range of ceramic wares, including some that could be classified as stoneware.

Materials

Clay is generally thought to be the primary material from which porcelain is made, even though clay minerals might account for only a small proportion of the whole. The word "paste" is an old term for both the unfired and fired material. A more common terminology these days for the unfired material is "body", for example, when buying materials a potter might order an amount of porcelain body from a vendor.

The composition of porcelain is highly variable, but the clay mineral kaolinite is often a significant component. Other materials can include feldspar, ball clay, glass, bone ash, steatite, quartz, petuntse and alabaster; further information on these formulations is given at "soft-paste porcelain".

The clays used are often described as being long or short, depending on their plasticity. Long clays are cohesive and have high plasticity; short clays are less cohesive and have lower plasticity. In soil mechanics, plasticity is determined by measuring the increase in content of water required to change a clay from a solid state bordering on the plastic, to a plastic state bordering on the liquid, though the term is also used less formally to describe the facility with which a clay may be worked. Clays used for porcelain are generally of lower plasticity and are shorter than many other pottery clays. They wet very quickly, meaning that small changes in the content of water can produce large changes in workability. Thus, the range of water content within which these clays can be worked is very narrow and the loss or gain of water during storage and throwing or forming must be carefully controlled to keep the clay from becoming too wet or too dry to manipulate. This property also contributes to porcelain's use as a slipcasting body.

Methods

The following section provides background information on the methods used to form, decorate, finish, glaze, and fire ceramic wares.

Forming. The relatively low plasticity of the material used for making porcelain make shaping the clay difficult. In the case of throwing on a potters wheel it can be seen as ''pulling'' clay upwards and outwards into a required shape and potters often speak of ''pulling'' when forming a piece on a wheel, but the term is misleading; clay in a plastic condition cannot be pulled without breaking. The process of throwing is in fact one of remarkable complexity. To the casual observer, throwing carried out by an expert potter appears to be a graceful and almost effortless activity, but this masks the fact that a rotating mass of clay possesses energy and momentum in an abundance that will, given the slightest mishandling, rapidly cause the workpiece to become uncontrollable.

Glazing. Unlike their lower-fired counterparts, porcelain wares do not need glazing to render them impermeable to liquids and for the most part are glazed for decorative purposes and to make them resistant to dirt and staining. Great detail is given in the article.Many types of glaze, such as the iron-containing glaze used on the celadon wares of , were designed specifically for their striking effects on porcelain.

Decoration. Porcelain wares may be decorated under the glaze using pigments that include cobalt and copper or over the glaze using coloured . Like many earlier wares, modern porcelains are often -fired at around 1000 degrees Celsius, coated with glaze and then sent for a second -firing at a temperature of about 1300 degrees Celsius or greater. In an alternative method particularly associated with Chinese and early European porcelains, the glaze is applied to the unfired body and the two fired together in a single operation. Wares glazed in this way are described as being ''green-fired'' or ''once-fired''.

Firing. In this process, ''green'' ceramic wares are heated to high temperatures in a kiln to permanently set their shapes. Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature than earthenware or stoneware so that the clay can and become non-porous.

Categories of porcelain

Western porcelain is generally divided into the three main categories: hard-paste, soft-paste, and bone, depending on the composition of the paste, the material used to form the body of a porcelain object.

Hard paste

:''Main article Hard-paste porcelain''

Some of the earliest European porcelains were produced at the in the early 18th century; they were formed from a paste composed of kaolinite, quartz, and alabaster and fired at temperatures in excess of , producing a porcelain of great hardness and strength. Later, the composition of the Meissen hard paste was changed and the alabaster was replaced by feldspar, allowing the pieces to be fired at lower temperatures. Kaolinite, feldspar and quartz continue to provide the basic ingredients for most continental European hard-paste porcelains.

Soft paste

:''Main article Soft-paste porcelain''

Its history dates from the early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of china clay and ground-up glass or frit; soapstone and lime were known to have also been included in some compositions. As these early formulations suffered from high pyroplastic deformation, or slumping in the kiln at raised temperature, they were uneconomic to produce. Formulations were later developed based on kaolin, quartz, feldspars, nepheline syenite and other feldspathic rocks. These were technically superior and continue in production.

Bone china

:''Main article Bone China''
Although originally developed in England to compete with imported porcelain, Bone china is now made worldwide. It has been suggested that a misunderstanding of an account of porcelain manufacture in China given by a Jesuit missionary was responsible for the first attempts to use bone-ash as an ingredient of Western porcelain . For whatever reason, when it was first tried it was found that adding bone-ash to the paste produced a white, strong, translucent porcelain. Traditionally English bone china was made from two parts of bone-ash, one part of china clay kaolin and one part china stone , although this has largely been replaced by feldspars from non-UK sources

History

Chinese porcelain

Porcelain is generally believed to have originated in China. Although proto-porcelain wares exist dating from the Shang Dynasty, by the Eastern Han Dynasty high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, and porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty period was exported to the Islamic world where it was highly prized. Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain, or ''sancai'' wares. Historian S.A.M. Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after the Tang, during the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty.

By the and dynasties, porcelain had become widely produced. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century, it was being to Europe.

Islamic porcelain

In the 9th century, Chinese porcelain reached the Abbasid caliphate. A passage in a work written by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Baihaki stated that the governor of Khorasan, ‘Ali ibn ‘Isa, sent as a present to the caliph Harun al-Rashid , “twenty pieces of Chinese Imperial porcelain , the like of which had never been seen at a Caliph’s court before, in addition to 2,000 other pieces of porcelain”.

The influence of porcelain of the and is evident in many ceramics made by Muslim potters. Wares made in the town of in Anatolia, are particularly notable and had major influence on European decorative arts, for example on Italian .

European porcelain

These exported Chinese porcelains of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were held in such great esteem in Europe that in the English language '''' became a commonly–used synonym for the Franco-Italian term ''porcelain''. After a number of false starts, such as the Medici porcelain, the European search for the secret of porcelain manufacture ended in 1708 with the discovery by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus and Johann Friedrich B?ttger of a combination of ingredients, including Colditz clay , alabaster, and quartz, that produced a hard, white, translucent porcelain. It appears that in this discovery technology transfer from East Asia played little part.

Meissen

Tschirnhaus and B?ttger were employed by Augustus the Strong and worked at Dresden and Meissen in the German state of Saxony. Tschirnhaus had a wide knowledge of European science and had been involved in the European quest to perfect porcelain manufacture when in 1705 B?ttger was appointed to assist him in this task. B?ttger had originally been trained as a pharmacist; after he turned to alchemical research, it was his claim that he knew the secret of transmuting dross into gold that attracted the attention of Augustus. Imprisoned by Augustus as an incentive to hasten his research, B?ttger was obliged to work with other alchemists in the futile search for transmutation and was eventually assigned to assist Tschirnhaus. One of the first results of the collaboration between the two was the development of a red stoneware that resembled the red stoneware of Yixing.

A workshop note records that the first specimen of hard, white European porcelain was produced in January 1708. At the time, the research was still being supervised by Tschirnhaus; however, he died in October of that year. It was left to B?ttger to report to Augustus in March 1709 that he could make true white porcelain. For this reason, credit for the European discovery of porcelain is traditionally ascribed to him rather than Tschirnhaus.

The was established in 1710 after the development of a kiln and a glaze suitable for use with B?ttger's porcelain, which required firing at temperatures greater than to achieve translucence. Meissen porcelain was ''once-fired'', or ''green-fired'', in the Chinese manner. It was noted for its great resistance to thermal shock; a visitor to the factory in B?ttger's time reported having seen a white-hot teapot being removed from the kiln and dropped into cold water without damage. Evidence to support this widely disbelieved story was given in the 1980s when the procedure was repeated in an experiment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Other developments

William Cookworthy discovered deposits of china clay in Cornwall, making a considerable contribution to the development of porcelain and other whiteware ceramics in the United Kingdom. Cookworthy's , established in 1768, used Cornish china clay and china stone to make porcelain with a body composition similar to that of the Chinese porcelains of the early eighteenth century.

As a building material

In rare cases, porcelain has been used as a building material, usually in the form of large rectangular panels on exterior surfaces. The Dakin Building in Brisbane, California, constructed in 1986, is notable for its porcelain skin. An older example is the in Houston, Texas; constructed in 1929, it had a seventy-foot long logo of porcelain on its exterior.

Europe and the Americas

East Asia

* Chinese porcelain
* Japanese pottery and porcelain
* Korean pottery and porcelain
* Porcelain Tower of Nanjing

Numbers in Chinese culture

In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious or inauspicious based on the word that the number name sounds similar to. However some Chinese people regard these beliefs to be superstitions. Since the pronunciation and the vocabulary may vary greatly in different Chinese dialects, the rules are not generally applicable for all cases.

Because of the supposed auspiciousness of certain numbers, some people will often choose, attempt to obtain, or pay large sums for numbers that are considered to be lucky for their phone numbers, street addresses, residence floor , driver's license number, vehicle license plate number, bank account number, etc.

Lucky numbers

Lucky numbers are based on words that sound similar to other Chinese words. The numbers , , and are believed to have auspicious meanings because their names sound similar to words that have positive meanings.

One

The number 1 can represent unity.

Two

The number is a good number in Chinese culture. There is a Chinese saying "good things come in pairs". It is common to use double symbols in product brandnames, e.g. double happiness, double coin, double elephants etc. like the number two because it sounds the same as their word for "easy" .

Three

The number sounds like the word "生 ", meaning "life", and is thus considered a lucky number.

Four

Although the number is considered unlucky by most Chinese , it is considered lucky in some local Chinese dialects where it is a homophone with the word "事". When the number 4 is encountered during a celebration, people would often remark "四四如意", which would also refer to "事事如意" .

4 also sounds like the word "思 ". 4 in solfège sounds like "fa ", meaning "get fortune"; 14 in solfège sounds like "dou fa ", meaning "everyone gets fortunes".

Five

The number is associated with the Five elements , and in turn was historically associated with the Emperor of China. For example, the Tiananmen gate, being the main thoroughfare to the Forbidden City, has five arches.

Six

The number , pronounced "liu" in Mandarin, sounds like the word for "flowing", "smooth" or "slippery" which can mean "everything goes smoothly".

The number can be seen prominently in many shop windows across the country, and people there often pay extra to get a mobile phone number including this string of digits. Paradoxically, that number is considered to be demonic in Western culture, as it is the Number of the Beast.

License plate number AW6666 was bought for RMB 272,000 in an auction by an anonymous bidder on behalf of a motorcycle dealership in Zengcheng, Guangzhou.

Seven

The number symbolizes "togetherness". This is shown in the Chinese mythology of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. The seventh day of the seventh month is The Night of Sevens. However, the mythology of Cowherd and Weaver Girl is a tragedy, since they could only meet up with each other once every 1000 years, therefore 7 is often known as a sad, tragic, and unlucky number in the northern Chinese tradition. Also, the 7th month of the year is known as the Ghost Month, and therefore 7 is often linked with fate, destiny, and supernatural occurrences.

Eight

The word for in Mandarin sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" . In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, eg "baat" and "faat".

There is also a resemblance between two digits, "88", and the ''shuang xi'' , a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 .

Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.

The opening ceremony of the began on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm

A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for RMB 1.12 million.

Nine

The number , being the greatest of single-digit numbers, was historically associated with the Emperor of China; the Emperor's robes often had nine dragons, and Chinese mythology held that the dragon has nine children.

Moreover, the number '''' sounds like the word for "longlasting" , and as such is often used in weddings.

Thirteen

While 13 in Western culture is a bad number, in Chinese, 13 is a good number because in Cantonese, 13 is close to "實生" , so when faced with uncertainties, this is a comforting number. Of course, that makes 14 bad, because 14 is close to "實死" .

Combinations

1314 - Forever , as the pronunciation of "1314" is close to "一生一世" . At one stage, 520 1314 was a very romantic number since "520" is close to 我愛您 , so 520 1314, was a very romantic 7-digit phone number.

138 or 148 - Prosperous for life; variations include 338 and 448 .

- Prosperous all the way, or to be prosperous together - many charged telephone service numbers in China begin with this number. Many businesses also prefer to have this number as part of their names. It is considered one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture.

518 - I will prosper ; other variations include: 5189 , 516289 and 5918 .

54 - in Cantonese: 'ng sei' sounds like 'm sei' - not die; in Mandarin, sounds like "I die"

524 - Cantonese, "Not easy to die"

Unlucky numbers

Four

Number is considered an unlucky number in , , and cultures because it sounds like the word "death" . Due to that, many numbered product lines skip the "4": e.g. Nokia cell phones , , Canon PowerShot G's series , etc. In East Asia, some buildings do not have a 4th floor. In Hong Kong, some high-rise residential buildings miss ALL floor numbers with "4", e.g. 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40-49 floors. As a result, a building with 50th as the highest floor may actually have 36.

Number is considered to be one of the unluckiest numbers in Chinese culture. Although 14 is usually said as "shi si," which sounds like "ten die", it can also be said as "yi si" or "yao si", literally "one four". Thus, 14 can also be said as "yao si," literally "one four," but it also means "want to die" . In Cantonese, 14 sounds like "sap6 sei3", which sounds like "sat6 sei2" meaning "certainly die" .

Ironically, in the Rich Text Format specification, language code 4 is for the Chinese language.

Five

Although it can represent "me" , it is usually associated with "not" .
If used for the negative connotation it can become good by using it with a negative.
54 being "not die" or "no death".
If used for the positive it can be used as a possessive. 528 is a way of saying "no easy fortune for me". 53 sounds like "m4 sang1 （唔生）" - "not live".

Six

Six in Cantonese which has a similar pronunciation to that of "luk6" - to drop, fall or decline may form unlucky combinations.

Seven

Seven is considered spiritual or ghostly. The seventh month of the Chinese calendar is also called the "Ghost Month". See Ghost Festival for more detail. During this month, the gates of hell are said to be open so ghosts and spirits are permitted to visit the living realm. It is not commonly associated with luck.

Combinations

250 - if it is read in a certain way, it means imbecile in Mandarin. 二百五 （èr bǎi wǔ) reading means imbecile, while alternative ways such as 两百五 or 二百五十 means 250. The difference lies with the rule that 两 should be used in the place of 二 to mean 2 when directly before a measure word

9413 - "九死一生" , meaning 90% chance of being dead and only 10% chance of being alive.

In Hong Kong, seven and nine both have similar pronunciations to two of "the five most insulting words" in Cantonese - the male genital. Six in Cantonese also has a similar pronunciation to an impolite word which is used to count the number of cylindrical objects. Therefore, 167, 169, 1679 and other creative combinations are dirty jokes in Hong Kong culture.

5354 - "唔生唔死" sounds like "not alive, not dead". This often refers to something that is half dead or on the verge of death.

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is a children's television show, which premiered on on February 7, 2008. The show was soon thereafter re-broadcasted on Treehouse TV.

Main Characters

Kai-lan Chow

Kai-lan is a young girl who shares her biculturalism in her playtime adventures with her animal friends.

The title character's name, Kai-lan, is the Chinese name of show creator, Karen Chau, before being .

Voiced by Jade-Lianna Peters

Ye Ye

Kai-lan's grandfather, Ye Ye, appears as the patriarch, sharing with his granddaughter.

Voiced by and Ben Wang

Rintoo

Rintoo is an impulsive
* A few words of Mandarin Chinese vocabulary
* One or more of Kai-lan's friends having a negative emotional response to some action or activity
* Kai-lan thinking out loud
* Cause-and-effect problem solving
* Before saying good-bye , Kai-lan says, "You make my heart feel super happy."

Conception

"Ni Hao, Kai-lan" is based on the childhood memories of creator, Karen Chau, growing up in a bicultural household. However, the original concept for the show was a series of 2 minute shorts oriented around yoga with the working title, "Downward Doghouse" -- a reference to the "downward facing dog".