Ming: blue-and-white and the scholars' gardens

The Forbidden City, blue-and-white porcelain for the whole world and the scholars of Suzhou who painted their gardens.

The Ming dynasty was founded by a peasant who became emperor, and the capital was moved to Beijing, where the Forbidden City was built. Admiral Zheng He sailed with vast fleets as far as Africa.

Blue-and-white porcelain from Jingdezhen became world-famous and was exported to the Middle East and – from the 16th century – to Europe on Portuguese and Dutch ships. The imperial workshops made porcelain with reign marks, such as Xuande and Chenghua.

In the wealthy city of Suzhou the Wu School flourished with Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, who painted scholars’ gardens and gatherings. Dong Qichang later divided painting into a “Northern” and a “Southern” school, a theory that governed art criticism for centuries.