The "Hidden Eight Lmmortals" Of Kraak Porcelain

Chinese export porcelain began in Han and Tang dynasties and prevailed among Ming and Qing dynasties. The ornamentations of the export porcelain had complicated and multiplex features due to the influences by the national cultures, religious believes and social backgrounds. Kraak porcelain, as an important component of various Chinese export porcelains and a carrier of the exchange and confluence of Eastern and Western cultures, achieved remarkable success in the artistic field. The colorful ornamentations of Kraak exhibited lots of information on societies, human cultures, and etc., not only reflecting abundant ethical culture features, but the spirit implications at that time.The Hidden Eight Immortals (HEIs) were oriented from Taoism. As the typical common viewed ornamentations of Kraak and classical decorations, the HEIs brought the Chinese cultures from East to West, the researches of which were highly valuable for academic studies on the Taoism and especially the decorations of Kraak. In this paper, the HEIs taken from the Kraak porcelain of Ming and Qing dynasties were classified and identified firstly; then, proceeded from the origin of Taoism and the happy implications, the HEIs were analyzed from the contents, the forms to the artistic styles, respectively; and based on this, various factors affected the evolutions of the HEIs of the Kraaks were investigated. The results indicated that, the crazy of imperial power to Taoism was greatly predominant in the ceramics of Jingdezhen during Ming dynasties in the background of the porcelain art; the development of the HEIs was ascribed to the fabrication, refining, elevation and sublimation of the arts and folklores, which represented the great creative energy of the laboring people. The HEIs of Kraak were not only entrusted the beautiful desires in Taoist cultures, but also integrated into the porcelain art of ethical and religious characteristics, which made the Kraak maximize the mutual economic benefits during the Ming and Qing periods and the HEIs of Kraak have a wealth of the aesthetic characteristics and values for investigate.