White Dragon in a Sea of Blue Littleton and Hennessy The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) 14th 23rd March 2014 Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) Forum 100 6229 GV Maastricht The Netherlands www.tefaf.com
Foreword 前言 We are highly honoured to be entrusted with the sale of this exceptional dish dating from the Yuan dynasty. At an impressive size of 40.5 centimetres in diameter it is one of only thirteen known pieces of this ware. The rarity magnified by being one of only three large dishes known to exist and the only one in private hands. This dish was previously in the estate of Waltraud Hentschel, the wife of Jack Ellis, Member of Parliament for Prince Edward-Hastings, Ontario, Canada and by descent from the estate of her mother, Sophia Johanna Hentschel. How it made its journey from the kilns of Jingdezhen to North America is unknown but we are thankful to its previous keepers for ensuring its survival. We are thrilled to be exhibiting in our eighth TEFAF. Each year we look forward to returning to Limburg and the familiar surroundings of the MECC to see our friends. Finally we would like to thank Regina Krahl for undertaking the research for this catalogue, sharing her expertise and our excitement in a true masterpiece of Chinese ceramic art and Yuen Chiu for her excellent translation of Regina s essay. James Hennessy Richard Littleton Hong Kong February 2014 Detail from Nine Dragons handscroll, Chen Rong, 1244, Song dynasty, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
White Dragon in a Sea of Blue 蒼穹浩渺碧海蛟龍 Regina Krahl 康蕊君 This magnificent dish owes its timeless beauty to a poignant moment in the history of Chinese ceramics, when daring, innovative concepts were developed at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, that should define the direction of the country s porcelain production for centuries. This dish is unique and of an exceedingly rare style, yet stylistically an archetypal representative of the new departure of China s ceramic industry in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The abundance of cobalt blue a rare, imported commodity here used for the glaze, and the bold simplicity of the sparse, contrasting design make for a highly successful combination. The dramatic impact of a piece of porcelain such as this to ceramic connoisseurs used to Song (960-1279) aesthetics can hardly be overestimated. Fine ceramics until then were generally small, hardly ever of bright colour and rarely decorated with distinct figurative patterns. Once pieces such as this existed, however, there was no turning back and China s ceramics were forever transformed. 此盤工藝卓絕, 魅力歷久彌新, 這跟它源自中國陶瓷史上的關鍵時刻有莫大的關係, 當時江西景德鎮推陳出新 巧思迭出, 為中國瓷器往後數百年的發展奠定了基礎 這件藍地白龍紋盤別開生面, 風格獨樹一幟, 但就其樣式而言, 亦堪稱為中國陶瓷業在元代 ( 公元 1279 至 1368 年 ) 向新紀元邁進的圭臬之作 盤身厚施進口的珍貴鈷藍釉, 襯以自然奔放的紋飾, 其佈局疏曠 對比鮮明, 二者的搭配天衣無縫 對於崇尚宋代 ( 公元 960 至 1279 年 ) 美學的陶瓷鑑藏家來說, 此類瓷器對其衝擊之大, 自不待言 此前的上乘陶瓷泰半小巧玲瓏, 色澤亮麗者極稀, 且紋飾中鮮有明確的具像圖案 但像本盤這一類的作品亮相之後, 中國陶瓷自此氣象一新, 出現了翻天覆地的蛻變
With its crisp, barbed edge this dish has the classic shape, proportions and size of the best Yuan porcelain chargers. Although the large vessel must have been designed with foreign customers in mind, the design is quintessentially Chinese. Examples with similar dragons were made both large and small, and while some ended up in the Near and Middle East and one was discovered at Yangzhou, a major overseas port, others remained in China and have come to light both in the south and the north. This style of decoration, where the white design creates a sharp contrast to the deep cobalt-blue glaze, is among the rarest used on Yuan porcelain. Only one dozen other pieces executed in this manner appear to be preserved, all except one in museum collections: two large dishes of similar form as the present piece, five small dishes, four wine jars of meiping shape, and one spouted bowl in a non-chinese metal form. Ten of these vessels are decorated with three-clawed dragons similar to that on the present dish, but none of them is showing additional clouds. 此稜口盤造型清新, 呈現了元代大型瓷盤的經典器形 比例和大小 雖然這件大盤的設計應參考了海外客戶的喜好, 但歸根結柢仍不脫中國本色 與本藏品龍紋相若的近似例大小不一, 雖有若干作品流散近東或中東, 重要通商港口揚州亦曾出土一例, 餘者則散見於中國大江南北 本藏品的龍紋皎潔瑩白, 鈷藍鈾則深沉幽靚, 二者對比鮮明, 這種裝飾風格在元瓷中殊不尋常 裝飾風格近似的傳世品僅有十二件, 除一例之外, 餘者俱為博物館珍藏 : 其中有兩件大盤, 其形制與本珍藏類似, 五例為小盤, 四件為梅瓶式的酒器, 最後一例是瓷匜, 其形制脫胎於非中原地區的金屬器 這些作品當中, 十例的三爪龍紋與本藏品大同小異, 但無一襯以祥雲
A slightly larger (46 cm) barbed dish from the Safavid Royal collection preserved in the Ardabil Shrine and now in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran, shows a similar dragon chasing a flaming pearl, but reversed, and the animal depicted with a more extravagant tail and more elaborate flamelike extensions emanating from the body. There is no decoration around the well, and the centre is apparently not set off by a ridge like here. The dish is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World s Great Collections, London, New York and San Francisco, 1980-82, vol. 4, col. pl. III (fig. 1); and was recently included in the exhibition Youlan shencai. Yuandai qinghua ciqi teji/splendors in Smalt. Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2012, cat. no. 40. A dish of similar size (41.5 cm) and with a similar recessed centre, from the Ottoman Royal collection and still in the former Ottoman palace, Topkapi Saray, is decorated with a qilin and pheasant in an indicated garden setting in the centre and a pair of phoenixes among floral sprays around the well, all similarly executed in white relief; see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, ed. John Ayers, London, 1986, vol. 2, no. 551 (fig. 2). Fig. 1 薩非王族皇家珍藏一件略小的稜口盤 (46 公分 ), 它原存放於阿德比爾神廟, 現為德黑蘭伊朗國家博物館珍藏, 該盤飾類似的趕珠龍紋, 但方向恰恰相反, 而龍尾的樣式也更為張揚, 龍身散射的火焰狀紋飾亦較為細膩 器身內壁光素無紋, 盤心未像本藏品般起棱, 圖見 Oriental Ceramics. The World s Great Collections 卷四彩色圖版 III( 倫敦 紐約及三藩市 :1980-82)( 圖 1), 近來曾於上海博物館 2012 年舉辦的 幽藍神采 : 元代青花瓷器特集 中亮相, 詳見展覽圖錄編號 40 另有一盤口徑較小 (41.5 公分 ), 但盤心像本藏品般內凹, 它源於奧斯曼皇家珍藏, 現仍存放於托普卡比. 薩雷博物館的奧斯曼皇宮舊址 盤心飾一麒麟和雉雞在庭園漫步, 內壁以一對鳳凰及折技花卉作為襯托, 各紋飾皆以白色泥料塑貼, 就此請見康蕊君所著及 John Ayers 編輯的 Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul 卷二編號 551 ( 倫敦 :1986)( 圖 2) Fig. 2
Fig. 7 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Five small dishes (15.2 16 cm) with flat circular rims, all decorated with a simpler dragon facing the other way, four of them chasing a flaming pearl, are preserved in China, Japan and England. The dragon without pearl appears on a dish in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 11, pl. 242 (fig. 3); the other dishes, all with dragon and pearl, are in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, from the Ataka collection, included in the exhibition Ataka Eiichi no me. Bi no kyūdōsha/the Eyes of Ataka Eiichi, Seeker of True Art, Osaka, 2007, cat. no. 124 (fig. 4); in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, published in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji/chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, col. pl. 133 (fig. 5); in the British Museum, London, from the collection of Harry Oppenheim, included in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 1:44 (fig. 6); and in the collection of Sir Percival David, now also in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, op. cit., vol. 6, col. pl. 26 (fig. 7). Fig. 5 Fig. 6 另有五件折沿小盤 (15.2-16 公分 ), 它們散見於中國 日本和英國等地, 各飾一條造型較為樸拙 面朝相反方向的龍紋, 其中四者作戲珠狀 有龍無珠的例子為北京故宮博物院珍藏, 圖見 中國陶瓷全集 11 圖版 242( 上海 :1999-2000)( 圖 3); 其他作品俱飾火珠龍紋, 分別來自 : 日本大阪市立東洋陶磁美術館安宅珍藏, 圖見 美の求道者安宅英一の眼 : 安宅コレクション 圖錄編號 124( 大阪 :2007)( 圖 4); 東京出光美術館珍藏, 發表於 日本陶磁 : 出光美術館藏品圖錄 彩色圖版 133( 東京 :1987)( 圖 5); 倫敦大英博物館奧本海默珍藏 (Harry Oppenheim), 載於霍吉淑 (Jessica Harrison-Hall) 所著 Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum 編號 1:44( 倫敦 : 2001)( 圖 6); 以及大維德爵士珍藏, 現亦存放於大英博物館, 圖見前述著作 Oriental Ceramics 卷六彩色圖版 26( 圖 7)
Fig. 8 A spouted bowl with a small lug for attachment underneath the spout, decorated with a wild goose carrying a reed on the inside and flower sprays on the outside, from the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, was acquired for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, by the Museum s then Director Sir Leigh Ashton at Sotheby s London on 24 th March 1953 (lot 68), and is illustrated in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl. 41 (fig. 8). 克拉克夫人 (Mrs. Alfred Clark) 舊藏一匜, 其流下有一小繫, 盌內飾蘆雁圖, 器外則繪折技花卉, 此器是阿什頓爵士 (Sir Leigh Ashton) 於 1953 年 3 月 24 日在倫敦蘇富比 ( 拍品編號 68) 拍賣會上, 為當時他所執掌的倫敦維多利亞與亞伯特博物館購藏所得, 詳見 John Ayers 所著 Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum 圖版 41( 倫敦 : 1980)( 圖 8) Four meiping, each with a dragon chasing a flaming pearl, are recorded in China and France: A large meiping (43.8 cm) excavated at Yangzhou, an important port city in Jiangsu province with easy access to the sea via the Yangzi River, now preserved in the Yangzhou Museum, is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji, op. cit., pl. 241 (fig. 9); a smaller meiping (33 cm) is preserved in the Yiheyuan Imperial Summer Palace in Beijing and has been published in Lu Kan, Yiheyuan cang Yuandai lanyou bailongwen meiping/ Blue Glazed Plum Vase with White Dragon Design of Yuan Dynasty Collected at Summer Palace, Shoucang jia/collector and Connoisseur, no. 10, 2008, pp. 71-2, and again by the same author in Cangmang tianqiong Jiaolong ganzu. Ji Yiheyuan cang lanyou bailongwen meiping [Deep blue dome of the sky a mythical dragon catching a pearl. On a blueglazed meiping with white dragon design collected in the Yiheyuan], Shoucang jie/collection World, no. 83, November 2008, pp. 56-7 (fig. 10); another meiping of similar size (33.6 cm) in the Musée Guimet, Paris, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, op. cit., vol. 7, col. pl. IV (fig. 11); a fourth example, again of larger size (43.8 cm), in a private collection in China, has more recently come to light and has been published as a genuine Yuan example by Wei Ziyun, Yuandai gulanyou ciqi zhenyan xiaoyi [Brief discussion of real and fake Yuan dynasty cobalt-blue glazed porcelains], Shoucang jie/collection World, no. 32, August 2004, pp. 27-29, figs 1-3 (fig. 12). 中國和法國也有四例龍戲珠紋梅瓶 : 一例是揚州出土的大型梅瓶 (43.8 公分 ), 該市是江蘇省重要通商港口, 位於長江下游入海處, 此瓶現為揚州博物館珍藏, 圖見前述著作 中國陶瓷全集 編號 241( 圖 9); 另一例較小的梅瓶 (33 公分 ) 為北京頤和園珍藏, 圖見盧侃所著 頤和園藏元代藍釉白龍紋梅瓶, 收錄於 收藏家 2008 年刊號 10 頁 71-2, 以及同一作者撰寫的 蒼莽天穹蛟龍趕珠 記頤和園藏藍釉白龍紋梅瓶, 載於 收藏界 2008 年 11 月刊號 83 頁 56-7( 圖 10); 巴黎吉美博物館藏梅瓶大小相若 (33.6 公分 ), 圖見前述著作 Oriental Ceramics 卷七彩色圖版 IV( 圖 11); 第四例的器型亦較大 (43.8 公分 ), 這件近來曝光的作品乃中國私人珍藏, 韋子雲視之為元代真品, 並於其論文 元代鈷藍釉瓷器真贗小議 中發表, 詳見 收藏界 2004 年 8 月刊號 32 頁 27-29 圖例 1-3( 圖 12)
Fig. 13 Fig. 10 Fig. 9 Fig. 12 Although no vessels in other shapes are preserved in this technique, fragments of a blue-glazed jar with a very similar three-clawed dragon design were recovered from a well in the old city of Zhenjiang, again in Jiangsu province, see Zou Houben, ed., Jiangsu kaogu wushi nian [Fifty years of archaeology in Jiangsu], Nanjing, 2000, p.418, fig. 30 (fig.13), where a further blue-glazed fragment with white dragon design, apparently too small to enable reconstruction of a shape, is recorded to have come to light in Nanjing. 雖然未見其他形制的傳世品採用這種工藝, 但江蘇鎮江古城一口井中曾出土一藍釉罐殘片, 其三爪龍紋與本藏品如出一轍, 詳見鄒厚本主編的 江蘇考古五十年 頁 418 圖例 30( 南京 :2000)( 圖 13), 文中提到南京也出土了一塊藍釉白龍紋瓷片, 但其大小顯然不足以修復成型 Fig. 11
It is highly surprising that even with this small number of extant pieces, two different techniques appear to have been employed to achieve a similar decorative result. On the open shapes, like on the present dish, the body of the dragon appears to have been first outlined in white slip under the glaze; once the blue glaze was in place, the full design was applied, either in form of liquid slip, like here, or in some cases perhaps in form of a thin sheet of clay; details were then incised and the design covered with a transparent glaze. On the upright vessels, this method was not possible, since the design would have slipped from the glaze. It was therefore carved into the unglazed body, emphasized with slip and transparent glaze and reserved on the blue glaze. The latter technique resulted in a pure white design, while with the former, incised details tend to appear in pale blue. The animated dragon on the present dish the only one on the dishes to face to the right is masterfully executed and unusual in the naturalistic way the fourth leg is largely hidden, with only two claws appearing from underneath the body. This kind of artistic freedom, which is characteristic of the Yuan dynasty, would be difficult to imagine in any other era. The present dish reveals another secret: It is the first piece of this type and thus unique to show that the original appearance of these pieces would have been even more glamorous: the blue glaze used to bear additional decoration in gilding. Only small traces of the original gold design are remaining on the outside, which do not allow for a reconstruction; one can only speculate that it might have been a lotus scroll. Less than a handful of vessels have otherwise come to light which show the prestigious cobalt-blue glaze combined with gilt decoration, but none show white relief designs and all are very small: A spouted bowl and a small cup were recovered from the Baoding hoard in Hebei province, and two gilded blue-glazed jue libation cups have been excavated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Shexian, Anhui province, respectively; all are published in Ye Peilan, Yuandai ciqi [Porcelain of the Yuan dynasty], Beijing, 1998, pls 200-203, the small cup being the best preserved (fig. 14). 即便傳世品如此之少, 但最令人意外的是, 工匠們竟採用了兩種不同的工藝, 以達致類似的裝飾效果 像本藏品這類敞口器物, 其龍身應該是先用白色泥料勾勒輪廓, 上覆藍釉, 再塑貼出完整的紋飾, 它們或像本盤般採用泥料, 或薄施一層黏土, 然後再刻劃細部, 最後再施透明釉 就立件器物而言, 這種方法並不可行, 因為紋飾會在釉下洇散 因此, 瓷工會在素胎上直接刻劃圖案, 再用瓷漿和透明釉加以渲染, 在藍地之上營造留白效果 後者的紋飾色澤瑩白, 而前者的刻花細部常略為泛藍 本藏品的龍紋活靈活現, 它在近似盤中是唯一朝右的例子, 其畫工無比精湛, 其中一腿若隱若現, 龍身之下僅見二爪, 效果生動傳神而不落俗套 這種不拘小節的藝術風格, 正是典型的元代特色, 其他朝代鮮可得見 Fig. 14 本藏品還揭開了另一個鮮為人知的秘密 : 它的藍釉之上原先還描有金彩, 可見同類作品的外觀應更為華美, 這在近似例中為首見, 益顯其彌足珍貴 原來的描金紋飾, 僅在盤外依稀可見, 且已無從修補, 所以只能據此推測為纏枝蓮紋 在已發表作品中, 僅有寥寥數例結合了珍罕的鈷藍釉和描金紋飾, 但無一具白色塑貼, 而且俱是小巧玲瓏的器物 : 河北保定窖藏文物中有一匜和一小盃, 浙江杭州及安徽歙縣則各自出土了一描金藍釉爵盃 ; 上述各例皆發表於葉佩蘭所著 元代瓷器 圖版 200-203( 北京 :1998), 其中保存至為完好者當屬小盃 ( 圖 14)
Interestingly, this type of vessel like the best blue-and-white porcelains of the time would seem to have been produced by the commercial kilns of Jingdezhen. Excavations of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain have shown that the designs and styles of imperial and commercial kilns at that time were not distinctly different, yet surprisingly wares from the public kilns were far superior overall. The imperial manufactories, probably not yet under strict court control, lagged manifestly behind their public competitors, which executed both demanding commissions for inland customers (like the David Vases ) and important wares for shipment abroad (like the fine collections of Yuan porcelain preserved in Turkey and Iran). Commercial kilns occasionally also added cobalt-blue glaze to the reverse of large blue-and-white dishes: A dish fragment excavated from the 14 th -century Tughlaq palace site of Kotla Firuzshah in Delhi has a blue-glazed outside similar to that of the present dish, but the inside is painted in underglaze-blue on white; see Ellen Smart, Fourteenth Century Chinese Porcelain from a Tughlaq Palace in Delhi, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 41, 1975-77, pl. 78a. The imperial kilns equally tried out the technique of adding a white relief design to a blue ground, as fragments recovered from the waste heaps at Jingdezhen document. None of them appear to have survived intact, none of them may ever have been deemed fine enough to leave the kilns. They are grandly decorated with five-clawed dragons, yet seem poor in execution compared to the magnificent three-clawed versions such as this dish and its companions listed above, with the white designs more thickly applied and more clumsily drawn. Compare a covered jar and an ink-stone box and cover discarded at the kilns and reconstructed from sherds, decorated with white relief designs of dragons and other minor motifs on a blue glaze, included in the exhibition Jingdezhen chutu Yuan Ming guanyao ciqi/yuan s and Ming s Imperial Porcelain Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Yan-Huang Art Museum, Beijing, 1999, cat. nos 6 and 7 (fig. 15). Imperial and non-imperial production in this case present exactly the same picture as blue-and-white, where the few fragments known from the imperial kilns equally seem like a poor version of those produced for sale. Fig. 15 饒富興味的是, 這類器物跟當時的上乘青花瓷一樣, 很可能出自景德鎮民窰 據出土的元代青花瓷看來, 當時的御窰和民窰在紋飾 風格上區別不大, 但出乎意料的是, 官窰瓷器的整體水平可謂一枝獨秀 御窰可能尚未受到朝廷的嚴格規管, 所以其水準遠遜於官窰, 而官窰既要滿足國內客戶的嚴苛要求 ( 諸如各 大維德瓶 ), 亦要燒造遠銷海外的重要器物 ( 如土耳其和伊朗珍藏的佳妙元瓷 ) 民窰的瓷製青花大盤, 偶爾也會在器外施鈷藍釉 : 德里費羅斯. 沙. 克特拉的十四世紀圖格魯克宮殿遺址曾出土一盤的瓷片, 其外壁像本藏品般施藍釉, 但盤內繪白地青花紋飾, 詳見施瑪特 (Ellen Smart) 所著 Fourteenth Century Chinese Porcelain from a Tughlaq Palace in Delhi, 載於 東方陶瓷學會會刊 1975-77 年刊號 41 圖版 78a 據景德鎮廢瓷堆出土的殘片看來, 御窰也曾嘗試過在藍釉地上塑貼白色紋飾 但就此而言, 未見保存完好的傳世品, 也許根本未曾有作品達到理想的燒造水準 它們都飾以尊貴的五爪龍紋, 但跟本藏品這類飾三爪龍紋的珍品及上述近似例相比, 其做工大為遜色, 而且白色泥料流於厚實, 畫工也失之生澀 就此可參照用瓷窰廢置殘片修復而成的一件蓋罐和硯盒, 其藍地之上均飾白色塑貼龍紋和其他配襯紋飾, 詳見 景德鎮出土元明官窰瓷器 展覽圖錄編號 6 及 7( 北京 : 炎黃藝術館,1999)( 圖 15) 當時的御窰及非御窰製品之間的高下之分, 其實也存在於元青花瓷, 據現存的若干御窰瓷片看來, 其工藝水平亦遜於同類型的商品瓷
By the early Ming dynasty (1368-1644) the imperial kilns had fully mastered this style of white-on-blue decoration. Very fine examples with the white designs reserved without the use of a slip were produced in the Xuande reign (1426-35), but even from this period, when technical difficulties or prohibitive costs were rarely an obstacle, only a dozen examples have survived. For a large blue-glazed Xuande dish with fruit and flower designs reserved in white see Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1667. The style was thereafter hardly used until it was revived in the Yongzheng period (1723-35) of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). 時至明代 ( 公元 1368 至 1644 年 ) 初葉, 御窰的藍地留白工藝已臻爐火純青之境 宣德年間 ( 公元 1426 至 1435 年 ) 亦有燒造毋須用瓷漿留白的佳作, 但即使是在這個技術成熟 不計工本的年代, 也僅有十二件作品流傳至今 宣德藍地留白花果紋大盤是其中一例, 詳見康蕊君所著 玫茵堂藏中國瓷器 卷四編號 1667( 倫敦 :1994-2010) 其後, 這種裝飾風格幾乎銷聲匿跡, 直至清代 ( 公元 1644 年 1911 年 ) 雍正年間 ( 公元 1723 至 1735 年 ) 始再度大放異彩
The Chronology of China 中國歷代年表 新石器時代 Neolithic Pe r i o d c.6500-1700 BC 夏 Xia Dy n a s t y c.2100-1600 BC 商 Sh a n g Dynast y c.1600-1100 BC 周 Zh o u Dy n a s t y c.1100-256 BC 西周 Western Zhou c.1100-771 BC 東周 Eastern Zhou 770-256 BC 春秋 Spring and Autumn Period 770-476 BC 戰國 Warring States Period 475-221 BC 秦 Qin Dy n a s t y 221-206 BC 漢 Han Dy n a s t y 206 BC-AD 220 西漢 Western Han 206 BC-AD 8 新王莽 Xin (Wang Mang Interregnum) AD 9-23 東漢 Eastern Han AD 25-220 三國 Th r e e Ki n g d o m s 220-265 魏 Wei 220-265 蜀漢 Shu Han 221-263 吳 Wu 222-263 晉 Jin Dy n a s t y 265-420 西晉 Western Jin 265-317 十六國 Sixteen Kingdoms 304-439 東晉 Eastern Jin 317-420 南朝 So u t h e r n Dy n a s t i e s 北朝 No rt h e r n Dy n a s t i e s 420-589 南朝 Southern Dynasties 劉宋 Liu Song 420-479 南齊 Southern Qi 479-502 梁 Liang 502-557 陳 Chen 557-589 北朝 Northern Dynasties 北魏 Northern Wei 386-534 東魏 Eastern Wei 534-550 西魏 Western Wei 535-556 北齊 Northern Qi 550-577 北周 Northern Zhou 557-581 隋 Su i Dy n a s t y 581-618 唐 Ta n g Dy n a s t y 618-907 五代 Five Dy n a s t i e s 907-960 後梁 Later Liang 907-923 後唐 Later Tang 923-936 後晉 Later Jin 936-946 後漢 Later Han 947-950 後周 Later Zhou 951-960 遼 Li ao Dy n a s t y 907-1125 宋 So n g Dy n a s t y 960-1279 北宋 Northern Song 960-1127 南宋 Southern Song 1127-1279 金 Jin Dy n a s t y 1115-1234 元 Yua n Dy n a s t y 1279-1368 明 Mi n g Dy n a s t y 1368-1644 洪武 Hongwu 1368-1398 建文 Jianwen 1399-1402 永樂 Yongle 1403-1425 洪熙 Hongxi 1425 宣德 Xuande 1426-1435 正統 Zhengtong 1436-1449 景泰 Jingtai 1450-1456 天順 Tianshun 1457-1464 成化 Chenghua 1465-1487 弘治 Hongzhi 1488-1505 正德 Zhengde 1506-1521 嘉靖 Jiajing 1522-1566 隆慶 Longqing 1567-1572 萬曆 Wanli 1573-1619 泰昌 Taichang 1620 天啟 Tianqi 1621-1627 崇禎 Chongzhen 1628-1644 清 Qi n g Dy n a s t y 1644-1911 順治 Shunzhi 1644-1661 康熙 Kangxi 1662-1722 雍正 Yongzheng 1723-1735 乾隆 Qianlong 1736-1795 嘉慶 Jiaqing 1796-1820 道光 Daoguang 1821-1850 咸豐 Xianfeng 1851-1861 同治 Tongzhi 1862-1874 光緒 Guangxu 1875-1908 宣統 Xuantong 1909-1911 中華民國 Re p u b l i c o f Ch i n a 1912- 洪憲 Ho n g x i a n (Yua n Sh i k a i) 1915-1916 中華人民共和國 Pe o p l e's Re p u b l i c o f Ch i n a 1949-