瓷器之国
中国是最早发明和烧制瓷器的国家，早在东汉时期，中国就制作出了成熟的瓷器。中国的瓷器，既有实用价值，也有审美价值，体现着中国人对生活和美的理解与实践，是古代中国对世界文明的重要贡献之一，是中华文明的重要名片。
瓷器是中外文明交流互鉴的重要载体。瓷器向外国销售最迟始于唐代。法国汉学家伯希和认为9世纪时波斯商人就向西方介绍了瓷器。到了13世纪，马可·波罗在其广为人知的游记中进一步向西方介绍了中国的瓷器。宋元时期，中国瓷器大规模销往东北亚、东南亚诸国，远至西亚、北非。今天的广州、宁波、杭州、泉州等城市是当时外销瓷的重要贸易集散地。16世纪开始，中国瓷器大量销往欧洲。此外，中国瓷器也不断吸收外来原料和技术，元代著名的青花瓷用到了来自中东的矿物材料，珐琅彩瓷是引进西方绘画技术创造的一个独特瓷器品种。
由于中国与瓷器的密切关系，中国有时被称作瓷国。英语里“China”一词除了指代中国，还有一个含义便是“瓷器”。福建德化、江西景德镇等古代瓷器生产重镇，都曾被誉为“世界瓷都”。
China, the "porcelain kingdom"
China was the first country to make porcelain, with sophisticated techniques already being developed during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). The exquisite, artistic, and functional objects embody the Chinese people's perception and creative interpretation of aesthetics in daily life. Porcelain was one of ancient China's great contributions to world civilizations and a widely recognized symbol of the Chinese civilization.
Porcelain is a vital vessel for the exchanges and interactions between Chinese and other civilizations. The export of Chinese porcelain to foreign lands dates back at the latest to the Tang Dynasty. According to the French sinologist Paul Pelliot, Chinese porcelain had been brought to the West by the Persian merchants no later than the ninth century. The Europeans began to read detailed accounts of Chinese porcelain in the popular travelogue of Marco Polo in the 13th century.
During the Song and the Yuan dynasties, large quantities of Chinese porcelain were sold to Northeast, Southeast, and West Asia and North Africa. Coastal cities of today, such as Guangzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Quanzhou, were major distribution centers of porcelain for export. China's porcelain exports to Europe started to soar in the 16th century.
Foreign materials and techniques were also used in the making of porcelain. For instance, blue-and-white, a signature porcelain variety of the Yuan Dynasty, contained minerals from the Middle East, and colorful enameled porcelain was created by applying the Western painting skills.
Because of China's close bond with porcelain, it is also called the "porcelain kingdom". In English, "china" has two meanings: one, the country in the East, and the other, porcelain. Dehua of Fujian Province and Jingdezhen of Jiangxi Province were major porcelain centers, sharing the title of "world capital of porcelain".
