0:00:02 > 0:00:07For centuries, we in the West were enthralled by ceramics from China
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and by blue and white in particular.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15650,000. At 700,000. Any more at 700,000?
0:00:15 > 0:00:16But what we didn't know
0:00:16 > 0:00:20was what the Chinese had been making for themselves.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Over there, emperors, scholars and collectors
0:00:23 > 0:00:27were entranced by something completely different,
0:00:27 > 0:00:31deceptively simple forms, many of them subtle monochromes,
0:00:31 > 0:00:36a whole species of ceramics never seen in the West.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Then, in 1860, Western troops rampaging through Beijing
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and pillaging the Emperor's summer palace
0:00:43 > 0:00:48found these ceramics, a kind entirely new to them.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Imagine the greed which filled the British and the French troops
0:00:52 > 0:00:55when they entered these ransacked palaces to discover
0:00:55 > 0:00:59that they were absolutely crammed with porcelain.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02The troops had blundered into a treasure house,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05revealing an aesthetic completely different to their own,
0:01:05 > 0:01:07one which emphasised
0:01:07 > 0:01:10just how mysterious the people of Cathay were.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13NEWSREEL: And now for something really antique.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17In the 1920s, one Englishman set out to build a collection
0:01:17 > 0:01:19of such pieces.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Through these wares, Percival David believed
0:01:21 > 0:01:26he could bring the West into a closer understanding of the East.
0:01:26 > 0:01:27I think he was right.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30I believe that through these wares we can reveal
0:01:30 > 0:01:34aspects of Chinese society and character.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37To me, they ARE China in ceramic form.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41These beautiful objects are time travellers.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45They'll take us on a journey through a thousand years of ceramic history,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49to the 12th-century capital of the academic Song Dynasty,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53gleaming blue and white porcelains will carry us to the 14th century,
0:01:53 > 0:01:55the Yuan era,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58and then we'll be in the 18th century and the Forbidden City
0:01:58 > 0:02:03for the beginning of the end for the Qing emperors.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05I've set myself a real challenge.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08I'm going to take half a dozen ceramic items
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and I'm going to see whether through them,
0:02:10 > 0:02:15we can get an understanding of an entire civilisation.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31For me, the urges began in adolescence,
0:02:31 > 0:02:36but I was 21 before I actually touched any imperial porcelain.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Well, my first experience of actually handling pieces
0:02:40 > 0:02:45made for the emperors was as
0:02:45 > 0:02:49a young probationary specialist
0:02:49 > 0:02:51at a well-known auction house.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55I got to play with the toys. I just was in heaven!
0:02:55 > 0:02:57There is a huge world of difference
0:02:57 > 0:03:01between seeing an object through glass in a cabinet
0:03:01 > 0:03:03and actually getting your hands on it.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09In the West, we don't actually value the notion of feeling an object
0:03:09 > 0:03:12as much as they do in the East.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15You're in direct contact with the people who made this,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17whenever it might have been.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21There was one collection above all which I wanted to get my hands on...
0:03:22 > 0:03:26..the celebrated Sir Percival David Collection.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29NEWSREEL: Inside Pekin is the Forbidden City.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It's where emperors once lived in barbaric splendour.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Percival David began collecting ceramics in his twenties,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37just as the imperial system ended.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41He had legendary taste and remarkable access.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43The Percival David Collection
0:03:43 > 0:03:46is the finest collection of Chinese ceramics outside China.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49The great collector was born in India in 1892,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52into a dynasty of merchant princes.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55He first visited China in 1923.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59He's entering China at a time that's quite exciting
0:03:59 > 0:04:00in terms of the art world.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05We're seeing a lot more ancient things appearing in the market.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10He was paying top dollar for many of the objects he acquired.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13But, of course, you know, he had the funds to do that.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Today, the collection is on public display at the British Museum.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21He felt that he was so fortunate
0:04:21 > 0:04:26to have direct experience of China and Chinese things outside of China,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28and he was one of the lucky few
0:04:28 > 0:04:33who could purchase what he really wanted. He wanted to share that.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Museums like statistics.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The average visitor to the British Museum
0:04:38 > 0:04:42dwells in a gallery for 174 seconds.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48But in Gallery 96, the average stay is seven minutes.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49Now, in those seven minutes,
0:04:49 > 0:04:5460% of the people asked, "What was it like visiting Gallery 96?"
0:04:54 > 0:04:58put it down to an emotional and a spiritual experience.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And I'm sure that Sir Percival would have been very pleased.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Many visitors are Chinese.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10I believe they're reporting more than the spiritual uplift
0:05:10 > 0:05:13that comes from expensive antiques.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15I think it's a response to an enigma.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21These vessels are ancient but unchanged by the passage of time.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24They reverberate with bygone eras.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28It's just a question of listening for the echoes.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I've chosen five pieces from the Percival David Collection
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and one from modern China.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39They're all old friends of mine, pieces I've known for years.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47'Now I won't just be looking.'
0:05:47 > 0:05:52Well, you've got a massive pair of vases.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55For three decades, I've handled ceramics without price
0:05:55 > 0:05:58and sometimes without value, but always with care.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02But this is different.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Handling these pieces calls for control of one's nerves.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Many are priceless. They're all fragile.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16My first choice may come as a surprise,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19but to me, it's a minimalist masterpiece.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24This is a film about beautiful objects.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28To many people's eyes, this is no more than a dog bowl.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31I think this is exquisite -
0:06:31 > 0:06:36white porcelain, the material that we above all associate with China.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41This has an ivory feel to it, cold to the touch
0:06:41 > 0:06:44but smooth as satin.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49This was made at a time when there were no enamels,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52there were no colours, but you could decorate it
0:06:52 > 0:06:56by scratching or carving a design into the surface.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59And you can almost see the hand movement of the potter.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02He will use a wire or a little cutter
0:07:02 > 0:07:07and turn the basin round, and he'll get this beautiful flow.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10For me, that's one of the most satisfying tests.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14When you look at it, does the design make you want to turn it round?
0:07:14 > 0:07:19Does it have life? Does it want to rotate itself?
0:07:19 > 0:07:23It sounds a bit highfalutin, but that's the way it is.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28And then in the centre, we have this beautiful array,
0:07:28 > 0:07:33not only in the centre but on the inside of that galleried rim.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38And my word, the copper band just gives it this presence.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43To think that the Normans were still rampaging over England
0:07:43 > 0:07:46at the time this was made.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49This basin was made around the end of the 11th century AD,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52an example of what is called Ding ware.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56It was designed for the use of an intellectual or scholar,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00and it opens my first window onto a particularly Chinese trait,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04the respect for learning and for the learned.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07In all sorts of different walks of intellectual life,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10there's a very powerful Chinese tradition of scholarship.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15It might be about art or philosophy or food or music.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17And it is distinctive from our own.
0:08:17 > 0:08:2111th-century China was ruled by the Song Dynasty,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23emperors to whom scholars were heroes.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27In Chinese society,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31people were ranked according to their profession.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33At the top was the scholar,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38then came the farmer, then came the artisan or craftsman,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and right at the bottom was the merchant.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45When the Song came to power, scholarship was greatly revered,
0:08:45 > 0:08:51and being able to read and write and appreciate your venerable past
0:08:51 > 0:08:54was a most important quality.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59But academic excellence was of less importance than athletic prowess
0:08:59 > 0:09:01when, in 1127,
0:09:01 > 0:09:07marauding Tatar forces chased the Song out of their capital, Kaifeng.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10They fled south to a city that is today called Hangzhou.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22I wanted to see the town where the Song found refuge.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Hangzhou sits in a natural hollow by a picturesque lake
0:09:26 > 0:09:30with a gentle climate perfect for growing tea.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33The Song court had been through hell.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35This was heaven.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40The Southern Song Dynasty, as they're known today,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44began to make their new capital a thriving metropolis
0:09:44 > 0:09:50and a centre of academic excellence. So naturally they left good records.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53The urbane citizens of Hangzhou
0:09:53 > 0:09:56had a bewildering choice of evening classes
0:09:56 > 0:09:59for those interested in the sciences and the arts.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02There was a choice of the early music society,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05the horse owners' appreciation society,
0:10:05 > 0:10:07the girls' choral society,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10the calligraphy society
0:10:10 > 0:10:12and all sorts of other interests,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15including the ghost hunters' society,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19the exotic food enjoyers' society
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and the antique collectors' society.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Now, that's one 12th-century club I should love to have attended.
0:10:30 > 0:10:36To run their very civil society, the Song required a civil service.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Examinations were open to all and standards were high.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Pushing a pen, or rather a brush, required fluency in the classics
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and dexterity with the scholar's tools.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57Calligraphy is really at the base of any scholar's performance.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03The scholar surrounded himself with useful utensils on his table,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06a whole array of objects that would have helped you
0:11:06 > 0:11:09with the pursuit of your writing or your painting.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12But you didn't want to use something that was ugly,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16you wanted to use something that would lift your spirits,
0:11:16 > 0:11:21and each of these would have been beautiful in its own right.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22Our bowl is such a tool.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27Chinese calligraphy is more than just writing, it's art.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33Song officials had to paint words, or rather characters, beautifully.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37At the Hangzhou Art Institute, the scholars' tools still include
0:11:37 > 0:11:41the ink, the brush and the bowl to rinse one from the other.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The Ding ware basin is almost certainly a brush washer.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49LARS GASPS IN ADMIRATION
0:11:50 > 0:11:54This is very, very beautiful, very, very impressive,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56and you have a very appreciative audience.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Here we are in Hangzhou, famous for the Song Dynasty.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Is there one style associated with the Song Dynasty scholars?
0:12:05 > 0:12:08TRANSLATION: For the dynasties following the Han,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10there were lots of changes in style.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14The Song Dynasty had its own calligraphic orientation.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18It was more free, more able to express inner feelings.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Each era had its own style.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22As far as art is concerned,
0:12:22 > 0:12:24the Wei and Jin periods were the most creative.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29In the Tang Dynasty, law and regulations were emphasised.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33In the Song Dynasty, they wanted to walk in a different road.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Cultured people were more natural,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38living in a different historic climate,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42and this more expressive literati created a more expressive style.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48My English name, when said in Chinese, is not good. Lars Tharp.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Yeah, yeah. It means "trash can".
0:12:51 > 0:12:53So, many years ago, I asked my Chinese friend
0:12:53 > 0:12:56to find a good Chinese name for me.
0:12:56 > 0:12:57Subole.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02I must use this. This is a Guan Yao brush washer.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03OK, here we go.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Hm...
0:13:12 > 0:13:14The next bit is something like this.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16And the next bit is...
0:13:16 > 0:13:18erm...
0:13:23 > 0:13:24Very good?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26LARS LAUGHS
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Run by academics, Song society was calm and ordered.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40And in order lies contentment, a precept of Confucianism.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41When the brush washer was made,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Confucius had been dead for nearly 1,500 years,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48but the Southern Song resurrected interest in the philosopher,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50the study of his teachings and precepts
0:13:50 > 0:13:54regarded then and now as the pursuit of scholars.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Confucius, perhaps one of the most famous philosophers of all time,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03was born in 551BC.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07He was a minister in the state of Lu. And there he is...
0:14:08 > 0:14:12..famous for his sayings, many of which, of course, are apocryphal,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14but in fact, an amazing man.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20He set the entire basis for the way in which China has been run
0:14:20 > 0:14:23in the 2,500 years ever since.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26He believes in proper relationships,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30that we have a duty from one person to another,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33from superior to inferior and vice versa,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38and believes that a state that knows what those relationships are
0:14:38 > 0:14:41is a well-ordered state and one which will succeed.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48A society run by thinkers is a well-ordered one.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52GONG SOUNDS
0:14:53 > 0:14:57But what else does the tale of the scholars tell us about the Chinese?
0:14:59 > 0:15:01That they've long recognised
0:15:01 > 0:15:04that you don't have to be rich to be clever.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09Emperors were chosen by heaven, but everyone else was chosen on merit.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12For hundreds, for thousands of years,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16the scholar was the glue holding together Chinese civilisation.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19A lowly farmer's boy could rise
0:15:19 > 0:15:22to become an imperial government minister
0:15:22 > 0:15:26if he applied himself with scholarship and study.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29But with the Cultural Revolution, everything changed.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Scholars, intellectuals, were a thing of the past.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36They, like the landlords, had to be purged.
0:15:36 > 0:15:42Mao's Red Guards drove scholars into the fields to do proper work.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47The zeal with which he persecuted intellectuals was grim confirmation
0:15:47 > 0:15:49of just how important they had been.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53How free are today's scholars to think the unthinkable?
0:15:53 > 0:15:58There's no question at all that there are limits
0:15:58 > 0:16:03on what is regarded as acceptable in Chinese universities and so on.
0:16:03 > 0:16:10There's still great respect amongst the Chinese for scholarly pursuit.
0:16:10 > 0:16:16The most coveted position for a young Chinese graduate
0:16:16 > 0:16:21is to work in some shape or form in the state.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Or if they want to work in a company,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27they still by and large prefer to work in a state-owned company
0:16:27 > 0:16:28than a private company.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Ding ware is low-key and maybe an acquired taste.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Time for my second object.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41If you thought that was plain...
0:16:41 > 0:16:43what about this?
0:16:43 > 0:16:47This is my second piece, a very plain object,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50a very classical thing.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54In terms of ceramics, the Song Dynasty is perhaps my favourite.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57The wares are so exquisitely simple.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03There is a sort of serene simplicity in their beautiful monochromes.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08This piece dates from around 1100AD,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11about a century younger than the brush washer
0:17:11 > 0:17:13but still from the Song era.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18It's known as Guan or official ware, fired in a government kiln.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And "plain" isn't the word.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Wow. What a fantastic object. It's called a cong.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27I'm going to turn it upside down.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28HE LAUGHS
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Er, this is, er, this is a little bit of a dream. Here we go.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36And there it is. It's the bottom of the piece.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41The first thing that strikes you is its presence.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45It's actually a very sturdy object. It has good weight.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49It's not too heavy, it's certainly not too light.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51And the other thing is the feel of it.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53This has a creamy texture.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58And it is a very, very beautiful colour. It's a sophisticated colour.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01You see all sorts of tones of blues and greens.
0:18:01 > 0:18:08And you have this celadon glaze covered in a fracture, a craquelure.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Now, it's technically an error,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14but the Chinese potters rather liked this effect.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17They actually cultivated the effect.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20It is remarkable to think that an object
0:18:20 > 0:18:23which, erm, might pass most modern people by
0:18:23 > 0:18:28if it was in the shop window as an interesting shape maybe
0:18:28 > 0:18:31is actually 800 or 900 years old.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35When this object was made,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39the technique of manufacturing porcelain was still relatively new,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44but the unusual shape of the vessel was very, very old.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48The form dates back thousands of years to the Stone Age.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Objects of identical shape have been discovered
0:18:50 > 0:18:54amongst the bones of the Chinese Neolithic tombs.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58They are very mysterious objects,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and they obviously have a special meaning,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05but because they were made in the prehistoric period,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07before there is any writing,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12nobody knows exactly what they were or what they mean.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17This vessel speaks to me about another very Chinese characteristic,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21respect for the past and for the ancestors.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26The Chinese are aware of, familiar with,
0:19:26 > 0:19:31influenced by and intimate with their own history.
0:19:31 > 0:19:37Any discussion or debate of any importance or profundity in China
0:19:37 > 0:19:44is inevitably punctuated by quotes from, citations from, an old sage.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46This is completely different, I think,
0:19:46 > 0:19:50from the way the West operates.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54This object takes us back to the Southern Song Dynasty,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58in their new lakeside home, digging in.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03In the Song period, you have the beginnings of antiquarianism
0:20:03 > 0:20:05and even archaeology.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08People start digging ancient things up from the ground.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10And although they didn't know
0:20:10 > 0:20:14precisely what period these things dated from,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19they were treasured and many of the shapes copied in ceramic.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20The Song liked the sense
0:20:20 > 0:20:24of being connected with their ancient ancestors.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27The modern residents of Hangzhou
0:20:27 > 0:20:31are also keen to be linked with their ancestors.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35When the refugee court arrived here in 1127,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Hangzhou was a trading post.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Within a century, they'd made it a hotspot of creative excellence.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46The citizens of Hangzhou are so proud of their Song heritage,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51the heritage of scholasticism, of scholarliness, of taste,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53that they've decided to open a theme park -
0:20:53 > 0:20:56you could call it the World of Song -
0:20:56 > 0:20:58which encapsulates all of these virtues.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04This theme park, the Song Town Scenic Area,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08celebrates the glamour that the Song brought to Hangzhou.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10But that took time.
0:21:10 > 0:21:11When they first arrived,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15they had nothing but the clothes they stood up in.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19When the Song were driven south, great treasures were lost,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23so one of the first things they wanted to do
0:21:23 > 0:21:26was make new and beautiful objects.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30The Tsung-form vessel is quite a rare piece.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32I mean, many of these objects are rare,
0:21:32 > 0:21:33but this one's exceptionally rare,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36because it's a shape that's not natural to ceramic.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It's a shape that's based on ancient jade.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And it's very difficult to recreate
0:21:42 > 0:21:44that quite solid jade form in ceramic,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49so I'm guessing the failure rate for making those was quite high.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52So the fact that this one survived and it's in such good condition,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54it's really quite exceptional.
0:21:55 > 0:21:5930 years ago, archaeologists uncovered one of the Song kilns,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02not just any old kiln, but the Guan kiln,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06the very one in which official wares had been fired.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11These are the fragmentary brothers and sisters
0:22:11 > 0:22:13of our second object, the Tsung.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Just look at these pieces,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19some of them more or less intact, others in tiny pieces,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21and look at the variety of colour.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Now, this piece here is an incense burner.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Over here we've got a basin
0:22:26 > 0:22:29which is almost certainly a brush washer for calligraphy.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And then beyond that we have a very, very traditional Chinese shape
0:22:33 > 0:22:35known as a meiping, a plum blossom vase,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37that very, very beautiful thing.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40And beyond that, they haven't recovered all of the pieces,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44but it's a really intriguing little double vase,
0:22:44 > 0:22:46an outer vase containing an inner vase,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and the outer wall has been pierced with a pattern,
0:22:49 > 0:22:54and this sort of play with clay was something the emperors loved.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59But it's not just the pots that brought me here.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The museum is built around the most important discovery of all,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05the foundations of the kiln itself.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16And here it is, the famous dragon kiln of the 12th century,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20quite possibly the same kiln in which our Tsung vase was fired.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25It's amazing. It's 48 metres in length.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28The original fire is set down in the firebox at the very bottom,
0:23:28 > 0:23:33and the flame is drawn all the way through by this slope,
0:23:33 > 0:23:34which acts as a flue.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Guan wares are very, very sophisticated.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41They've already been fired in a low firing before they reach this stage,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and they've been dipped several times
0:23:43 > 0:23:46in this wonderful glaucous glaze.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49And on this site, they've discovered
0:23:49 > 0:23:53shards identical to the material that we see
0:23:53 > 0:23:56in that fantastic Tsung vase.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01A thousand years ago, this was the white heat of new technology.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03But the Tsung shape was already ancient,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05a form revered for its antiquity
0:24:05 > 0:24:08even though nobody knew what it had originally meant.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14In the Song Dynasty, you can imagine an emperor or a collector
0:24:14 > 0:24:19wanting a piece of ceramic in this mysterious jade form
0:24:19 > 0:24:23just as a curious thing to own.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Whatever its original function,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31we CAN say it's one of the oldest forms still in use in today's China.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41So this shape links the deep past with the present.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44It links the ancestors with the people of now.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48It's transferred into a vase, a wine vessel.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And it even supports a modern building.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Even if the meaning eluded scholars of the Song, they still revered it.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03To me, the survival of the shape shows us that for the Chinese,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06though the past is gone, it's never forgotten.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08In the rush to build a new China,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11the country has become a construction site.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14But in the midst of change, the past is a constant.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16As in the Song era,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20modern Chinese look to their ancestors for comfort and security.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27In mid-March every year in China, millions go to visit their dead.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Grave-sweeping day takes two days.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33Their reverence for the past
0:25:33 > 0:25:37and respect for the ancestors who populate it isn't unique,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40but does it have an extra resonance for the Chinese?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Ancestral worship is very important to understanding the Chinese.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49The Chinese are not a religious people. It's a stress on continuity.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53One of the extraordinary kind of paradoxes of China today
0:25:53 > 0:25:58is that no society in the world is changing more quickly
0:25:58 > 0:26:01and yet at the same time is influenced more by its own history.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12Going to my third piece, we go from the world of plain white,
0:26:12 > 0:26:13where the decoration is something
0:26:13 > 0:26:16you can only enjoy if you get really close to it,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I mean pieces which were probably made for a scholar's table,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23to the world of blue and white porcelain.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Now, this is a revolution, because we go from close-up decoration
0:26:28 > 0:26:32to decoration that can be enjoyed at a distance.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35We can see designs a long way away.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43The third chapter in my voyage through Chinese society
0:26:43 > 0:26:47is via the grandmothers of all blue and white porcelain,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50the so-called David vases.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52So far, I've been allowed
0:26:52 > 0:26:55to enjoy the tactile qualities of my landmark pieces.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Now I'm happy just looking.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00Slightly wonky.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03This one doesn't stand absolutely straight,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06and as a pair, well, there's a difference in the zoning
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and the shades of blue aren't quite right.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12These lovely elephant handles once had loose rings.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15You can just about make out where the ring used to sit on the bottom
0:27:15 > 0:27:20of the trunk, where it made contact with the shoulder in each place.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Those have gone, so they're damaged.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26But there's something very special about these.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28These are, in fact,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32the earliest dated known white vases in the world.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37These were given to a temple in China in 1351.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41We know this because there is an inscription on each of them.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44These vases take us into the 14th century
0:27:44 > 0:27:48and a new dynasty, the Yuan.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50They were made for a temple, but for me,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53they're not about religion, they're about trade.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57The blue in blue and white porcelain would not have been possible
0:27:57 > 0:28:00without the activities of merchants.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08Jingdezhen, west of Shanghai, was the porcelain capital of the world.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11At some point towards the middle of the 14th century,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14this place underwent a technological revolution.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18It was the arrival of the muddy mineral, cobalt,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20which, applied before the glaze
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and fired at an extremely high temperature,
0:28:23 > 0:28:28emerged from the kiln a glorious, violet hue.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32The David vases are part of a series of porcelains
0:28:32 > 0:28:35that came as a tremendous aesthetic shock
0:28:35 > 0:28:38when they first appeared in China.
0:28:38 > 0:28:44If you imagine the muted tones of Song Dynasty porcelains,
0:28:44 > 0:28:48suddenly, there is this porcelain painted in bright,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51vibrant blue and covered in patterns.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58This great ceramic leap forward would not have been possible
0:28:58 > 0:29:01without the activities of merchants.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Merchants were bringing in a whole string of goods.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11They were bringing in silks, spices,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13precious metals and commodities,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17including cobalt, bought from Persia.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21Goods flowing north-south along the Grand Canal,
0:29:21 > 0:29:26linking the great west to east flowing Yangtze and Yellow rivers,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29created boom towns like Yangzhou along the way.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31The merchants who made their homes here
0:29:31 > 0:29:34brought with them more than just cash.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Along with luxury goods, traders brought in new ideas.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Once it had been Buddhism,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47now Islam came in along the reopened Silk Road.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50The grave of one merchant is a place of pilgrimage
0:29:50 > 0:29:53for visitors to Yangzhou's Muslim district
0:29:53 > 0:29:55because this 14th century eminence
0:29:55 > 0:29:59claimed direct descent from the Prophet.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Muslim traders were trusted by the Chinese,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04because their faith forbade dishonesty
0:30:04 > 0:30:07and they were trusted by neighbouring peoples
0:30:07 > 0:30:09because they weren't Chinese.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14And here he is, Puhaddin himself.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17A very distinguished citizen of Yangzhou, a missionary,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20a member of the Muslim merchant classes who brought
0:30:20 > 0:30:24commodities from Persian lands into China and,
0:30:24 > 0:30:27my goodness, all the way along the Grand Canal
0:30:27 > 0:30:30there are mosques dating to this period.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35It was the Muslim merchant classes bringing commodities to China
0:30:35 > 0:30:37who, of course, also acted as the conduit
0:30:37 > 0:30:40for Chinese products to go West.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42It was a two-way traffic.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44It's no accident, I think,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47that looking at this beautiful tomb
0:30:47 > 0:30:50with the lovely incised lotus designs,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53these are designs that we see on blue and white china.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59In time, Chinese merchants would make blue and white porcelain
0:30:59 > 0:31:02the first globally traded man-made commodity.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11In the West, it's often thought that China is a closed society,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13but if you look at the history,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15nothing could be further from the truth.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19It opens, it closes, it opens again with the successive dynasties.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21We have a period of closure in the Song Dynasty,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23an inward-looking dynasty,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27and then it opens up again with the Yuan, the Mongol dynasty.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32And all the time, through all of these successes, openings up
0:31:32 > 0:31:38and closings, the one permanent feature is the merchant class.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40The merchants are central
0:31:40 > 0:31:45to the way in which this country has developed over millennia.
0:31:47 > 0:31:53Merchants in traditional Chinese society were the bottom rung,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56but of course, they were the machinery that kept the empire going.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03They were once despised,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07but today's merchants are the shock troops of the new economy.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Are they the new heroes of the people?
0:32:10 > 0:32:13People respect entrepreneurial skill.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17China's a very competitive society, any Chinese will tell you this.
0:32:17 > 0:32:231.3 billion people, it's very, very difficult to make a mark in China.
0:32:23 > 0:32:29It's very striking, the skills that the Chinese have in moneymaking,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31and this is not new.
0:32:31 > 0:32:37This is a resource that lies deep in Chinese history.
0:32:37 > 0:32:42So, the economic turnaround after 1978 and Deng Xiaoping
0:32:42 > 0:32:47actually is drawing on this historical experience.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53One product has, since the 17th century,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57created an unbreakable bond between the Chinese and the West,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00and it's the inspiration for my fourth choice
0:33:00 > 0:33:02from the Percival David Collection.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Tea - a drink that unites everybody,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09all 56 nations that make up China
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and indeed, the rest of the world.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17We're bound for the Qing Dynasty, mid-18th century China,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20about four o'clock in the afternoon.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24The Emperor takes tea - a habit he shares with all his subjects.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27I've chosen this next object to illustrate
0:33:27 > 0:33:30the importance of unity to the Chinese.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Oh, yes!
0:33:37 > 0:33:40What a beautiful little object!
0:33:40 > 0:33:43It's a teapot.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Quite refined, quite feminine,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49beautifully decorated with pine trees,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52a glimpse of prunus
0:33:52 > 0:33:55and just a touch of bamboo.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58We've started with porcelain, we went to blue and white porcelain.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01In fact, this piece emerged from the kiln
0:34:01 > 0:34:03as a piece of blue and white porcelain.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06All you could see was just the cones and the outlines.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08It was then sent along to the enameller,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12who painted these beautiful greens, browns,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15touches of red, on top of the glaze.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20The style is known in China as doucai, or contrasting enamels.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22Absolutely beautiful.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24What wonderful painting.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27There's something really special about this teapot.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30We know who it was made for.
0:34:30 > 0:34:35It was made for a great tea drinker and scholar par excellence,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37the Yongzheng Emperor.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41And if I very carefully pick it up...
0:34:41 > 0:34:45there is the mark of the Emperor Yongzheng.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51In his reign, Chinese porcelain of the Qing Dynasty
0:34:51 > 0:34:55reached its absolute top of perfection.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57This teapot was made down in Jingdezhen
0:34:57 > 0:35:01under the supervision of Yongzheng's Minister of Porcelain.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Tea united the Yongzheng Emperor with his workers -
0:35:08 > 0:35:12dynasties of peasant families tilled the fields and grew the rice.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16They had built the Great Wall, they had dug the Grand Canal.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19They had fought wars and had paid their taxes.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Over millennia, the workers and soldiers had made China what it was
0:35:22 > 0:35:26with their ceaseless toil and with their lives.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31When Yongzheng came to the throne in 1723,
0:35:31 > 0:35:36the population numbered around 275 million.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Unity had to be maintained through the common written language
0:35:40 > 0:35:44and by habit, and tea was China's social glue.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47'It was so important that under the Ming Dynasty,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49'it had jeopardised the state.'
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Tea had become so popular
0:35:52 > 0:35:57that it was transacted in dried cakes like this.
0:35:57 > 0:36:03I've chosen a cheeky little 2006 from Menghai. Mmm!
0:36:03 > 0:36:08These cakes actually began to supplant money,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10so that by the early Ming, the Emperor Hongwu
0:36:10 > 0:36:13was so cheesed off with his currency being undermined
0:36:13 > 0:36:15that he put a ban on these tea cakes
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and so tea was sold in loose leaf form.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26The switch to loose tea led to the development of the teapot.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28DOORBELL RINGS
0:36:29 > 0:36:30Thank you.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34'Now tea could sit and steep.'
0:36:36 > 0:36:38'The preparation of tea took time,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42'and so it became an increasingly ritualised event.'
0:36:42 > 0:36:44- Two hands?- Yeah.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47- Oh! Ah!- I'll show you. - The dragon claw.- Yeah.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Like so? Here we go.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01- How about it?- Delicious.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05- Very good. And a nice cup as well. - Thank you.
0:37:05 > 0:37:11I think you say, "One cup is good, the second cup is better."
0:37:11 > 0:37:14The third and the fourth is best.
0:37:14 > 0:37:20- And if you drink the fifth, you're staying too long?- No, no, no!
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Through the tea ceremony,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28the humblest citizen could experience an elevating ritual.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33- So, this is... - First better.- Better than the first.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Mm, it is.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43This is very Chinese
0:37:43 > 0:37:47and there are certain elements of this
0:37:47 > 0:37:51which must have moved over into England.
0:37:51 > 0:37:57You have your little finger beautifully extended.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02- Ladies, like this.- Ladies? - Gentlemen...- Boys?
0:38:02 > 0:38:08I think that English travellers in China in the 18th century
0:38:08 > 0:38:11saw this and took it back to England.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Every drip and dribble has significance,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19each cocked finger or brandished whisk a meaning.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25Emperor and worker alike understood the signs and the meanings,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29but they were also drawn to something else.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33'Tea, if you drink enough of it and particularly forms of green tea,'
0:38:33 > 0:38:36give you a certain sense of euphoria.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40The Chinese scholar certainly believed that the drinking of tea
0:38:40 > 0:38:45helped unblock his spirit and his creative senses.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50Tea wasn't the only drink that united the ancient Chinese.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54It's possible the Emperor used this pot for a rather faster form
0:38:54 > 0:38:57of transport to a place of enlightenment -
0:38:57 > 0:39:00it may also have doubled as a wine ewer.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05Wine was used by scholars to free up their intellect
0:39:05 > 0:39:11and to compose poetry while they were slightly inebriated.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Either way, the same pot gives us the same story -
0:39:14 > 0:39:19the Chinese believe in wine, or tea, lies truth and beauty.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23There is a lovely painting of the Yongzheng Emperor.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26He's seated his guests out of doors in the garden.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28They're ready to do some poetry
0:39:28 > 0:39:33and he sends down the stream a little flotilla of cups.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35The idea is this...
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Your friends are seated on the platform.
0:39:39 > 0:39:45You fill each of the cups with wine
0:39:46 > 0:39:52and you send them on their way on the stream.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01The wine winds its way
0:40:01 > 0:40:05round the floating cup stream
0:40:05 > 0:40:09and in the time it takes...
0:40:09 > 0:40:10Oops!
0:40:10 > 0:40:14..for the cup to reach your guests,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18they must come up with a poem.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29There was a young Buddhist from China
0:40:29 > 0:40:33He was noted for being a diner
0:40:33 > 0:40:35After supper he rose
0:40:35 > 0:40:38A poem to compose
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Because he thought scansion Was so much finer.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44I think that'll have to do.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Thank you. Ganbei.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01China is the most populous nation on Earth -
0:41:01 > 0:41:05a vast land with power devolved to the regions.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07The small rituals of daily life
0:41:07 > 0:41:10that emphasise similarities, rather than differences,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13are now more important than ever.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20My journey through 1,000 years of Chinese society via six pots
0:41:20 > 0:41:23is also a potted history of ceramic technology
0:41:23 > 0:41:25and of the tastes of emperors.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Oh, wow! Yes, yes, yes!
0:41:28 > 0:41:31This is absolutely spectacular!
0:41:31 > 0:41:34The Percival David Collection includes a scroll,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38part of the catalogue of a vast art collection
0:41:38 > 0:41:40known as The Emperor's Playthings.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Like the teapot, it belonged to the Yongzheng Emperor.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Oh, wow! Look at that!
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Money was, of course, no object to this monarch
0:41:51 > 0:41:55and he amassed thousands of precious things, ancient and modern.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Song Dynasty, Neolithic... Gosh, it's a real mixture.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Yongzheng only had 13 years in power.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06His treasures passed to his son,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09who put his father in the shade with his own collecting.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19Chien Lung became the fourth Qing emperor in 1736.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23This was the modern age, and he was a man of fashion.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26My fifth object was made expressly for him,
0:42:26 > 0:42:30the height of modernity with a very European feel.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Thank you!
0:42:35 > 0:42:37It's a little gem.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39And if we rotate it...
0:42:39 > 0:42:42you'll see it's flat at the back,
0:42:42 > 0:42:48because this was intended for a sedan chair, to hang on the wall.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51We have come an incredibly long way
0:42:51 > 0:42:57from the pure white early porcelains of China of the Song Dynasty,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59that perfect reserve.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Now we've gone wild with enamel colouring.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07The overall impression of this is, I would say, very un-Chinese.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11This has all the intimation of Europe behind this.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14This could almost be a European object.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17And maybe that's not entirely accidental,
0:43:17 > 0:43:18because the Chien Lung Emperor
0:43:18 > 0:43:22was interested in European architecture and art.
0:43:22 > 0:43:23This object encapsulates,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28in a way that none of our other pieces have done so far,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31one particular class in Chinese society,
0:43:31 > 0:43:32the Emperor,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36the man at the top of the Confucian pyramid.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44This vase has a telling history, evidence of another Chinese trait,
0:43:44 > 0:43:46an ambivalence about outsiders.
0:43:47 > 0:43:54Beijing, around 1750. This painting shows the vase in the sedan chair.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01The sedan chair vase takes us to a moment
0:44:01 > 0:44:04when two continents begin to collide.
0:44:04 > 0:44:10When, years later, the collision happens, emperors are toppled.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15What a privilege for a foreigner
0:44:15 > 0:44:19to come into the Emperor's otherwise Forbidden City,
0:44:19 > 0:44:24walking straight down the path that only the Emperor could take,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28carried on the sedan chair by his 18 bearers.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33Chien Lung's court was open to interesting outsiders
0:44:33 > 0:44:38bearing gifts and news of architecture, science and fashion.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43The Emperor regularly had delegations
0:44:43 > 0:44:47of envoys from foreign regions who came to visit him.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52The Chinese court saw Western Europe as being rather quaint.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55They would always bring gifts with them.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Chien Lung would have seen a huge range of foreign fashion
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and foreign goods.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08Diplomats came for the same reason tourists come today.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10It was exotic and mysterious
0:45:10 > 0:45:15and, if you could get into the Forbidden City, terrifyingly grand.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19This holy of holies still radiates an aura.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Visitors can't get in, and deep down, they don't want to,
0:45:23 > 0:45:28because the barriers keep the mystery inside alive.
0:45:28 > 0:45:35The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the centre of the Chinese universe.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41The Dragon Throne, a place of tranquillity.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Few people would come to see the Emperor here. Very few.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Excuse me. Xie xie. Xie xie ni.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58I like to think that having attended to the business of the day...
0:45:58 > 0:46:02Oh! Xie xie ni. Xie xie. Xie xie.
0:46:03 > 0:46:09..that the Emperor would call to his favourite eunuch and say,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12"Bring me the Scroll of Imperial Playthings."
0:46:13 > 0:46:19Chien Lung was interested in foreign ideas, but only on his terms.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21Outsiders were kept at arm's length.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25In 1793, the British came to discuss trade.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31But the ageing Emperor waved them away. He was more interested in art.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34The sedan chair vase bears a poem composed by the Emperor.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39What he didn't know was that his own house of Qing was ultimately doomed.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44They were living in a fantasy world, a pastoral idyll,
0:46:44 > 0:46:46but heading towards the block.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49This is what he wrote on that little vase.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52"This hanging vase inspires the traveller both to sing
0:46:52 > 0:46:55"and to gather flowers by the wayside.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59"A sedan chair is indeed a suitable place for it to be hung,
0:46:59 > 0:47:04"as over its side, wild flowers incline so appropriately.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08"The red dust of the mortal world is barred from entrance,
0:47:08 > 0:47:13"but fragrance can penetrate the gauze of the window blind.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15"Composed by the Chien Lung Emperor."
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Chien Lung failed to see that the barbarians had to be listened to.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Within a few decades, it was too late.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26After a succession of disputes,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29military incursions and two trade wars,
0:47:29 > 0:47:31the Chinese were humiliated,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35forced to allow the British to peddle opium to the population.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39In 1860, after British blood was spilled,
0:47:39 > 0:47:44the Summer Palace was looted and torched to teach China a lesson.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Closure became bad for the Chinese.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50They thought, "We are superior to you,"
0:47:50 > 0:47:53and of course, it was absolutely fatal.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56The 19th century was an absolute disaster.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59In 1820, the Chinese economy
0:47:59 > 0:48:02accounted for one third of global GDP. You know?
0:48:02 > 0:48:05By the end of the century of humiliation,
0:48:05 > 0:48:09it accounted for 4.6% of global GDP.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13I mean, that is absolutely disastrous.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16The humiliation of the Qing
0:48:16 > 0:48:20sealed their fate as the last dynasty of all.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23China turned in on itself.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25The new rulers came from the people
0:48:25 > 0:48:28and had no desire to do business with the West.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Now they're looking outwards again.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34They've learned the lessons of the past.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37China's problem at the end of the 18th century,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39early 19th century, of, you know,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41thinking you've got nothing to learn,
0:48:41 > 0:48:44looking down on the rest of the world and so on,
0:48:44 > 0:48:45is now the Western problem.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54My first five objects have one thing in common.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57They were made by nameless artisans.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01Percival David collected ceramics made under the imperial system,
0:49:01 > 0:49:03when craft was an act of homage.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09My sixth object is an act of defiance,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12illuminating a final Chinese quality,
0:49:12 > 0:49:14rebelliousness.
0:49:14 > 0:49:15The Chinese are rebellious,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19and there's a long history of popular rebellion in China.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21One dynasty rises and then falls.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23With all these lines of continuity,
0:49:23 > 0:49:25which are very important, very powerful,
0:49:25 > 0:49:28it doesn't mean that things can't be turned upside down.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34My final piece is dedicated to the artist class,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38and you might say this is a touch of industry and idleness.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40We've come to 798,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43a former industrial area in Beijing
0:49:43 > 0:49:46which has now been abandoned by heavy industry
0:49:46 > 0:49:49and has been given over to art and galleries.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52This is where young people come
0:49:52 > 0:49:57to see the smart art of their own times.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01I'm on the way to meet an artist who was the star of District 798
0:50:01 > 0:50:03until he was expelled for a creation
0:50:03 > 0:50:08that contained messages critical of the authorities.
0:50:08 > 0:50:14A modern artist may choose to use very traditional techniques
0:50:14 > 0:50:15but perhaps to use them
0:50:15 > 0:50:20in a subversive or commentative kind of a way.
0:50:20 > 0:50:26Shapes and decorations in China very often have hidden meanings.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29That's partly to do with the Chinese language,
0:50:29 > 0:50:34that things can be said in the same way and mean more than one thing.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38So, very often in a shape or in a pattern, you have a pun,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40which, if you know how to read it,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44says something quite different to the pattern itself.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Liu Liguo's new atelier is out of the spotlight.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52He now lives more comfortably in less interesting times.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54We've travelled through ceramic history,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58from the plainness of Ding ware to a multicoloured creation
0:50:58 > 0:51:03that refers to the past but is definitely of the here and now.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08Now, my last piece, number six, to represent modern China,
0:51:08 > 0:51:10will come as a bit of a surprise.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15When you see this, as I saw it for the first time in 1999,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18you think, "Oh, this is European, encrusted with flowers,
0:51:18 > 0:51:22"just like Coalbrookdale or Paris porcelains".
0:51:22 > 0:51:26But no, this is Chinese. And I suppose the giveaway is the shape.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29This shape is known as a meiping,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33and it goes all the way back into the Song Dynasty.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36But look at that lavish decoration,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39each petal of every flower made by hand
0:51:39 > 0:51:43and stuck onto the porcelain piece
0:51:43 > 0:51:49and then embellished in an amazing array of colours and gold all over.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54On the sides, we have little transfer prints of a cockerel
0:51:54 > 0:51:56and all round the base
0:51:56 > 0:51:59further transfer prints of traditional lotus.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03But I suppose the biggest surprise of all
0:52:03 > 0:52:06is what you find when you look at the bottom.
0:52:07 > 0:52:13It's as if a whole new door has been opened up on the Chinese world.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Mr Liu!
0:52:16 > 0:52:19'When I last saw Liu Liguo, he was just about getting by.
0:52:19 > 0:52:24'Since then, he has risen on his own fashionable notoriety.'
0:52:24 > 0:52:28We last met in 1999.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30HE TRANSLATES
0:52:30 > 0:52:32HE SPEAKS MANDARIN
0:52:32 > 0:52:37And in your own house, in the very small house.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41And now you are a world-famous man!
0:52:42 > 0:52:44- TRANSLATES:- Thank you very much.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49Your world has exploded! Look at all of this!
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Liu's work is especially cheeky
0:52:51 > 0:52:54because he subverts traditional motifs.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02For me, it has a little bit of a very traditional Chinese sign,
0:53:02 > 0:53:04the peach.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07HE TRANSLATES
0:53:08 > 0:53:10HE SPEAKS MANDARIN
0:53:14 > 0:53:18So, for him, it's quite a warm figure,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22because you can openly show your butt!
0:53:22 > 0:53:26So it's kind of like you are very close, to share something,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28and then it's totally open.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32Liu treads a careful line today, but stepped over it in the past
0:53:32 > 0:53:38with a very graphic statue of Mao using his bottom as nature intended.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41It was that that got him exiled from the trendy 798 District.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47TRANSLATION: That was a very bad atmosphere.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50We artists created 798.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52But in the end, we all left.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59It's like this - we respected tradition,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02but these people need a new angle to open up,
0:54:02 > 0:54:05to look at these people from a new angle,
0:54:05 > 0:54:10to look at the history, politics and economics of these people,
0:54:10 > 0:54:15because China is a part of the world, the East is a part of the world.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19So in this corner of the world, we need to use our own culture
0:54:19 > 0:54:21to create better understanding in the world.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23This is how the future will be.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28This is the future. This is the future. It will be the future.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32Has this been difficult for you?
0:54:32 > 0:54:33He said it's very challenging.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39Western artists might use graffiti or video installations
0:54:39 > 0:54:42to rail against the system,
0:54:42 > 0:54:46but Liu chooses a very Chinese medium, porcelain.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49And to make it, he employs the potters of Jingdezhen,
0:54:49 > 0:54:52ancient capital of Chinese ceramics.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55What we're seeing now, in the last ten, fifteen years,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59is a number of conceptual artists working in porcelain
0:54:59 > 0:55:03and using the skills and technology they have at Jingdezhen
0:55:03 > 0:55:05to realise their idea.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11What does this last piece have to say about the Chinese?
0:55:11 > 0:55:15That for all their respect for the past and for order,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19they are latent iconoclasts, happy to build a new world
0:55:19 > 0:55:22but equally prepared to break it all down again.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Depending on their mood,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28today's rulers will tolerate a degree of rebellion.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29But there are limits.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34There's always been this huge concern, even obsession
0:55:34 > 0:55:38in China, with order and stability.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42If you're running a country which has one fifth of the world's population,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45the centrifugal forces involved in that society
0:55:45 > 0:55:46are absolutely enormous,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and this is something the West just don't understand.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Running Britain is a doddle compared with running China.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Looking at Mr Liu's works, which are certainly very different
0:56:00 > 0:56:04to anything that was produced before the Cultural Revolution,
0:56:04 > 0:56:05I'm puzzled.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I don't really know how revolutionary these pieces are.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13He's certainly cocking a snook at the Party,
0:56:13 > 0:56:14but is it more than that,
0:56:14 > 0:56:19or is the Party quite happy to see these as mildly entertaining,
0:56:19 > 0:56:25the works of an irritant, rather than a revolutionary?
0:56:25 > 0:56:26I don't know.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29Only time will tell.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35Which piece would I take with me to the desert island?
0:56:35 > 0:56:36The first piece, the piece of Ding,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40with its beautifully carved floral motifs?
0:56:40 > 0:56:42The second piece, that Tsung,
0:56:42 > 0:56:45I think is an incredibly potent object.
0:56:45 > 0:56:46Very tempted.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49Should I choose the Percival David vases,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53the earliest known dated blue and white vases in the world?
0:56:54 > 0:56:58And then doucai, that fabulous wine pot or teapot.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00I have to say, that is a lovely object,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03and if there were plenty of tea bushes growing on the island,
0:57:03 > 0:57:05I would go for it like a shot.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08The sedan chair vase -
0:57:08 > 0:57:12the Emperor says that porcelains made in his own reign
0:57:12 > 0:57:16are far superior to the products of the Song Dynasty.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Well, I have to say I disagree.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21And then we come to the final piece of all.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24I think that sort of statement is a short-lived one,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and it doesn't have eternity at heart.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33It's going to have to be the most beautiful, the most serene object.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Give me the Ding brush washer.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40I think it's a beautiful, exquisite thing.
0:57:42 > 0:57:48To me, the objects in Gallery 96 speak volumes about the Chinese,
0:57:48 > 0:57:50and not just their tastes.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53They reveal the importance of learning to them
0:57:53 > 0:57:57and the tranquillity that comes from order.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Above all, they have a message about work.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Many of the pieces here are tools
0:58:03 > 0:58:07designed to make a task more efficient
0:58:07 > 0:58:09and by the by, more pleasurable.
0:58:09 > 0:58:14And if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing beautifully.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22And for me, that is a spiritual experience.
0:58:52 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd