This is an on-going research project which list Chinese cyclical dates as they appear in inscriptions on Chinese porcelain from the late Qing dynasty and into the 20th century. Chinese dates are cyclical and recur every 60th year. Without a reference to the reigning Emperor, it is possible to by mistake date a piece 60 years back or forward in time.
This table can be used for finding out the Gregorian calendar equivalent of Chinese cyclical dates but is intended to show what the cyclical dates actually looks like when found in the calligraphy. To read the table, find the "heavenly stem" character in the left column, like jia (1), then search for the appropriate earthly branch character in the horizontal row, like chen (5). In the cross section you will find the cyclical year jia chen which shows the date within each 60 years cycle. In the table below are some of the years - according to the Gregorian calendar - that fits with the cyclical years. To expand the list, just add "60" to the years to find next fit to the cyclical year as in 1740, 1800, 1860, 1920 and so on, will all have the same cyclical date.
In the table is also included the zodiacal signs for the full cycle. Anyone born in 1952 for example will be a "dragon" with the element of "water" and so on.
Jan-Erik Nilsson
This page has been created together with expert members of the Gotheborg Discussion Board with a special thank you to Simon Ng in Hong Kong, and N K Koh, in Singapore.
Pictures and pieces that makes up this section besides those that belongs to the Gotheborg.com reference collection have been donated by Simon Ng, City University of Hong Kong; N K Koh, Singapore; Hans Mueller, USA; Bill Thurnbull, Canada; Hans Slager, The Nederland and Tony Jalin Zhang, Beijing and many more. Some items are lifted from the Gotheborg Discussion Board dated porcelain section and added here for public access. I am grateful for any corrections or further translations you can submit. Any actual dated porcelain pieces or pictures thereof that you think might make a fitting addition to this section can be offered to me via email to Jan-Erik Nilsson. This page is a work in progress aimed to create a reliable chronology for the porcelain produced during the end of the 19th century up until the Republic Period of China.
Web page © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 2004.
The Japanese marks section of Gotheborg.com originally came to be thanks to a donation of Japanese marks images from Karl-Hans Schneider, Euskirchen, Germany, in may 2000, that gave me a modest but nonetheless beginning. It was a kind gesture and I really appreciated that. Of the many later contributors I would especially want to mention Albert Becker, Somerset, UK, who were the first to help with some translations and comments on the Japanese marks. His work was than greatly extended by Ms. Gloria S. Garaventa after which Mr. John Avery looked into and corrected some of the dates. Most of the Satsuma marks were originally submitted by Ms. Michaela Russell, Brisbane, Australia. A section which was then greatly extended by Ian & Mary Heriot of which a large amount of information still awaits publication. A warm thank you also goes to John R. Skeens, Florida, U.S.A. and Toru Yoshikawa for the Kitagawa Togei section and to Susan Eades for her help and encouragement towards the creation of the Moriyama section. For the last full overhaul of the Satsuma and Kutani sections, thank you to Howard Reed, Australia. The most recent larger contribution was made by Lisa M. Surowiec, New Jersey, USA. In 2004 and from then on my warm thank you goes to John Wocher and Howard Reed whose knowledge and interest has sparked a new life into this section and given reason for a new overhaul. Thank you again and thank you to all I have not mentioned here, for all help and interest in and contributions to our knowledge of the 20th century Japanese porcelain.
The Chinese marks section would not have been possibly without the dedicated help of Mr. Simon Ng, City University of Hong Kong, whose translations and personal efforts in researching the origin and dates of the different marks is and has been an invaluable resource. It has since been greatly extended by several contributors such as Cordelia Bay, USA, Walt Brygier, USA, Bonnie Hoffmann, Harmen Lensink, 'Tony' Yalin Zhang, Beijing and 'ScottLoar', Shanghai, and many more expert members of the Gotheborg Discussion Board.
A number of reference pieces have also been donated by Simon Ng, City University of Hong Kong, N K Koh, Singapore, Hans Mueller, USA. Hans Slager, Belgium, William Turnbull, Canada and Tony Jalin Zhang, Beijing.
All material submitted by visitors and published anywhere on this site are and remain the copyrighted property of the submitter and appears here by permission of the owner, which can be revoked at any time. All expressed opinions are my personal or those of my trusted friends and fellow experts, based on photos and the owners submitted descriptions. They are not to be used for any financial or commercial decisions but for educational and personal interest only and can and will be changed here as further information merits.
For further studies Encyclopedia Britannica is recommended in preference to Wikipedia, that besides having an ideological bias and a number of erroneous Chinese characters, is used by the fake industry to promote porcelain pieces that are not of the period stated.
Web design and content as it appears here © Jan-Erik Nilsson 1996-.
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