“纸护窗棂已策功,玻璃更比古时工”——广州应用平板玻璃历史考略

“Paper Protects the Window Lattice,Already a Great Invention;but Glass Outshines the Craftsmanship of Ancient Times”:A Historical Reflection on the Use of Flat Glass in Guangzhou

古代,广州已接触到平板玻璃,其与波斯等地有着海上贸易往来。中国澳门长期作为广州的外港,对广州平板玻璃的使用产生了影响。1757年在广州十三行建造的新英国馆(保和行)装有玻璃窗,英国人在中国澳门租用的葡萄牙人豪宅中也会使用平板玻璃。平板玻璃在耐久度、透光率和美观方面优于纸张和蚝镜,成为社会时尚。随着舶来品和国产平板玻璃的大量使用,至清末民初,平板玻璃在广州已经十分流行,传统的“蚝镜窗”成了一道历史风景和一段记忆。

Ancient Guangzhou had already been exposed to flat glass,indicating that it had trade relations with places such as the Persian Empire through maritime trade.Macao of China,as Guangzhou's outer harbor,had an influence on the use of flat glass in Guangzhou.The new British pavilion built in 1757 in Guangzhou’s Thirteen Factories already had glass windows,but the British also used flat glass in the Portuguese mansions they rented in Macao of China.The use of flat glass was superior to paper and oyster shell in terms of durability,transparency,and aesthetics,making it a societal fashion.With the widespread use of imported and domestically produced flat glass,by the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period,flat glass in Guangzhou had become very popular.At the same time,the traditional“oyster shell windows”still existed,becoming a historical landscape and memory.