“瓷”，凭什么你是“中国”?

For What Reason “Porcelain” Is “China”?

在英文里,瓷器和中国是一个拼法,即China。为什么?文章从四个方面试图解读这一疑问:首先,瓷是中国人发明的,中国是全球最早烧制瓷器的国家;其次,瓷器曾经作为物质文化畅销全球长达千年之久,为世人所熟知;再次,中国的制瓷技艺曾作为精神文化,向全球输出也达千年;最后,在千年输出的同时,域外文化也对中国制瓷文化产生过强大的“反影响”。显然,瓷器是古代中国实现国际文化交流最成功的媒介。

Porcelain in English is called china that has the same spelling with China.For what reason?This essay attempts to answer this question as follows.First,porcelain is invented by Chinese and China is the earliest country to make chinaware.Second,china is well-known as best-selling commodity all over the world for thousand years.Third,China's porcelain-making skills were exported to the world as a culture for thousand of years.And finally,the“anti-effect”the foreign cultures had on Chinese porcelain making is strong as well.Porcelain obviously is the most successful media of cultural exchange in ancient China.