A Historical Cause of the Naming Evolution from "Cloisonne" to "Jingtailan"

China's copper-based cloisonne enamel craft traces its origin back to the Yuan-Mongol period. It became widely referred to as "Jingtailan" craft in the late Qing Dynasty, a designation anchored to the reign title of Emperor Jingtai of the Ming Dynasty of China. The naming of this craft was not a natural outcome of the traditional craft's recognition or chronological classification. Addressing this phenomenon, this study examined the linguistic metaphor, technological history, and social-cultural practices to demonstrate the multifaceted motivations and complex interactions behind the formation of the term "Jingtailan". The findings revealed that the shift from "cloisonne enamel" to "Jingtailan" represents a value transformation from a technical term to a cultural symbol. The ultimate establishment and widespread adoption of the name "Jingtailan" emerged as the convergence, interweaving, and symbiosis of three major historical threads at a specific spatio-temporal juncture in China. Although the Jingtai period neither marked the origin nor the technical zenith of the craft, its reworking of antique vessels from previous dynasties and its technical inheritance provided crucial material foundations and historical threads for the name. In the late Ming period, the burgeoning commodity economy and the consumption culture of the gentry class elevated "Jingtai enamel" to sacred status in the antique market, and through market selection and public discourse catalysis, it completed its social identity construction. Finally, the Qing imperial court's official emulation and canonization campaign conferred its ultimate cultural empowerment and political shaping. Thus, the crystallization of the name "Jingtailan" emerged from the converging forces of technological, social, and political histories. It stands as a symbolic manifestation of the selective reinterpretation of this craft by multiple centers of power—from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China—deeply reflecting the intricate interplay of technology, society, and politics within material cultural history.