The chapter begins with an exploration of the geo-physical environment that shaped Jingdezhen’s past, followed by a discussion of Jingdezhen’s place within the administrative structures of the Ming empire. From Jingdezhen’s place in the administrative organization of the empire, the regional environment, and the kiln locations that make up the Jingdezhen kiln site complex, the chapter moves to the spatial lay-out and organization of the imperial kilns within that complex, and ends with the space of a single workshop within the imperial kiln. The mountains and rivers, the offices of the county administration, the office buildings of the imperial kiln, and the numerous workspaces all coexisted in this sixteenth-century moment. These features were not located in physically different spaces, but assert their own order over the space, thereby representing different visions of the space. The workers in each workshop were dependent on the production processes in the other workshops, and overall, their work formed part of the way in which the imperial state organised its procurement of porcelain. The imperial kiln formed one small part of the administration of the whole empire.

Chapter 1 surveys Chinese migration during the early modern period, here defined as 1500 to 1740. The chapter introduces the concept of a trade diaspora and describes some important examples, Huizhou, Shanxi, and Hokkien. It introduces diasporic institutions important during the early modern era: lineages, native-place associations, temples, and various types of intermediaries. The chapter then describes the ways in which migration was gendered, focusing on male migration, split families, and intermarriage. The chapter ends with an example of one diasporic community, the Huizhou salt merchants who formed the upper tier of the socioeconomic elite in the city of Yangzhou.