A blue and white 'dragon' jue stand, Ming dynasty, Yongle reign (1403-1424). © Taipei Palace Museum

A blue and white 'dragon' jue and stand, Ming dynasty, Yongle reign (1403-1424). © Taipei Palace Museum

A blue and white 'dragon' jue, Ming dynasty, Yongle reign (1403-1424). © Taipei Palace Museum

In the first year of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Great Ancestor, talked about the sacrificial vessels of the temple, saying: "A total of three wine honours, eight gold knuckles, porcelain knuckles, sixteen in the temple of the east and west", which shows that porcelain knuckles in the early Ming dynasty was already an important sacrificial vessel!