When thumbnail histories of all sorts of technologies are written in the West, they are usually accompanied by disclaimers allowing that, in fact, the breakthroughs being discussed were actually first achieved in China. Whether it’s the invention of printing, gunpowder, cast iron, or the triangular plowshare, Western inventors were routinely centuries behind the Chinese. Naturally, these innovations extended to the decorative arts as well. For example, Chinese artisans were the first to recognize that the cocoons of certain caterpillars could be transformed into a thread we know as silk. When this silk was woven, the resulting textile could be used to make all sorts of clothing, to decorate shoes, and even as the foundation for works of art such as scroll paintings. Silk also made a fine material for embroidery. Carved jade is another hallmark of Chinese artistry. Whether it was a snuff bottle, a piece of jewelry, or a statue, jade served as a medium to express sentiments of good wishes and affection. A peony carved into a piece of jade could be taken as a symbol of a harmonious marriage for newlyweds or protection and good health for a newborn child. Combinations of motifs (bats and peaches, for example) have their own meaning (blessings and longevity), while some shapes can convey meaning based on their sound when spoken or their dual role as a pun—“jujubes” in Chinese is a homonym for “early arrival of a son.” Sons, of course, were critical because they were the only ones who would get a chance to take the all-important Civil Service Examinations, which dictated a boy’s future for roughly 2,000 years, until these paper gauntlets was tossed aside by Sun Yat-sen at the beginning of the 20th century. Because there were three exams, jade carvings often featured iconography in sets of three, as rings, perhaps, or pieces of fruit. In this way, jade was used to convey the hopes and dreams of Chinese adults for the future success of male Chinese children. Lacquerware also originated in China, even though many 17th-century Europeans referred to furniture and household items that were coated with shiny layers of shellac as having been “japanned.” In fact, lacquerware has been around for thousands of years. By the 14th century, Ming-dynasty artists began carving lacquerware cups and vases, many tinted by cinnabar. Trays and screens were inlaid with mother of pearl and other materials, and by 16th century, a lot of exported Chinese lacquerware stopped off in southeastern India first, which is how it got its name, Coromandel, taken from that section of the subcontinent’s coast. One other important contribution of Chinese artisans and inventors to the world’s inventory of beautiful objects is porcelain, often referred to in the West simply as “china.” Whether it’s a kaolin-based hard-paste porcelain or a softer clay body that has been glazed a jade-like shade of celadon, Chinese ceramics take all sorts of shapes—from dragons, foo dogs, and Buddhas to tall vases and squat ginger jars. Chinese ceramics are also used to produce censers and sculptures, often in the form of horsemen and horses, as in the famous Terracotta Army produced more than 2,000 years ago, but only discovered in 1974, for Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.