The Chinese Secret

Why were European monarchs ready to give an entire regiment for a Chinese vase? What does the word “yao” actually mean? And where did the first Russian porcelain appear? Together with the book’s characters, you’ll embark on a thrilling journey through hidden workshops, impregnable fortresses, and roaring factories to come closer to solving the “Chinese secret.” On the pages of Elena Danko’s book, stories about kings and chemical scientists come alive, about daring masters who know how to work wonders, and about people ready to put everything on the line for the secret of porcelain. “The Chinese Secret” is a book about the pursuit of knowledge, curiosity, and the ability to notice the extraordinary in the most ordinary things.

About the author: Elena Yakovlevna Danko (1898–1942) was a Russian Soviet writer, poet, and artist. She worked as an artist at the Petrograd (Leningrad) Porcelain Factory and staged plays at a puppet theater. Her meeting with S. Ya. Marshak in 1925 spurred her to create popular science books for children.