Definition

1. Noun:
   • Porcelain bowl: A bowl, typically for serving food, made from porcelain, a fine, hard, white ceramic material. This is the most common and direct meaning.
   • Blue and white porcelain bowl: Historically and specifically, it often refers to a bowl decorated with a blue cobalt oxide design on a white porcelain background, a style highly developed in China and later adopted in Vietnam.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Bà tôi thích dùng bát sứ để ăn cơm. (My grandmother likes to use a porcelain bowl to eat rice.)
  • Bộ sưu tập này có nhiều bát sứ cổ từ thời nhà Minh. (This collection has many antique blue and white porcelain bowls from the Ming dynasty.)
  • Hãy cẩn thận, bát sứ rất dễ vỡ. (Be careful, porcelain bowls break easily.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "bát sứ" can be used in historical or artistic contexts to specifically denote Vietnamese or East Asian blue-and-white porcelain, which is a significant category in ceramic art history.
  • Nghệ thuật làm bát sứ ở Bát Tràng có truyền thống lâu đời. (The art of making blue-and-white porcelain in Bat Trang has a long tradition.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chén sứ (n): A porcelain cup or small bowl, often used for tea or individual servings.
  • Mời ông dùng trà trong chén sứ này. (Please have some tea in this porcelain cup.)
• Đồ sứ (n): Porcelain ware; a general term for items made of porcelain.
  • Cửa hàng bán nhiều đồ sứ trang trí. (The shop sells a lot of decorative porcelain ware.)

Synonyms

• Porcelain bowl: The direct English equivalent.
• China bowl: "China" is another common term for porcelain.
• Ceramic bowl: A broader term, though "porcelain" specifies a finer, more vitrified type of ceramic.

Related Idioms

• Quý như bát sứ: (As precious as a porcelain bowl) Used to describe something or someone delicate, valuable, and needing careful handling.
  • Đứa bé mới sinh được gia đình quý như bát sứ. (The newborn baby is cherished by the family as if it were precious porcelain.)