Peripheral knowledge: "Ming ware" does not mean Ming dynasty ware

[peterp]

Characters 冥 (reads: ming)  明 (reads: ming)

Peripheral knowledge can help you understand many things not directly related to an old item. In this case it is terminology that tells us what an item was made or used for.

When reading a product description for a Chinese item on a western website a couple of days ago, I was puzzled by the term "Ming ware", as this is not a common way for describing items of the Ming dynasty. But then I realized that Ming did not stand for Ming dynasty in this case, although it is read the same.

The original Chinese term was 冥 (ming), meaning the 'netherworld'. The current term is 明 (ming), meaning 'bright', the same character as used in the name of the "Ming" Dynasty.
This character was changed  sometime in the Ming dynasty, it appears due to superstition. In Chinese culture many things are replaced by a better, more auspicious meaning. In this specific case obviously the change of the character would be due to the negative association of the original character.
On the surface of it, it seems better, but in this case it is a bit superfluous - Ming Ware is actually burial ware, relating to items that were traditionally put into a grave or tomb of a deceased person. There is no association to the Ming dynasty here!