FOOTNOTES:
[1] In the Kuei ch´ien chih quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 10.
[4] In the Ai jih t´ang ch´ao, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 18 verso.
[5] The pi sê, or "secret colour," is used as a general term for glazes of the celadon type, among which the writer in question includes all the celebrated wares of antiquity from the T´ang "green (ts´ui) of a thousand hills," the Yüeh ware, the Ch´ai "blue (ch´ing) of the sky after rain," to the Sung Ju, Kuan, Ko, Tung–ch´ing, and Lung–ch´üan wares.
[6] e.g. the K´ao Kung chi, a relic of the Chou dynasty (1122–256 B. C.).
[7] T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 1. See S.W. Bushell, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, being a translation of the T´ao shuo, Oxford, 1910, p. 34.
[8] A work of the fifth century B. C., quoted in the Ching–tê Chên T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 1.
[9] Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty, Leyden, 1909, pp. 10–14.
[10] Quoted in the Ching–tê Chên T´ao lu, bk. ix. fol. 1.
[11] Loc. cit.
[13] See Hirth, China and the Roman Orient.
[14] Berthold Laufer, Jade, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 154, Anthropological Series, vol. x., Chicago, 1912, pp. 232 and 233.
[15] Occasionally of potters.
[16] La Sculpture sur pierre en Chine au temps des deux dynasties Han, Paris, 1893. A few of these are figured by Bushell in Chinese Art, vol. i. See also Chavannes, Mission archéologique dans la Chine septentrionale, Paris, 1909.
[17] If geological arguments could be accepted at their face value, a vase found at Chi–ning Chou, in Shantung, would go far to prove the existence of a highly sophisticated glazed pottery at a date not less than 500 years B. C. The find is described and illustrated in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Jahrg. 43, 1911, p. 153, by Herr Ernst Börschmann. The vase, which is 10 cm. high, is of globular form, with a short straight neck and two loop handles. It is of hard buff ware, with a chocolate brown glaze with purplish reflexions of a metallic appearance, and the glaze covers only the upper part of the exterior and ends in an uneven line with drops. One would say Sung or possibly T'ang, and of the type associated with the name Chien yao. This pot was found not in a tomb, but in the undisturbed earth at a depth of seven metres, by a German architect, while sinking a well; and a reasoned case from the stratification of the soil is made out to prove that it must have at least an antiquity of twenty–four hundred years. It is, however, proverbial that geological arguments applied to relatively modern archæology lead to results more startling than correct; and I refuse to accept this solitary specimen as evidence to upset the whole theory of the evolution of Chinese pottery. For it must do nothing less. This piece is of a style which is at present unknown before the T'ang dynasty. It has nothing in common with Han pottery as we know it, still less with Chou, and to accept its Chou date would be to believe that an advanced style of manufacture was in use 500 years B. C., that it was forgotten again for some twelve centuries, and then reappeared in precisely the same form. Fukien white porcelain seals have been found in an Irish bog in positions from which geologists might infer a colossal antiquity, but the history of porcelain has not been disturbed on that account; and I cannot help thinking that this strange phenomenon at Chi–ning Chou must be regarded in much the same light.
[18] Berthold Laufer, Pottery of the Han Dynasty, Leyden, 1908.
[19] Laufer seems to have mistaken it for the beginning of the regular Chinese crackle (see op. cit., p. 8). The Han green glaze contains a large proportion of lead oxide and is coloured with oxide of copper.
[20] See Bushell, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, p. 96. "In the tomb of the Empress Tao, consort of Wu Ti (140–85 B. C.) there was found one lac–black earthenware dish."
[21] One of these, in the form of a small roller, by which a continuous pattern could be impressed, is figured by Laufer, op. cit. Plate xxxvi.
[22] See Burlington Magazine, December, 1913, where it is published with a note on the inscription by F.S. Kershaw.
[23] Burial Customs in Szechuan, Journal of the North–China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xli., 1910, p. 58, etc.
[24] A very large series of Han sepulchral pottery, including most of the known types, is in the Field Museum, Chicago; but most of our large museums possess specimens enough to give a good idea of the ware.
[25] Bk. ix., p. 3, quoting the Chêng tzŭ t´ung, which in turn quotes the Han Shu, or Han Histories. Presumably this is the Nan Shan near Lung Chou, in Shensi.
[26] Fragments of this ware which were brought back by the Grünwedel expedition in 1903 are in the Museum für Völkerkunde, in Berlin.
[27] See Bushell, op. cit., p. 97.
. See also Bushell's translation of the T´ao shuo, pp. 97 and 98.
[29] Tu Yü, in his "Verses upon Tea." See T´ao shuo, Bushell's translation, p. 98. The words used are Ch´i tsê t´ao chien
for which Bushell has given the free and rather misleading version, "Select cups of fine porcelain."
[30] tz´ŭ wa, a phrase which Bushell has translated "porcelain and earthenware," though it is improbable that porcelain was meant at this early period (see Chap. XI.)
[31] J.J.M. de Groot, The Religious System of China. Leyden, 1894, vol. ii., p. 383.
[32] Loc. cit., p. 807.
[33] Loc. cit., p. 808.
[34] De Groot, loc. cit., p. 401.
[35] Loc. cit., p. 696.
[36] Loc. cit., p. 808.
[37] De Groot, loc. cit., p. 809.
[38] De Groot, loc. cit., p. 717.
[39] Loc. cit., p. 718.
[40] Who visited China about 1280.
[41] No doubt this mortuary pottery was made locally to supply local needs, and there is no occasion to refer it to any of the better known pottery centres, though we do find mention of an imperial order for sepulchral ware sent to the potters at Hsin–p´ing (the old name for the district town of Ching–tê Chên) in the T´ang dynasty. See T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 2, quoting from the Hsiang ling ming huan chih.
[42] See A Glossary of Reference on Subjects Connected with the Far East, by H.A. Giles, Shanghai, 1900. "The practice among Chinese women of cramping the feet is said by some to have originated about 970 A. D. with Yao Niang, concubine of the pretender Li Yü. The lady wished to make her feet like the new moon. Others say that it was introduced by Pan Fei, the favourite of the last monarch of the Ch´i dynasty, 501 A. D."
[43] See the Toyei Shuko (Illustrated Catalogue of the ancient Imperial Treasure called Shoso–in, by Omura Seigai, Tokyo, 1910), Nos. 154, 155 and 156.
[44] Another common characteristic of the T'ang base is a central ring, or one or two concentric circles incised on the wheel.
[45] Laufer (Jade, p. 247) sounds a note of warning about the reconstruction of many of the T'ang figures. They were very frequently broken in the course of excavation, and when a head was missing its place was commonly supplied from another find. Another and more serious warning is given by F. Perzynski in the Ostasiatischer Zeitschrift, January to April, 1914, p. 464, in an article describing forgeries of coloured T'ang figures, and vases and ewers with mottled green and yellow glazes, in Honan Fu.
[46] Ruins of Desert Cathay, vol. ii., p, 195. Similarly bowls with spotted glaze are indicated in several of the silk pictures found by Sir Aurel Stein at Tun–huang, which are temporarily exhibited in the King Edward VII. galleries in the British Museum.
[47] Fragments of similarly glazed ware were discovered by Sir Aurel Stein on sites in Turfan, which were supposed to be of T'ang date (see p. [134]).
[48] In a paper by Sir C. Hercules Read in the fifteenth number of Man, a publication of the Anthropological Institute.
[50] See A.W. Bahr, Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China, Plate IV.
[51] At P'ing–yang Fu, at Ho Chou, and elsewhere (see p. [97]).
[52] Ruins of Desert Cathay, vol. 11., fig. 197.
[53] Mr. C.L. Freer has in his collection in Detroit a vase of hard reddish ware with a freely drawn lotus design in brown under a pale green glaze, with parts of the flower in dry reddish brown slip or pigment over the glaze. It has the characteristic T´ang base and appears to belong to that period.
[54] The small rosettes which commonly occur In the inlaid Corean designs recall these stamped T´ang patterns. Indeed the analogy between the Corean patterns in general and those found on T´ang pottery is most significant.
[55] It is now in the collection of Mrs. Potter Palmer.
[56] Yesdijird III., after his overthrow by the Arabs In 641, fled to Merv, and there appealed for aid to the Chinese Emperor. He does not appear to have fled for refuge to China, as has been sometimes asserted.
[57] The classical prototype is seen in a vase In the Fourth Vase Room (Case C) in the British Museum, on which we find two similar figures in relief surrounded by a grape vine scroll.
[58] Since writing the above note my attention has been drawn to a delightful article in the Neue Rundschau (Oct., 1913, p. 1427) by F. Perzynski, entitled Jagd auf Götter. Mr. Perzynski describes his hazardous journey to an almost inaccessible cave temple on a mountain top near Ichou in Chihli, and there is little doubt that this is the place from which our wonderful figure came. He speaks of the hill as the Acthlohanberg, implying a tradition of eight of these figures of Lohan, which had apparently been concealed in this and other caverns for safety during a period of iconoclasm, such as occurred in the ninth and the thirteenth centuries, when thousands of Buddhist shrines were wrecked. He found the shrine bare of the Lohan, except for a few fragments. The rest had been pillaged, and several of the figures had evidently been broken in the attempt to remove them through the narrow aperture of the caves, or to conceal them afterwards. Parts of them, and a sadly damaged Lohan, were actually shown to him in the neighbourhood; and he afterwards succeeded in obtaining a complete figure and a torso, which were exhibited by him in Berlin. On the altar of the shrine he found an incense burner of glazed ware, which he attributed to the Yüan dynasty, and there was a tablet recording the restoration of the altar in the reign of Chêng Tê (early sixteenth century). It is interesting to note that Mr. Perzynski assumed at once that these figures are of T´ang date. Incidentally, he mentions a visit to a hill which he calls the Kuanyinberg, where a cavern temple exists containing the remains of a colossal statue of Kuanyin. It is now broken, but Mr. Perzynski saw it standing in its enormous stature of three metres high, to which must be added a stand a metre high and two in width. This figure was originally in glazed pottery, possibly also of the T´ang period, but a great part of it had been restored in wood and plaster in the seventeenth century.
[59] See Japanese Temples and their Treasures, by Shiba–junrokuro, with translations by Mr. Langdon Warner, Tokyo, Shimbi Shoin, 1910, vol. ii., nos. 238, 268, and 300.
.
, sometimes written
.
ts´ui sê. Ts´ui is the colour of "a bird with blue–green feathers: a kingfisher" (Giles), and it seems to have been used indifferently to express a bluish green colour and greenish blue like turquoise. In Lu Kuei–mêng's poem it suggests the colour of distant hills. A passage in a seventeenth–century work, the Ch´i sung t´ang shih hsiao lu (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 8), seems to imply that there were lustrous reflections in the glaze of some of the Yüeh wares. It runs, "Yüeh yao cups with small feet are of the light green (ch´ing) of the chestnut husk; when turned sideways they are the colour of emerald green jade (fei ts´ui)."
[64] See Julien, op. cit., p. [10].
[66] See T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 5 recto, quoting the Sung work, Kao chai man lu, and T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9, quoting a twelfth–century work, the Ch´ing pi tsa chih, "The pi sê vessels were originally the wares offered daily to the house of Ch´ien when it ruled over the country. No subject was allowed to have them. That is why they were called pi sê."
[67] Bk. v., fol. 4 recto.
[68] See T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 5 verso.
[69] For further reference to this important passage, see p. [54].
[70] See ch. vi.
[71] Bk. vii., fol. 13 recto.
[72] T´ang kuo shih pu, quoted in the T´ao shuo; see Bushell's translation (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain), p. [36]. It is worthy of note that Hsing Chou was in the same district as Tz´ŭ Chou, which has long been celebrated for its pottery. See p. [101].
[73] As stated in Yo fu tsa lu, a tenth–century work on music, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 4 recto. Twelve cups were used, and they were sometimes marked with numerals.
[74] Not to be confused with the more celebrated Ting Chou
in Chihli.
[75] ho
, a coarse cloth or serge, used to suggest a brownish tint; cf. sê ho ju t´ung = colour ho like copper.
[76] As quoted in the T´ao lu (see Julien, p. 5). The reference does not appear in the British Museum copy of the Ko ku yao lun.
[77] Quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 5 recto, and bk. v., fol. 3 recto.
[78] Ku Ying–t´ai in the Po wu yao lan, published in the T´ien Ch´i period (1621–1627).
[79] By Ts´ao–chao in 1387; republished in a revised and enlarged edition by Wang–tso in 1459.
[80] In the T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 5 verso.
yü kuo t´ien ch´ing yün p´o ch´u chê. It will be observed that the colour word used is ch´ing, which has the meaning of blue or green, indifferently.
[82] Chang Ying–wên, in the Ch´ing pi tsang, written at the end of the sixteenth century.
[83] In the Ju shih we wên, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 19, where we are told that "merchants bring fragments of Ch´ai ware to sell for 100 ounces of silver. They say that if inlaid in the helmet at the approach of battle, they are able to turn aside the fire implements (huo ch´i)."
[84] For example, in the Li t´a k´an k´ao ku ou pien, a modern work, we find: "As to what they call at present Yüan and Chün wares, these in material, colour, sound, and brilliancy are similar to Ch´ai yao, but they differ in thickness, and are perhaps the common folk's imitation wares, and not the Imperial Shih Tsung ware. But we are not yet able to say. If the ware has sky blue colour, clear and brilliant on a coarse yellow brick–earth body, and rings like bronze, it must be Ch´ai ware. As to Chün ware ... the specimens have in every case red colour and variegated surface...."
[87] I have seen, for instance, a remarkable ware of white porcellanous type, with a transparent glaze of a faint bluish tinge, to which the name Ch´ai was boldly given. It was certainly an early type, perhaps as early as the Sung dynasty, but it belonged to a class of porcelain which is almost certainly Corean. The only specimen I have seen with a mark of the Posterior Chou period is not a blue–glazed piece but a large vase with wonderful purplish black glaze of the Chien–yao type in the Eumorfopoulos collection. The mark, however, has been cut at some time subsequent to the manufacture, and can only be regarded as reflecting some unknown person's opinion as to the date of the piece.
[88] Jade, op. cit., p. 17.
[89] See L. Binyon, Painting in the Far East, chap. ix.
[90] Porcelain, A Sketch of its Nature, Art and Manufacture, p. 56.
[91] This colour is quite distinct from the turquoise of the demi–grand feu, a more lightly fired colour familiar on the later porcelains.
[92] Mr. Burton's practical experiments and the beautiful results obtained by following out his conceptions of Chinese methods are well known to all admirers of the Lancastrian pottery.
[93] A late sixteenth–century work, published with translations by Dr. S.W. Bushell, 1908, under the title of Porcelain of Different Dynasties.
[94] I have already had occasion to criticise the inconsistencies in the colouring, etc. of this work. See Burlington Magazine, April, 1909, p. 23.
[95] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9 verso. We gather from this passage that Ju Chou potters were summoned to the Imperial precincts at K´ai–fêng Fu; for Ju Chou itself is some distance from the capital.
[96] The Liu ch´ing jih cha—a Ming work quoted in the T´ao shuo—describes it as "in colour like Ko ware, but with a faint yellowish tinge"; and the more modern T´ao lu (bk. vi., fol. 2) speaks of it as having "clay fine and lustrous like copper."
tan ch'ing, according to the Ko ku yao lun.
luan pai; according to the Po wu yao lan. Of three specimens figured in Hsiang's Album (op. cit., pp. 19, 22 and 34), two are described as yü lan (i.e. sky blue), and fên ch'ing (pale blue or green), and the third is undescribed.
[99] Pt. i., fols. 8 and 9.
[100] It is not clear what these markings were, whether spots in the glaze or a kind of crackle. The simile of "crabs' claws" is applied to crackle in other passages.
[102] This interesting list, given in the Chiang hsi t'ung chih, bk. xciii., fol. ii., is summarised in vol. ii., ch. xii. It is also quoted in the T'ao lu, and translated by Bushell, O.C.A., p. 369.
[103] See Bushell, O.C.A., plate 77.
[104] In a passage referring to modern imitations, the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 10) states that "at Ching–tê Chên, the makers of the large vases known as kuan ku (imperial antiques) for the most part imitate the colour of Ju yao glaze. Beautiful specimens of these (imitations) are commonly called 'blue of the sky after rain.'"
[105] P. 39. Account of a mission to Corea in 1125 by Hsü Ching.
[106] Hsiang's Album, op. cit., Fig. 19.
[107] Son of the author of the Ch´ing pi tsang. His father (see p. [53]) declared that he had seen Ju porcelain.
[108] In the Cho kêng lu, published in 1368, but of special interest because it repeats the statements of a Sung writer, Yeh–chih, author of the Yüan chai pi hêng.
[109] Op. cit., plate 20.
[110] Cosmo Monkhouse, Chinese Porcelain, plate 1, and Bushell, Chinese Art, vol. ii., pg. 7.
[111] Liu Yen–t´ing.
[112] It would seem as if the manufacture had never entirely ceased at Ju Chou, for we read in Richard's Geography, p. 61, "The environs (of Ju Chou) were formerly very industrial, but have lost their activity. The manufacture of common pottery is still carried on and gives it some importance."
[113] The Cho kêng lu, published in 1368, but based on a thirteenth–century Sung work (see p. [55]).
[114] The T´ao lu (bk. vi., fol. 2 verso). It is obvious that the term Kuan yao (Imperial ware) is liable to cause confusion, as it might be—and indeed was—equally applied to any ware made at any time at the Imperial factory. In recognition of this fact the Sung Kuan yao was sometimes named in later writers Ta Kuan
ware, after the Ta Kuan period.
[115] A passage quoted in T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 13, from an eighteenth–century work, the Wên fang ssŭ k´ao, forms a commentary on this attitude. "The old capital Kuan factory," It says, "had only a brief existence, so that we must consider the Hsiu nei ssŭ make to be first and the 'recent wares' to be second."
[116] The list of wares made at the Imperial factories at Ching–tê Chên about 1730, and published in the Chiang hsi t´ung chih (vol. xciii., fol. 11), refers to the imitation of Kuan wares as follows: "Ta Kuan glazes on an iron–coloured body. These are three kinds—yüeh pai, fên ch´ing, ta lü—all imitating the colour and lustre of Sung ware sent to (or from) the palace (nei fa sung ch´i)." There is no reason to suppose that Ta Kuan here is more than a mere synonym for Kuan (ware).
[117] Chang Ying–wên in the Ch´ing pi tsang, published in 1595.
a phrase which is not very lucid. In fact, I suspect a confusion with another tan
, which means "egg," and would give the sense "egg white," like the luan pai of the Ju yao.
[119] On the subject of crackle, see vol. ii., p. 197. The idea of a crackle assuming the form of round four– or five–petalled flowers like plum blossoms was carried out by the Ch´ien Lung potters on some of the medallion bowls (see vol. ii., p. 244), with a ground of bluish green enamel on which a network of lines and plum blossoms was traced in black.
Ch´êng ni, lit. "pure, limpid, or clear clay," an expression which is explained in the T´ao shuo (bk. i., fol. 4 verso) as "refined earth," the word ch´êng (or ling) being equivalent to
t´ao, which means to wash.
jung ch´ê, lit. "brilliant penetrate, or brilliant right through."
[122] The age is here probably the Sung period, for we must bear in mind that the author of the Cho kêng lu is practically quoting verbatim from the Sung writer Yeh–chih.
[123] Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 22.
[124] It may also explain the ruddy tinge of the green glaze, which, being transparent, would allow the reddish brown body colour to show through in the thinner parts.
[125] An early sixteenth–century work, the Tu kung t´an tsuan (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 8 verso) tells of a Chinese sybarite Li Fêng–ming, who held a "lotus flower banquet. There were crystal tables twelve in number, and on them a series of vessels, all of Kuan porcelain, a display of elegance rarely seen at any time."
[126] Ya ku ch´ing pao shih. Ya ku is explained by Bretschneider (Mediæeval Researches, vol. i., p. 174) as equivalent to the Arabic yakut, and meaning a corundum, of which the Chinese recognise various tints, including deep blue, pale blue, muddy blue, besides yellow and white.
[127] Ch´ing ts´ui jo yü lan t´ien.
[128] Sê ch´ing tai fên hung. A more literal rendering of this phrase is "the colour of the glaze is ch´ing, with a tinge of red," which would refer to the reddish tone of a pale lavender glaze. On the other hand, the word tai is apparently used to describe the contrasting colours in parti–coloured jade and agate, e.g. huang sê tai t´u pan in Laufer (Jade, p. 140) to describe "yellow jade with earthy spots," and again (op. cit., p. 142), ch´ing yü tai hei sê, "green jade with passages of black colour."
[129] Po wu yao lan (quoted in the T´ao shuo, vol. iii., fol. 13 verso). These accidental effects are mentioned on both the Kuan and Ko wares, and are said to be either of a yellowish or a brownish red tint.
[130] "Wares of the Sung and Yüan Dynasties," Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, Plate i., fig. 4.
[131] See Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, Plate i., fig. 28; Plate ii., fig. 6.
[132] Speaking of the imitations of Kuan yao early in the nineteenth century, the T´ao lu (bk. ii., fol. 10) remarks: "Originally there were special departments for imitating Kuan yao. Now, only the imitators of the crackled wares make it. As for the imitations made at the (Imperial) factory, they are more beautiful," sc. than those made in the private factories.
[133] Bk. xxix., fol. 11.
[134] The word Hsü
has the meaning "continuation," and if it be not a place–name at present unidentified, it might conceivably be "the continuation or later Kuan ware."
[135] Bk. vii., fol. 6 verso.
[136] The Ch´i hsiu lei k´ao, quoted by Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 37.
[137] The authors of the Po wu yao lan and the Ch´ing pi ts´ang.
hsieh chao wên, a debatable phrase, which seems best explained as a large irregular crackle resembling the tangle of claws seen on the top of a basket of crabs.
Yü tzŭ. A crackle of finer mesh, which French writers describe as truité, or resembling the scales of a trout.
pai chi sui, used by the author of the P´ai shih lei p´ien; see other references in the T´ao shuo and the T´ao lu.
[142] Quoted in the T´ao shuo (bk. v., fol. 9 verso).
[143] See vol. ii., p. 223.
mi sê fên ch´ing. Mi sê is rendered in Giles's Dictionary, "Straw colour, the colour of yellow millet," and all Chinese authorities whom I have questioned agree that it is a yellow colour. Bushell in much of his published work rendered it "rice coloured," following Julien's couleur du riz, and others, including myself, have been misled by this rendering. Bushell, however, in a note in Monkhouse's Chinese Porcelain, p. 67, which is quoted at length in vol. ii., p. 220, pronounces in favour of the rendering yellow. The difficulty of finding a true yellow among the Sung wares to support the comparison with yellow millet has further complicated the question. The vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is figured in Monkhouse (fig. 22) as a specimen of old mi sê, is probably a Yung Chêng reproduction of the Sung type. It has a stone–coloured crackle glaze, overlaid with a brownish yellow enamel, a technique which is foreign to the Sung wares. Possibly one type of Sung mi sê was illustrated by the "shallow bowl with spout, of grey stoneware with opaque glaze of pale sulphur yellow," which Mr. Alexander exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910 (Cat. K. 18). Another kind is described by Bushell in the catalogue of the Morgan collection (p. 38) as follows: "Shallow bowl (wan). Greenish yellow crackled glaze of the Sung dynasty, leaving a bare ring at the bottom within. A specimen of ancient mi sê or millet–coloured crackle from the Kiang–hsi potteries. Formerly the possession of His Excellency Chang Yinhuan. D. 6 inches." Specimens of this type, with greenish and brownish yellow crackle glaze, have been found in Borneo, where they have been reputed to be of enormous age; there are several examples in the British Museum. The Hirth collection in the Gotha Museum includes four high–footed bowls of brownish yellow colour which seem to belong to this class.
[145] As explained in the T´ao lu (bk. ii., fol. 10 verso): "At Ching–tê Chên there is no special factory devoted to the imitation of Ko yao, but the manufacturers of crackled wares make it in addition to their own special line, and that is why they have the general name of Ko yao houses (Ko yao hu). Formerly, the manufacturers were acquainted with the origin of the word, but nowadays those who imitate Ko yao only copy a fixed model without knowing why it is called Ko yao."
[146] The Hsiang–hu wares were imitated at Ching–tê Chên in the Imperial factory about 1730. T´ang Ying himself gives the following note on them in the T´ao Ch´êng shih yü kao, written about this time: "Twenty li south–west of Ching–tê Chên is a waste place called Hsiang–hu
, where there were formerly the foundations of Sung kilns. It used to be easy to find porcelain (tz´ŭ) fragments of old vessels and waste pieces. The material was very thin, and the ware was evidently millet–coloured (mi sê) and pale green (fên ch´ing)." The memoir of Chiang (1322) states that "the ware was beautiful and lustrous, but not greatly prized at that time." See T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 12, and bk. v., fol. 2. For Chi Chou ware, see p. [98].
[147] See Chinese, Corean, and Japanese Potteries, New York, Japan Society, 1914 No. 307.
[148] Bk. ii., fol. 4.
[149] Bk. vi., fol. 5 verso.
[151] See Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, "Wares of the Sung and Yüan Dynasties," Plate iii., fig. 11.
[152] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9.
[153] Celadon green; see p. [82].
[154] See T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 4. A factory of inferior reputation is supposed to have existed at the neighbouring village of Chin–ts´un (see Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 38). And the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 6) describes a factory at Li–shui Hsien in the Ch´u–chou district, whose productions were also known as Ch´u ware.
[155] In the T´u shu, bk. ccxlviii., section Tz´ŭ ch´i pu hui k´ao, fol. 13, we are told that the brothers Chang worked beneath the Han liu hill at Lung–ch´üan in the Sung and Yüan dynasties.
[156] T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 12 recto.
[157] Ts´ui has already been explained as meaning "kingfisher: a bird with bluish green plumage." That it also connotes the idea of a green colour is shown by the expression ts´ui yü, which is rendered in Giles's Dictionary, "emerald green jade."
[158] Author of the Ch´un fêng t´ang sui pi, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 12.
[159] Bk. vii., fol. 24 verso.
[160] Two examples in the Gotha Museum were figured in the Burlington Magazine, June, 1909, Plate iv.
[161] See T´ao lu, bk. iii., fol. 12 verso.
[162] Bk. vii., fol. 7 recto.
[164] T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 6.
[165] See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 31.
[166] See Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, p. 150.
[167] A large number of fragments and wasters, besides a few complete specimens, found on the site of these potteries, about 200 miles north of Bangkok, are now in the British Museum. The prevailing type of ware has grey porcellanous body and a thin transparent glaze of watery green celadon colour, often distinctly tinged with blue.
See T´ao lu, vol. vi., fol. 3.
[169] Bk. vii., fol. 22.
A phrase which the author of the T´ao lu considers to be a mistake for the homophone
(tung yao or Eastern ware). He also quotes another misnomer for the ware, viz.
tung ch´ing ch´i (winter green ware). This Tung ware is constantly alluded to in other works as tung ch´ing
.
lit. duplicated kingfisher green. Bushell, in his translation, renders it literally "kingfisher feathers in layers," a metaphor from the well–known jewellery with inlay of kingfisher feathers, which would suggest a turquoise tint. On the other hand, we find in Giles's Dictionary the phrase
Yüan shan t´ieh ts´ui, "the distant hills rise in many green ranges" (the two forms of t´ieh being alternatives), a phrase recalling the "green of a thousand hills," which is used in reference to early green wares. See p. [16].
[172] Bk. ii., fol. 9.
[173] Bk. iii., fol. 12.
[174] Quoted from the Yün tsao (a selection of verses) in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 3.
[175] See Recueil des lettres édifiantes et curieuses. The above passage occurs in a long letter dated from Jao Chou, September 1st, 1712. See Bushell, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Appendix, p. 206.
[176] The only example which I have seen of an inlaid celadon which might be taken for Chinese is a dish in the Stübel Collection in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Dresden. It has a faint design, apparently inlaid, in a brownish colour.
[177] In the Oesterreichische Monatschrift, January, 1885, and succeeding numbers, A.B. Meyer's Alterthümer aus dem Ostindischen Archipel, etc. etc.
[178] The Chu fan chih, the author of which was Imperial inspector of foreign shipping, etc., in the province of Fukien. See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain: A Study in Chinese Mediæval Industry and Trade, Leipsig, 1888; and the translation of the Chu fan chih, published by Hirth and Rockhill, 1912.
[179] Where Marco Polo (see Yule, bk. ii., p. 218) states that "they make vessels of porcelain of all sizes, the finest that can be imagined ... and thence it is exported all over the world."
[180] See A.B. Meyer, op. cit.; Ling Roth, The Natives of Borneo; Carl Bock, Head Hunters of Borneo; Fay–Cooper Cole, Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Chicago 1912.
[181] A thirteenth–century writer, one of whose works is translated by Barbier and Maynard, Dictionnaire Géographique de la Perse. See p. 240 of this book. Fragments of celadon porcelain were found on the ninth–century site of Samarra on the Euphrates. (See p. [148].)
[182] Much of the celadon found in Egypt would seem to be as late as the early part of the sixteenth century, to judge from the general name given to it by Egyptian merchants, "baba ghouri," after the sultan who reigned at that time.
[183] See E. Zimmermann in the Cicerone, III. Jahrgang, s. 496 ff.
[184] See Burlington Magazine, June, 1909, p. 164. Other pieces, apparently of Siamese make, have been found in Egypt, and it is most probable that Siamese celadons were shipped by the traders at Martaban in Pegu and sold by them along with the Chinese goods.
[185] See Catalogue of the Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1910, B. 27.
[186] See Cat. B.F.A., 1910, E 20, and Plate.
[187] See Chau Ju–kua (translated by Hirth and Rockhill), p. 9.
[188] See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, op. cit., p. 4. The passage discovered by Hirth occurs in the T´ang pên ts´ao, the pharmacopœia of the T´ang dynasty, compiled about 650 A. D.
[189] See T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 7 verso.
[190] See Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 23. "Specimens with tear stains (lei hên) outside are genuine."
[191] The T'ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 13, quotes from T'ang shih ssŭ k'ao the following passage which bears on this point: "The Ting and Ju ware used by the Court generally have a copper band on the mouth. This was regarded as destroying their value. But modern collectors of Ting and Ju wares have come to regard the copper band on the mouth as a sign of genuineness. Dealers in curios declare it to be a sign of age."
[192] e.g. Po wu yao lan, T'ao lu, etc.
or
. The word hua (lit. flowers) is used in the general sense of "ornament." The attempts of certain translators to confine it to the literal sense "flowers" has led to ridiculous results.
[195] An early eighteenth–century work, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 11.
[196] See T´ao shuo, bk., ii., fol. 7.
[197] Bk. vii., fol. 23.
[198] The Memoir of Chiang (see p. 159), written in the Yüan dynasty, says that the "pure white ware of Ching–tê Chên in the Sung dynasty, when compared with the red porcelain (hung tz´ŭ) of Chên–ting and the Lung–ch´üan green ware, emulated these in beauty." Chên–ting is the Chên–ting Fu, the prefectural town of Ting Chou, and the ware indicated is no doubt Ting ware; but here the comparison clearly seems to be between white wares, and unless the word hung (red) applies to some variety of the Ting biscuit as distinct from the glaze, it is difficult to understand.
tzŭ, "purple or dark red brown," is, like most Chinese colour–words, a somewhat elastic term. The dictionary gives instances in which it is applied to "red sandal wood," "brown sugar," the ruby, the violet, and the peony.
[200] Op. cit., fig. 35.
[201] See p. [131]. I have seen a single specimen of a bowl with carved design and creamy white glaze inside and all the appearances of a Ting ware, but coated on the exterior with a lustrous coffee brown monochrome. But without any other example to guide one's judgment, I should hesitate to say that this piece was older than the Ming dynasty.
[202] Hsü Tz´ŭ–shu, author of the Ch´a Su, a book on tea, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. v., fol. 15 verso.
[203] The potteries in the Chên–ting Fu district were active up to the end of the Ming dynasty, at any rate (see p. [199]); and no doubt many of the coarse t´u ting specimens belong to the Ming period, but as their forms are archaic it is almost impossible nowadays to differentiate them.
[204] Julien, op. cit., p. 21, places this town in Kiang–nan, but this is clearly an error.
[205] In contrast with these there were specimens with "green mouth," ch´ing k´ou which were "wanting in richness and lustre."
[206] The date of Chou Tan–ch´üan is not given, but he is mentioned in the Ni ku lu, a mid–sixteenth–century work.
[207] A well–known type of bronze incense burner of the Shang dynasty. See the Shin sho sei, bk. i., fol. 2; and Hsiang's Album, fig. 1, where a Ting ware copy is illustrated.
[208] Julien, op. cit., pp. xxxiii.–xxxv.; the reference in the T´ao lu is bk. viii., fol. 5.
[209] Perhaps the celebrated "white Ting censer" described on p. [92].
[210] Bk. ii., fol. 9 verso.
[211] The Liu ch´ing jih cha, written by T´ien Yi–hêng in the Ming dynasty.
T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 9 verso. See also bk. ix., fol. 9, where the Ch´ing po tsa chih (1193 A. D.) is quoted as follows: "The wares used at the present day, which are made at So Chou and Ssŭ Chou, are not genuine Ting ware."
T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 9 verso.
T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 10 verso.
[215] F. Brinkley, Japan and China, vol. ix., p. 259.
[216] Nyo–fu is the Japanese name for Kiang–nan, the province of which Anhui forms a part.
[217] In the district of Hsiao Hsien, department of Hsü Chou. The ware is described in the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 7) under the name Hsiao
yao.
.
[219] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9.
[222] Bk. vi., fol. 23 verso. This account does not appear in the original edition, and was added in the later edition of 1459.
[223] Quoted in the T´ao shuo.
yu, which means "black," or "invisible blue or green."
[225] See Bushell, T´ao shuo, p. 48.
[226] "Have ornament."
[227] See Ko ku yao lun, loc. cit.
T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 7 recto and verso.
[229] These must have resembled Ko yao. Hence, perhaps, the comparison in value between the fair Shu's ware and the Ko yao, p. 98.
[230] See T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 13 verso.
[231] Hsiu hua, lit. "embroidered ornament," but see p. [91].
[232] For incidental reference to Tz´ŭ Chou vases and wine jars in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, see p. [128].
[233] See Bushell, O.C.A., p. 164.
[234] See Brinkley, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Arts, 1884; also Burlington Magazine, August, 1911, p. 264.
[235] The pottery found in Sung tombs near Wei Hsien, in Shantung, in 1903, includes a few examples of this type of ware with sketchy brown designs. Laufer (Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty, Appendix ii.) has illustrated this important find, though he is inclined to think that it may have been made at the neighbouring potteries of Po Shan Hsien. If this is so, we must reckon with the fact, in itself not at all surprising, that other factories besides Tz´ŭ Chou were working on the same lines. See p. [107].
[236] It would appear that the Tz´ŭ Chou potters were capable of producing these lustrous brown passages in the black glaze intentionally, for the floral design on Fig. 1 of Plate 34 is expressed in this manner.
[237] At Wei Hsien. See note on p. [103].
[238] There are specimens—mostly small bowls—of a very archaic appearance, with the red and green painting which are persistently claimed as of Sung period. But see p. 46 and Plate 30.
[239] Catalogue of the Boston Exhibition, op. cit., 1884.
[240] Cat. B.F.A., 1910, E 63. This example has the mark of Wang Ch´ih–ming. See p. [221].
[242] See Bushell, op. cit., p. 122.
[243] Op. cit., vol. i., p. 91.
[244] See Burlington Magazine, August, 1911, and Cat. B.F.A., D 19 and 41.
[245] The link is strengthened by the presence of the black painted bands which border the main designs. See also Burlington Magazine, loc. cit., August, 1911, "On Some Old Chinese Pottery."
[246] On a few specimens, the date of which is by no means certain, a design of leaves is executed by a peculiar process, in which an actual leaf seems to have been used as a stencil, being stuck on to the ware while the slip was applied, and afterwards removed, leaving a leaf–shaped pattern in reserve. A somewhat similar use of leaf stencilling is described on p. [133].
[248] Bk. vii., fol. 14. Some authorities seem to have considered that the Hsü Chou factories go back to Sung times.
.
[250] The T´ao lu was written at the end of the eighteenth century.
is an alternative form of
.
[252] Bk. ii., fol. 7 verso. In discussing the glazes with mixed colour, the author says: "Of these wares, the sword–grass bowls and their saucers alone are refined. The other kinds, like the garden seats, boxes, square vases, and flower jars, are all of yellow sandy earthenware. Consequently, they are coarse and thick, and not refined." The first sentence is difficult, and has given rise to much discussion. The word ti, which Bushell has (rightly, I think) rendered saucers, literally means "bottom" or "base." Hirth reads it, "Those which have bottoms like the flower pots in which sword–grass is grown are considered the most excellent"; and Julien appears to have quite misunderstood the application of the passage. The original is
. The shallow saucers in which the deep flower pots stood are often included among the bulb bowls. See Plates 37 and 40.
[253] See the excellent account of the Chün wares by Mrs. Williams in the introduction to the Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Chinese, Corean, and Japanese Potteries held by the Japan Society of New York, 1914.
[254] Shrivelled glaze is sometimes seen on the Chün types of pottery. Probably this was at first, at any rate, an accidental effect; but it is the prototype of the "dragon skin" glazes which the Japanese made at a later date. There is a good example in the Eumorfopoulos Collection of a bowl with thick grey Chün glaze, with a patch of reddish colour, and which is shrivelled in the most approved fashion, the glaze contracting into isolated drops and exposing the body between them.
[255] See T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 15 verso, quoting the Liu ch´ing jih cha. In the case of the former (t´u ssŭ wên) some confusion has been caused by a variant reading
of the word
(t´u = hare), which refers the simile to the "dodder"; but the commoner phrase, "hare's fur marking," is far more descriptive of a dappled surface. Brinkley's explanation of the second phrase, huo yen ch´ing, as referring to the blue centre of a tongue of flame, applying the simile to the passages of blue which sometimes occur in the variegated Chün glazes, seems to meet the case. The flame–like effects are mentioned in an interesting passage in the T´ang chien kung t´ao yeh t´u shuo (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 13): "Men prize the Chün cups, tripods, and incense burners with smoke and flame glaze (yen huan sê). Although only pottery, still they combine the unexpected colours produced by the blowing tube (t´o yo)." The t´o yo
seems to have been "a pipe for blowing up the furnace."
[256] See Hamilton Bell, "'Imperial' Sung Pottery," Art in America, July, 1913, p. 182. The Chinese numerals are given on p. [211].
[257] Cat. B.F.A., 1910, B 42.
[258] There is an obvious analogy in the "size 3" and "S 2," etc., incised under the Derby porcelain figures.
[260] See Chiang hsi t´ung chih, vol. xciii, fol. 11 and seq. Quoted also in the T´ao lu, and translated by Bushell, O.C.A., p. 369; and vol. ii., p. 223, of this work.
[261] Wai hsin tê
, lit. "recently obtained from outside." Wai evidently contrasts here with nei (the palace), which precedes the first five. Julien, however, gives it the sense "émaux nouvellement inventés."
[262] See T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 7. "As to the ware made at Ching–tê Chên at the present day in imitation of the Chün wares, the body material is all of beautiful quality." This carries the imitation up to the end of the eighteenth century. There are, however, imitations made on a soft pottery body which bear the Yung Chêng mark.
[263] See p. 174.
[264] See p. 181. The list quoted on p. 223 of vol. ii. of the wares made at the Imperial potteries in 1730 includes "glazes of Ou: imitated from old wares of a man named Ou. There are two kinds, one with red markings, the other with blue."
[265] kua yu
"applied or added glaze." The significance of the epithet kua lies in the fact that the bulk of the Yi–hsing ware was unglazed.
[266] See Bushell, O.C.A., p. 374.
[268] See Burlington Magazine, November, 1909, Plate iv., opp. p. 83.
[269] See Mrs. Williams, loc. cit., p. 33.
[270] The modern Yü Chou. See vol. ii., p. 107.
[271] Op. cit., Plate 1.
[272] By Mr. A.W. Bahr.
[273] The name Ma is supposed to be that of a potter, but the statement is based on oral tradition only. The character used is ma (horse).
[274] It was deposited in the FitzWilliam Museum by Mr. W.H. Caulfield in 1896.
[276] The Li t´a k´an k´ao ku ou pien, of which the British Museum possesses a copy dated 1877.
[277] The Ch´in ting ku chin t´u shu chi ch´êng, fol. 10 of the subsection dealing with t´ao kung (the pottery industry), entitled T´ao kung pu hui k´ao.
[278] The Ch´ing yi lu, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. v., fol. 16 verso: "In Min (i.e. Fukien) are made tea bowls with ornamental markings like the mottling and spots on a partridge (chê ku pan). The tea–testing parties prize them." Oddly enough, the only specimen of this type of ware which I have seen with a date–mark was dated in the reign of Hsien Tê (954–960) of the Posterior Chou dynasty; but the inscription had been cut subsequently to the firing of the ware, and carries little weight. The piece in question is a remarkably large bottle–shaped vase with a splendid purplish black glaze with "hare's fur" marking, in the Eumorfopoulos Collection.
[279] See T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 8 verso.
t´u hao chan.
[281] Ts´ai–hsiang, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. v., fol. 16 verso.
[282] The Liu ch´ing jih cha.
[284] In the Liu ch´ing jih cha.
[286] In the Kuei hai yü hêng chih, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 2 verso.
[287] In the Ning chai ts´ung hua, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 4.
[288] See T´ao shuo, Bushell, op. cit., p. 47.
[289] In the Yün* hsien tsa chi, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 1 verso.
[290] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. viii., fols. 12 and 13.
[291] From the Erh shih lu, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 15.
[292] Op. cit., pp. 17–20.
[293] Chinese Art, vol. ii., p. 17, and the Catalogue of the Morgan Collection (1907), p. xlviii.
wa ch'i yeh. The Shuo Wên was compiled by Hsü Shên and published first in 120 A. D. The word tz'ŭ
is compounded of the radical wa
(a tile, earthenware), and the phonetic tz'ŭ
(second, inferior), and carries no inherent suggestion of porcelain. If connoting a new material, it may be a name applied specially to glazed pottery which seems to date from the Han period, or even to stoneware as opposed to soft earthenware or brick.
[295] Thus the author of the T'ang shih ssŭ k'ao (quoted in the T'ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 9 verso): "The characters
and
are not interchangeable. The latter is a hard and fine kind of t'ao. The material from which it is made is clay. The former
, on the other hand, is the name of a real stone which comes from the ancient Han–tan, which is the modern Tz'ŭ Chou. This department has potteries in which they use the tz'ŭ stone for the body of the ware. Hence the name Tz'ŭ ch'i (Tz'ŭ wares), not that the ware from the potteries of this place is all porcelain. I hear that at Ching–tê Chên the common usage is to employ the character
for porcelain in writing and speaking. I have consulted friends whom I meet, and many use the two terms interchangeably. Truly this is altogether ridiculous. Tz'ŭ Chou is still making pottery at the present day." For the Tz'ŭ Chou pottery, see ch. viii.
[296] Yeh chih, quoted in the T'ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 13 recto.
[297] T'ao shuo, translated by Bushell, op. cit., p. 95.
[298] Bushell, Chinese Art, vol. ii., p. 18.
[299] See T'ao shuo (Bushell, op. cit., pp. 97 and 99). See also bk. ix., fol. 1 verso, where the passage from the Annals of the Sui Dynasty is quoted.
See T'ao shuo, bk. iv., fol. 17 recto and verso.
[301] The first two are apparently unidentified, but Jih–nan is Cochin China, whither, no doubt, the substance came as an article of trade.
[302] Early writers refer to it as pi liu li, which is a transcription of the Sanskrit Vaidurya, a stone supposed to be of the beryl type, but the identification is a matter of dispute. See Laufer, Jade, p. 111, footnote.
[303] A seventh–century writer.
[304] The Ta Yüeh–chih have been identified with the Massagetæ, who in the fifth century were in possession of Afghanistan. See Bushell, T'ao shuo, op. cit., p. 100.
[305] The substance is discussed at length in connection with pi–liu–li by Laufer (Jade, pp. 109–112), but this author seems very loath to admit the meaning glass for liu–li, though he allows that it is a common term for ceramic glaze. But the passage quoted above from the T'ao shuo can hardly be explained in any other way than in reference to a kind of glass.
[306] The exact words of the text are
(Ch'ou i lü tz'ŭ wei chih yü chên wu i). "Ch'ou took green ware and made it (liu–li) not different from the real."
[307] Orientalisches Archiv, Bd. ii., 1911, and Chinesisches Porzellan, p. 24.
[308] Op. cit., p. 20. Dr. Bushell, in his translation of the T´ao shuo, has given the more correct rendering, "Ch´ou made some (i.e. liu–li) of green porcelain."
[309] Op. cit., pp. 3 and 4.
Chin tai i pai tz´ŭ wei chih = "in recent generations with white ware they make it."
Ting chou pai tz´ŭ. For the Ting Chou ware, see ch. vii.
[312] Père d'Entrecolles (in his letter dated from Ching–tê Chên in 1712) makes the statement that the district of Ching–tê Chên sent regular supplies of its ware, which he terms porcelain, to the Emperor from the second year of the reign of Tam ou te (sic). Though he gives the date as 422, it is clear that he really refers to the first Emperor, Wu Tê, of the T´ang dynasty (618–627 A. D.). It is not clear how he arrived at the conclusion that the ware in question was porcelain, and as he refers to the Annals of Fou–liang as his authority, we may assume that the Chinese phrase contained the inconclusive term tz´ŭ. or t´ao. He adds that "nothing is said as to the inventor, nor to what experiments or accident the invention was due."
[315] The European definition of porcelain may be stated thus: "Porcelain comprises all varieties of pottery which are made translucent by adding to the clay substances some natural or artificial fluxing material." In China the usual constituents are kaolin, which forms the clay substance, and petuntse (china stone), which is the natural fluxing material. I should add that it is doubtful whether we are strictly justified in using the word kaolin as a general name for porcelain earth (o t´u); but the term has been consecrated by usage, and has practically passed into our language in this sense. A slight translucency is observable near the rim on a white T´ang cup in the Eumorfopoulos Collection. The body of this piece is a soft white material, and the translucency is caused by a mingling of the glaze with the body where it is very thin, and it may be compared with the translucency of the Persian "gombroon" ware. But neither of these wares can be ranked as porcelain proper.
[316] It is, however, mentioned in connection with some of the Sung wares (the Kuan, for example), but only in relation to the glaze.
[317] It is true that Bushell, in his translation of the T´ao shuo (op. cit., p. 102) implies this quality in a "brown ware (tz´ŭ) bowl" sent as tribute by the P´o–hai in 841 A. D. which is described as "translucent both inside and outside, of a pure brown colour, half an inch thick but as light as swan's down." The words of the text
nei wai t´ung jung ("inside and out throughout lustrous") are in themselves capable of suggesting translucence, but the remaining features—the brown glaze and the great thickness—are sufficient to preclude the idea of a translucent ware; and I imagine that the quality of lustre or translucency here applies only to the glaze. The P´o–hai appear to have been a subject state of Corea.
[318] I am indebted for this literal translation of the much–quoted passage to Mr. Edwards, of the Oriental MSS. Department of the British Museum. It has been more freely rendered by M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes, etc., Paris, 1845, p. 34.
[319] See F. Sarre, "Kleinfunde von Samarra und ihre Ergebnisse," in Islam, July, 1914.
[320] Fragments of white porcelain with carved designs were found in some of the sites excavated by Sir Aurel Stein in Turfan, and there are fragments similar to the Samarra finds obtained from ancient sites in the Persian Gulf and now in the British Museum. But the evidence of these pieces is not conclusive, for the sites were inhabited for many centuries. That of Samarra, on the other hand, is most important, for the city was only of a mushroom growth, which began and ended in the ninth century. See also p. 134.
[321] See Cat. B.F.A., 1910, A 43.
[322] See Cat. B.F.A., 1910, F 9 and 14.
[323] See passage from Hsü Ch´ing's notes, p. 39.
t´ao yü. There are variant readings to this passage as given in the Chiang hsi t´ung chih (bk. xciii., fol. 5 verso), which make t´ao yü the name of a man, the passage being read "T´ao–yü forwarded as tribute false jade vessels." As pointed out elsewhere, this expression "false jade" seems to imply a porcellanous ware. The comparison of porcelain and even fine pottery to jade is a commonplace in China, and it is not necessary to infer that any particular colour, green or otherwise, is indicated.
[326] The text is simply
chih wu = "established duty."
[327] In order to bring this date into Hung Wu´s lifetime, it is necessary to reckon from the year 1364, when he was proclaimed Prince of Wu. But other records (see T´ao lu, bk. v., fol. 4 recto) give the date as second year of Hung Wu—i.e. 1369, instead of 1398 as above. Hung Wu was proclaimed Emperor in 1368, and died in 1398.
[328] Bk. cxiii., fols. 7 and 8. The T´ao shuo makes practically the same statement in connection with both periods, and Bushell (O.C.A., p. 287) gives us to understand that the first structure was burnt down and that erected in the Chêng Tê period was a rebuilding. The T´ao lu states that a special Imperial factory was erected on the Jewel Hill in the Hung Wu period, and that there were other kilns scattered over the town working for the palace, and that the name Yü ch´i ch´ang was given to all of them in the Chêng Tê period.
[329] Dated 1712 and 1722 from Ching–tê Chên, and preserved among the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses. They have been frequently published in part or in full, e.g. translated in W. Burton's Porcelain, and printed in French as an appendix to Bushell's Translation of the T´ao shuo.
[330] By Walter J. Clennell, H.M. Consul at Kiu–kiang, printed for H.M. Stationery Office.
[331] The long river front, "crowded for three miles by junks," was a feature of the place, which was sometimes known as the "thirteen li mart." A li is about 630 English yards.
[333] An incidental reference to white porcelain bowls at Hsin–p´ing (the old name for the district town of Ching–tê Chên) in 1101 A. D. occurs in the Ch´ang nan chih (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 15). It is a verse on the subject of tea drinking: "The white porcelain is quickly passed from hand to hand all night; the fragrant vapour fills the peaceful pavilion."
mao k´ou chê, lit. "hair mouth things." Bushell renders "with unglazed mouth." See Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 24 verso, under the heading of "Old Jao wares."
[336] Chou Hui, author of the Ching po tsa chih, a miscellany published in 1193, quoted in T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 6 r. and v.
[337] Cf. descriptions of Chün Chou ware, chap. ix.
[339] Bk. ii., fol. 8 verso. "The body was thin and glossy (jun), the colour white, the ornament blue (or green) (
hua ch´ing), and compared with Ting ware it was little inferior."
[341] The Memoirs of Chiang Ch´i, entitled T´ao chi lüo, which were incorporated in the Annals of Fou–liang in 1322, and again in the geographical annals of the province of Kiangsi (Chiang hsi t´ung chih, bk. xciii., fol. 5 verso).
[342] Op. cit., pp. 178–183.
[344] huang hei, lit. yellow black or, perhaps, yellow and black.
[345] Ch´ing pai, a term also applied to greenish white jade; probably a pale celadon tint.
[346] i.e. cases in which the porcelain was fired.
yin hua,
hua hua, and
tiao hua.
[348] The text is
fa yün, lit. "emit mist," perhaps in the sense of "clouded."
[349] These are literal renderings of hai mu and hsüeh hua, but I have no clue to their meaning.
[350] The text is
Shua chio, lit. "sport corners."
hsiu hua, lit. "embroidered ornament." See p. [91].
[352] yin hsiu, lit. "silver embroidery or painting."
p´u ch´un, which literally means "rush (or matting) lips."
lung hsien, lit. "play lute."
[355] See Giles's Dictionary.
. Bushell renders it "trumpet–shaped beakers."
[357] Lit. "animal rings."
[358] Bk. vii., fols. 24 and 25.
lit. "pivot palace"; i.e. Imperial palace.
[360] Lit. "five–coloured."
[361] ch´ing hei. Bushell renders the two words "greenish black."
i yu ch´uang chin wu sê hua chê. The expression ch´uang chin, which also occurs in the Ko ku yao lun, apparently carries the idea of gilding, though its literal meaning ("originate gold") is very vague. Bushell renders the phrase "pencilled with designs in gold," and Julien "rehaussée d'or."
[363] Op. cit., Fig. 21.
[364] See Burlington Magazine, August, 1909, p. 298.
[365] Bk. v., fol. 3 verso.
[366] huang hei, lit. "yellow black."
[367] The village
Hu–t´ien Shin and the pagoda are marked in the map of Ching–tê Chên (T´ao lu, bk. i., fol. 1) on the south of the river and opposite to the Imperial factories.
[368] China and Japan, vol. ix., p. 303.
[369] See T´ao lu, bk. ii., fol. 4 verso; and Julien op. cit., p. 42.
. See T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 10 verso.
.
[373] See pp. [94], [128], etc.
. Bushell (O.C.A., p. 186) renders "wide shallow bowls."
. The handles may be either long stems or handles in the modern sense, but both these types are found on far more ancient wares, e.g. the tazza or high footed goblet in Chou pottery, and the small cups with round handles of the T'ang dynasty.
, lit. "exhort dishes." Bushell renders "rounded dishes." They were probably flat–bottomed shallow bowls, used as saucers.
t'ai p'an, lit. "terraced dishes."
[378] Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 25 verso.
[379] The T´u shu, Section xxxii., Part viii., section entitled T´ao kung pu tsa lu, fol. 1 verso; quoting from the Ling piao lu i
, by Liu Hsün, of the T´ang dynasty.
[380] Bk. vii., fol. 16. "This is the ware which was first made at Yang–chiang Hsien
in the Chao–ch´ing Fu in Kuangtung. It is, in fact, an imitation of the Yang–tz´ŭ ware. Consequently, the Records of the Province state that the productions of Yang–chiang in Kuangtung include 'porcelain wares' (tz´ŭ ch´i). I have seen incense burners (lu), vases (p´ing), cups (chien), plates (t´ieh), bowls (wan), dishes (p´an), pots (hu), and boxes (ho) of this manufacture. They are very ornamental and bright, but in taste, fineness, elegance, and lustre they are not equal to porcelain wares. Nor have they been able to avoid the occurrence of flaws exposing the body, which are unsightly. Still they are imitated at T´ang's manufactory, the imitations being admirable in their elegance and lustre, and excelling the Kuang yao. These, like the Tz´ŭ–Chou and Hsü–Chou types of ware, are none of them made of porcelain clay." The T´ao chêng chi shih states: "He (i.e. T´ang Ying) imitates singularly well the Kuang yao glaze, being particularly successful with the spotted blue (ch´ing tien
) kind of glaze. Following this author, imitations were also made of the copies produced at T´ang's factory." The greater part of this passage seems to contain a confusion of ideas. Yang–tz´ŭ
or "foreign porcelain" was the name given to the painted Canton enamels which are described on the next page of the T´ao lu under that heading. The passage beginning "I have seen" and ending "equal to porcelain wares" is taken almost verbatim from the sections which deal with Canton enamels and cloisonné enamels. The remark on "imitation of the Yang–tz´ŭ ware" could by no stretch of imagination be applied to the mottled Kuang yao; but it does apply to the large group of porcelain obtained in the white from Ching–tê Chên and painted at Canton precisely in the style of the Canton enamels (see vol. ii., p. 243). This is no doubt what the author had in his mind. The sentence about the unsightly flaws can apply to either the enamels or the Kuang yao, but more particularly to the latter. For the rest, "T´ang's factory" is the Imperial factory at Ching–tê Chên, which was under the management of the celebrated T´ang Ying between 1728 and 1749.
[381] From its supposed resemblance to the colour of the sea–snail (namako).
[382] Cat. B.F.A., 1910, K 43. Like so many Chinese dates, this was cut in the ware after the firing, but there is every reason to suppose that it indicates the true date of the manufacture. Sir Arthur has since presented this tray to the British Museum.
[383] Op. cit., vol. ii., p. 15.
[384] Modern English potters produce flocculent glazes of the Canton type by means of zinc, and Mr. Mott, of Doulton's, showed me a specimen illustrating the effect of zinc which was remarkably like the glaze of Plate 47 both in the blue dappling and the greenish frosting. Possibly the use of zinc was known to the Kuangtung potters and gave them their characteristic types of glaze. Other effects resembling the Canton glazes were produced by Mr. Mott by both zinc and tin in the presence of cobalt and iron.
[385] Japan and China, vol. ix., p. 261.
[387] Such a piece from the British Museum collection is figured in the Burlington Magazine, January, 1910, p. 218.
[388] See Burlington Magazine, January, 1910, p. 220.
[389] I am indebted to Mr. A.W. Bahr for much information on these and the Yi–hsing Chün imitations.
[390] Three beautiful examples were exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910, (Cat., K 20, 23 and 41), on the last of which the lavender tints on the sides passed into a glassy pool of brilliant peacock blue.
[391] There is an interesting example of this crystalline glaze in Mrs. Potter Palmer's collection. It is a bowl of coarse grey porcelain, with blue glaze on the exterior. Inside is a crimson red glaze of Canton type, in the centre of which is a pool of amber glass. The explanation seems to be that we have here a bowl of coarse export porcelain treated at a Canton factory with their crystalline glaze.
[392] Richards, Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire, 1908, p. 210.
[393] Richards, op. cit., p. 209. "Considerable trade is carried on in tea, porcelain, etc."
[394] S. Wells Williams, Commercial Guide to China, 1863, p. 13. Speaking of pottery the author says: "The charges for freight forbid it to be carried far, and manufactures of it are numerous; that for Canton is at Shih–hwan." No doubt this is Shih–wan
. Another name for Canton pottery is Shakwan ware, which is probably a variant of Shih–wan.
[395] Catalogue spécial de la Collection Chinoise à l'Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1878, pp. 10–12.
.
[397] By Chou Kao–ch´i. See Bushell, O.C.A., p. 635.
[398] F. Brinkley, Japan and China, vol. ix., pp. 355–63.
[399] Op. cit., figs. 45 and 46.
[400] A tael is about one Mexican dollar and a third, i.e. approximately thirty pence.
[401] Four of the most celebrated names, however, are incidentally mentioned in the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 11 verso), viz. (1) Shih Ta–pin
; (2) Li Chung–fang
; (3) Hsü Yu–ch´üan
; (4) Ch´ên Chung–mei
; and (5) Ch´ên Chün–ch´ing
.
[402] The Yang–hsien ming hu hsi (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 8 verso) states that Ch´ên Chung–mei began by making porcelain at Ching–tê Chên. "It was exceedingly clever, and of an ornamental kind, made with supernatural ingenuity. But the results of his trade were far from sufficient to establish a name, so he gave it up and came to Yang–hsien (i.e. Yi–hsing). He took a delight in blending the teapot clays, putting his heart and soul into the work, and his ware was considered superhuman."
[403] I have seen specimens of Yi–hsing red ware coated with a dappled bird's egg glaze of blue green ground flecked with crimson, a type which was thought to represent the "Chün glaze of the muffle kiln." See vol. ii., p. 217.
[404] For this and other information on the subject, see M.L. Solon's paper on "The Noble Buccaros" in the North Staffordshire Literary and Philosophic Society's Proceedings, October 23rd, 1896.
[405] See T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 11 verso: "(Ou ware) was made in the Ming dynasty by a man of Yi–hsing ... who took the name of Ou, and everybody called it Ou's ware. It included wares which imitated Ko ware in crackle, Kuan and Chün wares in colour. Ou's bright coloured glazes were very numerous. The wares consist of flower dishes, stands for boxes, etc. The glazes with red and blue markings are particularly choice. At Ch´ang–nan the factory of T´ang used to imitate them." The last sentence refers to the celebrated T´ang Ying, who supervised the Imperial factory at Ching–tê Chên from 1728–1749. The statement that Tang's factory imitated them is no doubt based on the oft–quoted list given in the Chiang hsi t´ung chih of wares made at the Imperial factory about 1730, which include "glazes of Ou. Imitations of the old ware of the potter named Ou, including two kinds, that with red and that with blue markings."
[406] In the list quoted in the last note. The words are
, Yi hsing kua yu. The word kua, which means "suspended, applied," is probably inserted because the Yi–hsing ware was usually unglazed.
[407] A similar effect is produced by zinc and tin on modern English wares. See note on p. 168. It has been suggested that these minerals were used on the Kuangtung stonewares, and appearances, at any rate, point to their presence in the Yi–hsing flambé glazes as well.
[408] Dr. Laufer collected a considerable series of wares made in certain modern factories which he visited in China, and they may be seen in the Field Museum, Chicago, and in the Natural History Museum in New York.
[409] S. Wells Williams, Chinese Commercial Guide, 1863, p. 132.
[410] Op. cit., p. 114.
[411] A coarse blue and white porcelain, often decorated with dragons which overlap the rim and are continued on the reverse of the bowls and dishes, seems to belong to one of these provincial factories. The glaze is thick and bubbly, and the blue of the decoration rather dull and dark; but these pieces have a certain age, and belong to the first half of the eighteenth century, for they were copied at Worcester and Lowestoft. They often have marks "of commendation," such as hsi yü ("western jade"), etc.
[412] The Ch´in ting ku chin t´u shu chi ch´êng, section viii., subsection named T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 15.
sung hsiang, rendered "turpentine" by Bushell, O.C.A., p. 264.
wu ming i, "nameless rarity," the designation under which cobalt was imported in the Sung dynasty. (See Bushell, O.C.A., p. 439.)
[415] Chau Ju–kua, translated by F. Hirth and W.W. Rockhill. St. Petersburg, 1912.
[416] Ancient Chinese Porcelain, op. cit. See also p. 86.
[417] See Chau Ju–kua, Introduction, p. 9.
[418] e.g. gusi, rusa, naga, tempajan, blanga.
[419] Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, by Fay–Cooper Cole, with a postscript by Berthold Laufer, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication No. 162, Chicago U.S.A., 1912.
[420] Ibidem, p. 14.
[421] Kochi, the Japanese name for Kochin China, seems to have been used in a vague and comprehensive sense for Southern China, and we understand by Kochi yaki the old pottery shipped from the coast towns of Fukien and Kuangtung. This category in Japan seems to include not only a variety of earthenware with coloured glazes—green, yellow, aubergine, turquoise, and violet—but the coarser, yellowish white wares of the t´u ting (see p. 90) type. See Brinkley, op. cit., vol. ix. p. 29.
[422] On the subject of pottery among the Dyaks in Borneo, see H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, vol. ii., p. 284; A.W. Neuwenhais, Quer durch Borneo, vol. ii., plate 40; Hose and McDougall, The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, 1912, vol. i., pp. 64 and 84, and plates 46–48. See also A.B. Meyer, Alterthümer aus dem Ostindischen Archipel.
[423] Cat. B.F.A., 1910, I., 11.
[424] A little flask in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Case 24, No. 809, 1883) of this type of ware with a green glaze was obtained in 1883 in the neighbourhood of Canton. Possibly a portion of this group comes from one of the Canton factories, but it is the kind of ware which might have been made in any pottery district, and there are quite modern examples of the same type of glaze and biscuit in the Field Museum of Chicago which were manufactured at Ma–chuang, near T´ai–yüan Fu, in Shensi.
[426] T´u Shu, op. cit., section T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 9.
[427] Ching is the name of the old state of Ch´u, which included Hunan and Hupeh, so that the expression here used covers an enormous tract of Central China. See T´u shu, section T´ao kung pu tsa lu, fol. 2.
[428] T´u Shu, section T´ao kung pu chi shih, fol. 2 recto.
and
.
[430] This appears to mean that the glaze covering up the reliefs filled all the surrounding hollows and made an even surface.
[431] i.e. ware of the Hsüan Tê period (1426–1435 A. D.).
[432] T´u Shu, section T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 10.
[433] O.C.A., p. 637.
[434] Made at Pilkington's Tile Works, Clifton Junction, by Manchester.
[436] T´u Shu, section entitled T´ao kung pu tsa lu, fol. 2 verso.
[438] T´u Shu, section xxxii, T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 9.
[439] T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 10 verso.
[440] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 2.
[441] Recorded in the T´ang Shu, the passage in question being quoted in the encyclopædia, T´u Shu, section xxxii, T´ao kung pu chi shih, fol. 1 verso.
[442] See the T´u Shu, section T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 7 verso.
[443] It was completed in 1430, and destroyed by the T´aip´ing rebels in 1853.
[444] In the section T´ao kung pu hui k´ao, fol. 9.
[445] Catalogue spécial de la Collection Chinoise, op. cit., pp. 10–12. The exhibits from Amoy included "carreaux de pavage, tuiles pour toitures."
[446] See Catalogue B.F.A., 1910, L. 1.
[447] See Dr. Voretzsch, Catalogue of Chinese Pottery.
[448] See T'ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 14 verso (quoting the I chih): "In the sixteenth year of K'ang Hsi the district magistrate, Chang Ch'i–chung, a man of Yang–ch'êng, forbade the workmen of Ching–tê Chên to inscribe on the porcelain vessels the nien hao of the Emperor or the handwriting (tzŭ chi
) of the holy men, to prevent their being broken and injured."
[449] See Catalogue B.F.A., 1910, E 4.
[450] This qualification is very necessary, because there are plenty of inferior pieces with the Ch'êng Hua mark which are quite modern.
[451] The Ch´ien Lung enamelled Imperial ware is frequently marked in red within a square panel reserved in the opaque bluish green enamel which so often covers the base.
[452] For the complete tables of cycles see Mayers, op. cit., p. 362.
[453] Though the reign of K´ang Hsi officially dates from 1662, in reality it began with the death of the previous Emperor in 1661; see p. [216].
[454] O. C. A., p. 79.
[455] Vol. ii., p. 167.
[456] Vol. ii, p. 34.
Transcriber's notes:
P. [xxi.] 'browish green', changed 'browish' to brownish'.
Taken hyphen out of 'Kuang-tung' to Kuangtung.
Taken hyphen out of 'Shan-tung' to Shantung.
'Kiang-nan', not taking out hyphen.
'Po-lo' not taking out hyphen.
Taken hyphen out of 'Kiang-su' to Kiangsu.
Taken hyphen out of 'Chih-li' to Chihli.
Taken hyphen out of 'Kuan-yin' to Kuanyin.
Added hyphen in 'Pakhoi' to 'Pak-hoi.
Corrected various punctuation.