Fig. 96.—Pou-tai, “The God of Content.”
The opening cut ([Fig. 96]) in our chapter shows the Chinese god Pou-tai—the “God of Content.” He is described as “corpulent, his chest uncovered, mounted upon or leaning on the wine-skin which holds his terrestrial goods; his face, with half-closed eyes, beaming with an eternal laugh.”
His image, done in porcelain, is found in the workshops of China, where men wish more than they can obtain; he allays, perhaps, but does not quench. This image would be most useful—at least, most suggestive—if it could be set up in every bourse of the Western world.