Although the Chinese potters had at their command an endless list of gods, goddesses, saints, and devils in their mythology, they appear to have loved to draw and to model the eight immortals, Kwan-Yin, Si-Wang-Mu, and other Taoist divinities, to the exclusion of all except a few Buddhist gods. This seems to be due to their intense desire for a long life as the highest good. Constant use is found for the character Show, which is written in a hundred different ways, as shown in the robes of Kwan-Yin and Si-Wang-Mu in the illustrations of those goddesses. Such pieces as those given here are rare, although these divinities and the eight immortals are very often depicted on pieces in blue and white, and on many specimens in coloured enamels. It is curious to notice how, when they are in the heavens, they are carried upon the clouds; when upon earth Han Chung-le and Han Seang-tse ride upon a fan; Tsaou Kwo-kiu on a log; Chang Ko-laou stands on a frog; Lan Tsae-ho on her basket, and carries her symbol, the lotus; Leu Tung-pin stands on his sword; Ho Seen-koo on a willow-branch, and Le Tee-kwae sits on his gourd. Ming.
FABULOUS ANIMALS. THE DOG OF BUDDHA, THE DOG OF FÔ, OR THE COREAN LION.
The fabulous animals and birds are few; most of them are, however, met with so frequently on porcelain that it is necessary to be quite familiar with these fantastic creatures in order to grasp the meaning of the Chinese decoration. The fong-hoang, a singular and immortal bird, is dealt with elsewhere. The animals are four in number—the dragon, the kylin, the dog of Fô, and the tortoise with a hairy tail. The last was an emblem of longevity, and is usually an attendant on the god of longevity. Another power was its ability to assume various transformations, and still a third was its enormous strength. We shall only emphasise here the differences between the kylin and the dog of Fô, to which the name kylin is so often erroneously applied. The kylin resembles a stag in its body, whilst the dog of Fô is much more like a lion; in fact, with its head, face, mane, teeth, and claws, it does not require a vivid imagination to take it for a lion. The lion and the unicorn may fairly indicate the dog of Fô and the kylin.
We show a pair of so-called kylins, the one playing with a cub and the other holding a sacred ball; the bodies of brilliant green enamel, with decorations of aubergine, yellow, and black; supported on square pedestals, the fronts having a bold diaper design, the sides decorated with butterflies and flowers in aubergine, green, yellow, and black, on a pale apple-green ground; on the back of each pedestal are four sacred emblems in aubergine, green, and yellow, on biscuit. Ming.
EMBLEMS IN BIRDS.
Amongst the symbols used in decoration a bird on a perch is frequently found. The meaning of the symbol depends upon the kind of bird. The parrot—the speaking bird—warns women to be faithful to their husbands. The stork and crane are emblems of longevity, ducks and geese are types of conjugal affection, and as such they are carried in wedding processions. Quails were valued because of their fierceness in fighting. The magpie was a bird of good augury, which is regarded as sacred by the present reigning family, whilst the crow was a foreteller of evil. The peacock is largely valued for the tail feathers, which designate official rank. A piece of coral and two feathers indicate the promotion of a mandarin three steps at a time, a similar coral and four feathers means five steps at a time. The pheasant is an emblem of beauty, it is often used instead of the phœnix or fong-hoang. Amongst the Chinese, gold and silver pheasants of extraordinary beauty give the motif for the rich decoration of "pheasant plates," and the varieties of the colours remind them of the duty of practising the various virtues.
Here are a pair of pheasants, the plumage in yellow, black, brown, and green, the bodies of pale apple-green. Each bird is seated upon a tall rock enamelled in rich olive green; this is covered with flowering branches in high relief, or decorated in varied colour enamels. Supported on ormolu bases, Louis XVI. period. Other birds, such as eagles, falcons, and hawks, may be found in figures or groups. Early Kang-he.