[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.