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