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.