, which, according to the catalogue of the Paris Exhibition, was still celebrated for its pottery in 1878. But the reputation of Su Chou does not rest on its modern achievements. Its name occurs frequently in the pottery section of the great encyclopædia (compiled by order of the Emperor K´ang Hsi) as one of the prominent pottery centres in the Ming dynasty. Tiles for the palaces and temples of Nanking were made there, and vases and wine vessels for the Imperial Court. The nature of these last can be guessed from a hint given in one passage of the encyclopædia[412]: "At Su Chou iron rust (hsiu) and other materials are used for the yellow wares. For the vessels with dragon and phœnix destined for Imperial use, a resinous substance[413] and cobalt blue[414] are used."
In the Hsüan Tê period (1426–1435), Su Chou was noted for the manufacture of artistic pots for holding fighting crickets. In reference to these we are informed in the T´ao shuo (see Bushell, op. cit., p. 140) that "those fabricated at Su Chou by the two makers named Lu
and Tsou
were beautifully moulded, and artistically carved and engraved, and the pots made by the Elder and the Younger Hsiu
, two daughters of Tsou, were the finest of all. At this time fighting crickets was a favourite pastime, and hundreds and thousands of cash were staked upon the event, so that they did not grudge spending large sums upon the pots, which were decorated in this elaborate way, and consequently far surpassed the ordinary porcelain of the period."
The large and important potteries at Po–shan Hsien
