(1567–1572)
The Imperial potteries at Ching-tê Chên were busy in the long reign of Chia Ching, grandson of Ch’êng Hua, under the supervision of one of the prefects of the circuit who took charge in place of the palace eunuch of previous reigns. Chinese accounts of the porcelain of this important period, summarised in the T’ao shuo, include passages from the late Ming and therefore almost contemporary works, the Shih wu kan chu and the Po wu yao lan. In the former we are told that the Mohammedan blue was largely used, but that the material for the “fresh red” (hsien hung)[99] was exhausted, and that the method of producing the red colour was no longer the same as of old, the potters being capable only of making the overglaze iron red called fan hung. The Po wu yao lan gives a more intimate description of the ware, and the passage[100]—the last in that work on the subject of porcelain—may be rendered as follows:—
“Chia Ching porcelain includes blue-decorated and polychrome wares of every description; but unfortunately the clay brought to the place from the neighbouring sources in Jao Chou gradually deteriorated, and when we compare these two classes of porcelain with the similar productions of the earlier periods of the dynasty the (Chia Ching) wares do not equal the latter. There are small white bowls (ou) inscribed inside with the character ch’a
(tea), the character chiu
(wine), or the characters tsao t’ang
(decoction of dates), or chiang t’ang[101]