We read in the T’ao shuo[142] that the Imperial factory was re-established in the sixth year of this reign (1572), and placed under the care of the assistant prefects of the district. This would seem to imply that for the greater part of this brief period the Imperial works had been in abeyance. Be this as it may, there was no falling off in the quantity of porcelain commanded for the Court, and the extravagant and burdensome demands evoked a protest from Hsü Ch’ih, the president of the Censorate,[143] in 1571. It was urged among other things that the secret of the copper red colour (hsien hung) had been lost, and that the potters should be allowed to use the iron red (fan hung) in its place: that the size and form of the large fish bowls which were ordered made their manufacture almost impossible: that the designs for the polychrome (wu ts’ai) painting were too elaborate, and that square boxes made in three tiers were a novelty difficult to construct. Fire and flood had devastated Ching-tê Chên, and many of the workmen had fled, and he (the president) begged that a large reduction should be made in the palace orders.
We are not told whether this memorial to the emperor had the desired effect. In the case of the next emperor a similar protest resulted in a large reduction of the demands. But the document discloses several interesting facts, and among other things we learn that the designs for some of the ware and for the coloured decoration were still sent from the palace as in the days of Ch’êng Hua.
The official lists of porcelain actually supplied to the Court of Lung Ch’ing have been briefly summarised in the T’ao shuo[144]; but they do not include any new forms, and the motives of decoration were in the main similar to those recorded in the Chia Ching lists. The following, however, may be added to the summary in the previous chapter:—
The yü tsan hua, rendered in Giles’s Dictionary as the “tuberose,” by Bushell as the “iris.”
Clumps of chrysanthemum flowers.
Interlacing scrolls of mu-tan peony.
Ch’ang ch’un (long spring) flowers, identified by Bushell with the “jasmine.”
A “joyous meeting,” symbolised according to Bushell by a pair of magpies.
The Tartar pheasant (chai chih).
The season flowers supporting the characters