Although not belonging to the same family, we may here refer to a rare vase (Fig. 89), which supplies us with a remarkably fine specimen of a kindred style of ornamentation. In this case the ground is black, and the “hawthorn,” or plum-tree, sprays, with white flowers, are wreathed gracefully over its surface. The green of the leaves would{130} lead us to class it with the Green family. The piece is, however, exceptional, since black is, as a rule, seldom introduced to any great extent in decoration. To what fabric or age shall we attribute it? It is possibly a specimen of the skill of Thang-kong, who lived between 1736 and 1795, and was director of the Imperial works. Thang not only reproduced some of the ancient colors, such as the dark-blue and red, but gave full sway to his own inventive genius. Among his original works are a purple, a black enamel, and a black enamel with white flowers, which suits the description of the unique specimen referred to. It is, in any event, by reason both of its graceful shape and decoration, deserving of attention.

To return to the blue-and-white, there are specimens, generally plaques, with flowers resembling asters, painted in blue (Fig. 90). One has some difficulty in bringing the formal arrangement of these flowers into accord with Chinese art as we find it elsewhere. The flowers are regularly disposed in the centre of the plaques, and repeated, in smaller size, in a single row round the rim. It seems more than probable that the style is borrowed or slightly modified, and one is strengthened in such a supposition by the fact that it is seldom, if ever, found upon pieces as pure in paste as the average Chinese porcelain. Possibly, with the intention of following his model more closely, the Chinese artist designedly resorted to an inferior body, such as might have reached China from Persia.

There are certain pieces of blue-and-white in which both Persian forms and Persian styles of decoration have been followed, and these introduce the general subject of Persian influence as felt in China. It first manifested itself as far back as the Siouen-te period (1426) of the Ming dynasty, and is further represented by pieces belonging to{131} the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most easily recognized are those in which the Persian form is adopted, although the paste alone would lead one to ascribe them to China, as it is invariably finer than anything known to have come from Persia. There is in Mr. Runkle’s collection a ewer decorated with flowers in light-blue, resembling that of Tch’aï porcelain, the famous “blue of the sky after rain.” Real examples of this old blue must needs be rare, since the porcelain, variously called Tch’aï, Tcheou, and Tchi-tsong, was, like the old white, valued, even in fragments, as highly as jewels. A second from the same collection is given on the following page (Fig. 91). The panels are black, the flower and border decoration are in pink, green, and yellow, and show the variety and execution distinctive of Chinese work. There are many pieces of the same class in which the artist has attempted to follow the Persian styles more closely, but even a slight examination can leave little doubt of their Chinese origin. In connection with the blue-and-white decoration may be mentioned the vases of sea-green céladon, in which panels of white are reserved. On these are figures of men and animals, landscapes or flowers, in blue. A favorite form, and one well suited to this style of decoration, is a square bottle or vase, the sides of which enable the artist to paint the design in blue upon the flat.

Of the other blues which were used as ground colors, one of the most famous is the turquoise obtained from copper. It has all the clear depth of the stone from which it takes its name, a liquid transparency elsewhere unequalled. It appears on a great variety of pieces—gods, kylins, birds, dogs, and vases. The latter are very often graved in the paste, after designs more or less ornate. In the specimen given (Fig. 92), which is very finely{132} crackled, the leaves are bound together by a zone decorated with the Greek fret.

The lapis lazuli blue has a deeper tint, and is usually decorated with gold. It is used as a ground color, and fine specimens lead one to question the appropriateness of the name, as the porcelain so decorated has a brilliancy and depth far in advance of the comparatively dull stone. The color is occasionally employed in Persian decoration, and varies in shade.

The mazarine blue is similarly treated, and is also effectively heightened by a super-ornamentation of gold of different shades. There are many other tints to which it is hard to give even a distinctive name. They illustrate the extreme partiality of the Chinese for this color, a partiality which has never wavered for at least sixteen centuries. It has been the means of giving to the world a greater number of beautiful works of art than would otherwise seem to be within the reach of the most skilful manipulation and the most prolific fancy, when restricted to a single color.

The soufflé porcelain will be hereafter noticed, but in the mean time, to prevent misapprehension, reference may be made to the bleu fouetté, a style sometimes confounded with the soufflé. It is less deep in shade than the lapis lazuli, and has a mottled appearance. It is{133} used as a ground color, in which are sections of white, and on the latter are brilliant designs in red, green, and gold. The effect is rich, and the contrast between the panel painting and the more sombre ground color is very striking. There are also blues splashed over with spots of red and lilac, and many others, such as the “transmutation” or flashed glaze, illustrative of the magical dexterity of the Chinese workman. What on first sight seems the result of an accident in the kiln, will often prove to be that of a carefully conducted operation and deliberate intention.

We may now glance briefly at the various fabrics of the Ming Dynasty, in their chronological order.

The establishment of an imperial factory at King-teh-chin, as above stated, marked the beginning of the Ming, during which (1368-1649) the art rose to its highest level. After the blue Kouan-ki came vases and vessels of various colors and styles of decoration. Between 1403 and 1424, egg-shell porcelain, so called from its remarkable thinness, was first issued from King-teh-chin, and between 1465 and 1487 reached its greatest excellence and fineness. It was made as thin as paper, and was so favorably regarded by the emperors that they gave rewards to those making the finest pieces. Its gauzy transparent tenuity is effected by grinding it down after glazing. Vases, as well as cups, etc., were made of egg-shell, which at a later date was painted in colors. The fifteenth century saw the greatest triumphs of Chinese artists. From 1426 to 1435, the Siouen-te period, very brilliant blue, red, white, and veined crackle was made. Representations of crickets were a fashionable style of ornamentation. Afterward, between 1465 and 1487, although the colors deteriorated, the beauty of the ornamentation increased toward{134} its artistic extreme. With the sixteenth century, we have seen that foreign material for ornamentation began to be introduced; and although many original artists continued to appear, others restricted themselves almost exclusively to the imitation of ancient wares. Tcheou, who lived between 1567 and 1619, took particular delight in puzzling collectors by skilful counterfeits of the most famous, rare, and valuable old wares. According to a story told by Julien, he imitated the ancient Ting white, made from three to six hundred years before his time, so closely, that he duped the most acute collectors. More than a century later, between 1735 and 1795, Thang-kong, already referred to, displayed great imitative skill. It is, however, evident, and a matter of regret, that, from the beginning of the eighteenth century, the ceramic art of China declined. While the materials employed are still equal to the most ancient, the ornamentation after that date became, as a rule, manifestly inferior. To what extent a more intimate intercourse with foreigners and the more extended demands of trade resulting therefrom may have contributed to such a result, we need not now inquire. The greater rapidity of execution necessitated by increasing orders from abroad, and the influence of European models, had no doubt their effect. All the best pieces were retained for native use, and only the inferior qualities were exported. The estimation in which the Chinese hold the rarer pieces is further illustrated by the fact that specimens which have found their way to Europe have been sent back to China to be sold, because there they would realize higher prices. Many of the better kinds have never been seen in Europe; and when in addition to this it is remembered that, while skilled in production, the Chinese were equally clever in imitation with fraudulent intent, many other kinds are in all likelihood really unknown beyond the bounds of the Celestial Empire.

There are, besides the works of such an artist as Thang-kong, exceptional pieces of the Tai-thsing Dynasty, especially those of the Kien-long period, during which Thang-kong lived, that are in every way admirable. One example of this period (Fig. 93) has a ground color of light green, overrun with a graceful floriated design graved in the paste, and having reserved panels, in which are a landscape on one side and a tree and bird on the other. In another the ground is a delicate pink, and the figures are raised. Examples might be multiplied{135} to any extent, which show that, however faulty the later specimens may be, there is no lack of variety. The artists resorted to every style of decoration within the reach of their skill, and some exceedingly beautiful porcelain of various families will be found to belong to the Kien-long period.

The Tai-thsing Dynasty is also marked by the production of the vases called “Mandarin,” usually, but in our opinion mistakenly, ascribed to Japan. The history of China at this time is for our present purpose valuable. So long as the two dynasties were at war, art was neglected; and we therefore find that, for several years prior to the establishment of the Tartar Dynasty, the manufactories gave out no works of note. When the Tai-thsings were firmly seated on the throne the art received a new impulse. While Khang-hi reigned (1661-1722), Thang-ing-siouen was director of the imperial factory, and made two yellows, a green and blue. He was succeeded in 1722 by Nien, who was equally successful, and in 1736 was associated with the artist Thang-kong before mentioned. After Kien-long, the fourth of the Tartar Dynasty, the art went rapidly downward. It will be observed from these few facts that when the decline of Chinese art is spoken of as beginning with the eighteenth century, allowance must be made for the check experienced under Kien-long (1736-1795). When he ascended the throne there were, according to M. Julien, fifty-seven manufactories of porcelain in China, of which seven besides that of King-teh-chin were in the province of Kiang-si. Whatever condition art may have been in, there was plainly no stagnation in production.

And now as to the mandarin vases, which strictly reflect the history of China: the word “mandarin” is applied to all the public{136} functionaries of China, and, in the decoration of porcelain, includes all the figures with toque and vest seen on the vases of this period. When the Tartar Dynasty came in, one of the first imperial acts was to issue an order that certain new customs should be adhered to, and old ones renounced. Though politic, in tending to erase even the remembrance of the dethroned Mings, the act was in certain particulars a cruelty to the conservative Chinese. It involved in their eyes degradation to the level of the victorious Tartar; and rather than conform to the order requiring the head to be shaved, many were willing that it should be cut off. Conformity came in time, and the pigtail was an accepted necessity. Changes in costume were also gradually effected. Of these the most marked features are the rolled-up cap or toque and the short coat. To distinguish the nine orders of public officers, the most minute regulations were issued. These affected chiefly the button on the toque, the squares on the front and back of the coat, and the decoration of the belt.

The mandarin vases upon which these costumes are seen, are thick in the paste and frequently uneven on the surface. The hexagonal form, as well as the general features of the decoration, were followed and made familiar to Europeans by the potters of Delft. The decoration is so varied that the group is divided by Jacquemart into six sections. The chief colors are pink, lilac, green, iron red, Indian ink, gold and black. The painting is not executed after the usual Chinese fashion, and the faces in particular are finished with a minute care suggestive of an influence not felt before this period. What concerns us chiefly at present is the reason given by Jacquemart for assigning the entire group to Japanese workmanship. He says:

“The special character of this costume marks out perfectly the group of porcelain upon which it is to be found. It offers, besides, the advantage of rendering incontestable the Japanese origin of these porcelains. The artists of the Celestial Empire have never represented mandarins in their lacquer-work, carved wood or ivories, vases, bronzes, hard or soft stones; no authentic nien-hao piece has depicted anything besides the heroes of ancient times and the subjects of ancient history. It was left to neighboring nations, at the same time inquisitive and commercial, to multiply upon the vases this execrated costume, imposed only after a time by force.{137}”

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Fig. 94.—Chinese Ming Vases. White Ground. In medallions, green and brown characters and figures. Darker part red and white, with green flowers. (Geo. R. Hall Coll., Boston Museum of Fine Arts.)
Fig. 94.—Chinese Ming Vases. White Ground. In medallions, green and brown characters and figures. Darker part red and white, with green flowers. (Geo. R. Hall Coll., Boston Museum of Fine Arts.)

This appears rather a slight reason for giving the entire group to Japan. Let us look back to history. From the Wan-li period of the Ming (1619) to the final fall of the dynasty in 1647, or from the irruption of the Tartars in 1616 down to 1662, the Khang-hi period of the Tai-thsings, we know of no porcelain having been made; but in that period, as we have seen, the industry revived. It is then that we again find a director at King-teh-chin, and seventy years later Thang-kong was reviving the bright red and devising the gold ornamentation on black which we find on the mandarin vases. Jacquemart suggests “some years” after 1616 as the date when the Tartar costume was applied to vases. It is probable that it was at least from fifty to seventy years after that date, and that the best specimens belong to the Kien-long period, which began in 1736. After 1662 the imperial factory was apparently as much under the Emperor’s control as it had been under the Mings; in which case he could, it is presumed, order such paintings and figures in such costumes as he pleased. We know, further, that in 1698 two foreign artists—an Italian and a Frenchman—{138}were at the palace giving the Chinese several new ideas about art, especially, as we shall see, about perspective. This may, in part, account for the miniature appearance of the face paintings on the mandarin vases. There is, moreover, no ostensible reason for assigning to the Japanese the origination of a style of decoration at variance with everything else we know of the early traditions of their art, although they followed it afterward. We might rather look to India. We know, at least, that during the Kien-long period the Chinese incurred and acknowledged certain debts to India, and it is in the same country that we find the best miniature painting of the East. Such a supposition would also account for the unusual type presented by some of the mandarins with long pointed beards.

An apparently fanciful grouping of Chinese porcelain originated with Albert Jacquemart and Edmond Le Blant. They divide it into four families, the Archaic, the Chrysanthemo-Pæonian, the Green, and the Rose: Céladon, Crackle, White, Blue, Turquoise-blue, Violet, Bronze, and Lacquer are classed as exceptional. The Chrysanthemo-Pæonian is so called from the prevalence of chrysanthemums and pæonies on the ground, and the Green and Rose from the predominating colors. A large proportion of the household ornaments of China, garden vases, and table-wares belong to the first of these classes. Blues, red, and gold mingle with each other, and are relieved by green, and sometimes black. Red and blue grounds will be found with designs in white, green, and yellow; or a rich gold will be overspread with green, pale buff, and white; or the ground itself will be white, on which are designs in black, filled with gorgeous flowers. These are the works of artists whose skill and ingenuity are almost as limitless as their fancy. There is no law but the harmony demanded by a florid taste, no aim but effect.{139}

Green was the imperial color under the Ming Dynasty (1368), and the greater portion of the ornamentation of this family has either a religious or a political significance. The bright copper-green lies perfectly transparent upon the pure white paste. We have already seen the eight immortals riding upon clouds, in a piece of blue-and-white, and the design is repeatedly met upon pieces of the Green family. It is here, in short, that we have the best opportunity of studying the religious system and symbols of China. Dragons are represented with diabolical ferocity; cranes, kylins, fong-hoangs, are intermingled with floral designs, in which are asters and other flowers, and insects. On the sacrificial cups of this family, dragons with forked tails climb the handles, or hang head downward from the lip, while a hideous dragon-head is introduced in the sides. From these grotesque and terrible figures we turn to the pieces of a historical character. The scenes depicted are chiefly taken from the early history of China, which was as prolific a source of ideas to the Chinese artist as classical history and legend to the poets of Europe. Vases of this character are also deserving of study, as illustrating to a farther extent than was done in the Introduction that aspect of the potter’s art in which it appears as the handmaid and illuminator of history. The Chinese artist is rarely seen to better advantage than when painting vases of this family. With a rich palette comprising the prevailing green, blues of every shade, violet, red, yellow, gold, and black, he produces effects of the most charming beauty. When green is used as a ground color, as in the case of the Kien-long vase referred to (Fig. 93), either it covers the entire surface, or reserves are left for the landscape or trees. In the former case the fruit, flowers, and leaves lie upon the bright-green enamel. To the pieces in which green is mingled with yellow and blue upon a white ground, producing the effect of variegated marble, the Chinese give the name of Ouan-lou-hoang.{140}

The Rose family (Fig. 97) is distinguished by the prevalence of the color to which it owes its name—a pale red applied over the glaze. It comprises what may most emphatically be called the decorative porcelain of China. The body is the perfection of Chinese paste, and the decoration partakes to the full of the vast wealth of Chinese color. With regard to form, this family represents the most perfect pieces in the art of China. With the exception of the old white and the modern decorated with blue, the Tho-tai-khi, “porcelain without embryo,” or egg-shell, belongs almost exclusively to this family, which is admirably represented in Mr. W. L. Andrews’s collection. In such pieces we fully apprehend the beauty of the “rose-back” decoration. The ruby color is laid upon the back of the edge or rim of plates and saucers, and shines through the thin paste with the softness of the pink lining of a shell. It would be impossible to specify all the methods of decorating the egg-shell belonging to the Rose family. We see borders of pink and raised white enamel, others traced as delicately as the finest lace, and still others with reservations filled with bouquets. The decoration sometimes takes the form of exquisite paintings of birds, insects, and flowers; and when scenes with figures are introduced, they are of a totally different character from the religious and historical subjects found in the Green family. They are drawn in part from literature, and in part from the home life of the people. There is in Mr. Avery’s collection at the Metropolitan Museum, a plate having a rose border with raised flowers, and other objects in reserved sections. In the centre is a young girl surprised, as she walks the garden at night, by her lover, who, having thrown his shoes in advance, is mounting the wall. M. Jacquemart informs us that the incident is taken from the “Si-siang-ki,” or, History of the Pavilion of the West, a lyric drama composed by Wang-chi-fou about{141} A.D. 1110. A frequent design is a home scene, in which a lady sits near a table attended by two children, and with one or two vases standing round. These glimpses of domestic life afford some little insight into the usages of the people, the courtesies of society, and the occupation and pastimes of the young. When the pieces are larger in size, the subjects are taken from court life, and very rarely from religion. When strong contrasts are resorted to—as by coloring the inside green and the outside rose—the effect is no less pleasing. The combinations are almost confusing in their multiplicity, and in the essential differences of their character. One piece may have flowers and various household articles (Fig. 99) upon a white ground, or rose may mingle with turquoise and maroon in the border. Nothing is too bold for the Chinese artist, and no effect appears to be unattainable or untried. He is equally at home painting on white enamel a delicate border, or rivalling the rich hues of a gaudy butterfly in a life-like imitation of the fluttering insect.

Before leaving the Rose family, let us glance at a few of the pieces ascribed to Japan, and which ought to be restored to China. To illustrate the difficulty of assigning them, with positive certainty, to either country, the plate given on page 143 may be referred to (Fig. 100). Mr. Andrews considers his piece Japanese, and his opinion is supported by the fact that other specimens, also claimed for Japan, have the same subject painted in the centre. When a photograph of the piece was submitted to the Hon. Jushie Yoshida Kiyonari, the Japanese Minister at Washington, he replied: “It seems to me certain that the subject, as well as the style of the{142} painting, are strictly Chinese; and this much I would say, if I had the piece in my possession, I could not but consider it as a good Chinese specimen.”

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Fig. 99.—Chinese Bowl. Rich Decoration, chiefly Yellow and Rose. Height, 11 in.; circumference, 5 ft. 8 in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)
Fig. 99.—Chinese Bowl. Rich Decoration, chiefly Yellow and Rose. Height, 11 in.; circumference, 5 ft. 8 in. (Mrs. John V. L. Pruyn Coll.)

When Jacquemart tries to find an origin for the Chinese Rose family, he says: “Does it issue from the accidental discovery of the red of Cassius? Is it contemporary with other porcelains? Does it come from a particular centre? We think its creation is to be attributed to the wish of imitating the admirable porcelain of Japan.” The same writer, in treating of what he calls “artistic” porcelain of the Japanese Rose family, says: “If we required to seek the cause of these modifications and of the particular style of artistic porcelain, we should find it in a desire of rivalling the Chinese porcelain of the Rose family.” In other words, the Japanese Rose suggested the Chinese Rose, and the Chinese Rose suggested the Japanese Rose—a stage at which the discussion becomes neither lucid nor satisfactory.

The circumstances leading to the confounding of Chinese and Japanese porcelain arose chiefly from trade. The Japanese are said to have gone to King-teh-chin, even in early times, to buy porcelain. According to Duhalde, the Chinese repaid the compliment by loading their vessels with Japanese porcelain on returning from that country. This is corroborated by the missionaries at Pekin, who state that the people there highly prized the Japanese porcelain, which was, in consequence, both rare and dear. They even used it in preference to{143} their own in making presents to the emperor and grandees. De Pere states that when the Emperor wished to send a present of porcelain to Peter the Great, he chose that of Japan, where, says the writer, the people surpass those of China in all the arts and industries. We know, moreover, that the Japanese import Chinese egg-shell for decoration, that the Chinese have borrowed the designs of the Japanese, and that the Japanese have borrowed those of China. The most skilful imitators in the world, living next door to each other, complimented each other’s skill by mutual imitation.

There are two chronological points that may help us to throw some light into this confusion, which writers have succeeded in making twice confounded.

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Fig. 100.—Rose-back Egg-shell. (W. L. Andrews Coll.)
Fig. 100.—Rose-back Egg-shell. (W. L. Andrews Coll.)

There can be no doubt that the porcelain of the Rose family was at its best about the end of the fifteenth century and beginning of the sixteenth. Jacquemart, therefore, argues that the Japanese imitations would date from the first half of the sixteenth century, and the vitreous enamelled pieces would go back, at least, to the fifteenth. He labors under a very serious mistake, which evidently takes its{144} rise in the assumption that the ware made by the Japanese in the seventh century was translucent pottery, or that Kato-siro-ouye-mon, in the thirteenth century, had acquired the art of making porcelain. We shall handle this subject more in detail when treating of Japan; but meanwhile let it be noted that the Japanese themselves call the thirteenth century ware stone-ware, and that there is no reason for believing that porcelain was made in Japan until near the middle of the sixteenth century, or about the date assigned by Jacquemart to the so-called Japanese imitations of the Rose family of China.

If this be admitted, it must be supposed that Japan began by imitating some of the choicest works of China, and those presenting the greatest difficulty to a beginner not perfectly sure of his practice. The necessary result of this, so far as M. Jacquemart is concerned, would be to transfer what he calls artistic porcelain to China. In any event, it is clear that all representatives of that family which can be ascribed to a date earlier than the latter part of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century are Chinese. Many years must have elapsed before the Japanese could, with Shonsui’s assistance, attain to such perfection in working a new material that their ware could be mistaken for that of their teachers.

The difficulties of collectors are thus restricted to pieces which are comparatively modern. Nothing is more natural than that, when the manufacture was temporarily paralyzed in China by the disturbances attending the change from the Ming to the Tartar dynasty, for several years prior to 1662 the Japanese should have bestirred themselves to supply the demand created by the regular trade in China. It is of this period, and down to the beginning of the eighteenth century, that the missionaries write when they speak of the demand for Japanese porcelain. It must have been early in the eighteenth century, also, that the imperial present of Japanese porcelain was sent to Russia. Japanese art was rising as that of China declined; and so far from suggesting the Rose decoration to China, the Japanese Rose was merely striving to take its place, when the original was passing away. The Japanese found the Chinese patronage valuable, and therefore they tried to please their customers by perpetuating the styles of decoration with which they were familiar. Their imitative skill makes the task of distinguishing the two fabrics one of considerable{145} difficulty, even with the limitations in point of time to which we have alluded. The distinctive characteristics of Japanese porcelain will be referred to in their proper place under Japan; but, in the mean time, it is evident that many of the supposed Japanese pieces, with domestic scenes, or with fan-shaped reservations in wide borders of geometrical patterns, and containing brilliantly feathered birds, are Chinese.

We have now glanced at the three leading families, even while disposed to call in question the utility of the arrangement. A classification of the above kind has the one great objection, that the exceptions are so numerous as to leave the rule inapplicable to a vast number of the most interesting specimens. And, further, no perfect arrangement is practicable. The Chinese have always been imitators. The potters and artists of the thirteenth century imitated those of the tenth; those of the fourteenth imitated their predecessors of the thirteenth, and so on. Any attempt at a chronological arrangement, with any pretensions to absolute truth, is, for this and other reasons, out of the question. The classification by families, besides its necessary deficiencies, gives no assistance to one studying and trying to master the principles of Chinese art. To such an one, therefore, the only course is to take every specimen at its artistic worth. He may find a large proportion of table-ware of the Chrysanthemo-pæonian family, but he will also find much that is not of that family. He may find much of the Green family, especially under the Ming Dynasty, with a political or a religious significance, but he will also fail in discovering any such meaning in many of its representatives. He will find chrysanthemums on members of the Green family, and pæonies on members of the Rose. In short, the better plan is, as we have said, to admire what is admirable, and to be too curious neither about chronology nor the relationship of color. Otherwise, in the latter case, he will come upon incongruities. The weak and the beautiful will be placed side by side, as in the human family a dwarf may be full brother to an Adonis.

From what has been said it will be inferred that the Chinese held in the highest admiration the beauty to be found in color alone. In producing it, they stand at the head of the ceramic artists of the world. The old white porcelain—that is, porcelain decorated with white, and not the undecorated ware—is by some considered the most{146} ancient quality, and is most carefully preserved by the Chinese. It was decorated with designs either graved in the paste or painted in relief, or with figures inserted between two laminæ of paste. In the latter case the design remained invisible until the cup was filled with liquid. Others required to be held up to the light before the design revealed itself. The best white porcelain was made during the Song Dynasty (960-1278). Mention is made of white porcelain manufactured for the Emperor during the Wei Dynasty (A.D. 220-264), and we have already seen that white was the dynastic color of the Thang Dynasty (618-907), but little or nothing is directly known of these fabrics. That of the Song Dynasty was the Ting-yao, already referred to as one of the five great qualities of ancient porcelain. A cup (Fig. 101) of great beauty, very thin and transparent, in the collection of Mr. J. C. Runkle, gives a good idea of the old white. Its purity and brilliancy give a fine effect to the decoration in relief. The latter consists of small sprays of blossoms delicately moulded or carved, and showing through the clear glaze the finest touches of the modeller or carver. This is one of the methods followed in decorating the Ting porcelain with flowers, which were either graved in the paste, applied in relief, or painted. The white of the Yong-lo period (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty was also decorated with engravings in the paste. Toward the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, about 1380, a peculiar quality of white was made upon the same principle as the egg-shell, i. e., by grinding down the paste, by which means the piece assumed an unctuous, shining appearance.

With the white there naturally falls to be considered the porcelain compared by writers and by the Chinese themselves with jade, the most precious of stones in the eyes of the Orientals. It is likened in the Li-ki, or Book of Rites, to the rainbow solidified and turned into stone; and in another work occurs the passage, “When I meditate on that wise man, his thoughts appear to me like the jade.” This applies to the discourse of Confucius. The philosopher’s language is quaint{147} and figurative: “It is not,” he says, “because the jade is rare that it is valued, but because from all time the sages have compared virtue to jade. In their eyes the polish and brilliant hues of jade represent virtue and humanity. Its perfect compactness and extreme hardness indicate exactness of statement; its angles or corners, which are not incisive, however sharp they seem, are emblematic of justice; the pearl-like jades suspended from the hat or the girdle, as if falling, represent ceremony and politeness; the pure sound which it emits when struck, and which suddenly stops, figures music; as it is impossible for the ugly shades of color to obscure the handsome ones, or for the fine colors to cover up the poor ones, so loyalty is prefigured; the cracks which exist in the interior of the stone, and can be seen from the outside, are figurative of sincerity; its iridescent lustre, similar to that of the rainbow, is symbolic of the permanent; its wonderful substance, extracted from mountains or from rivers, represents the earth; when cut as knei or chon, without other embellishment, it indicates virtue; and the high value attached to it by the whole world, without exception, is figurative of truth.” It is further used throughout Chinese literature as a simile for the highest qualities of virtue and purity.

The stone is called yu by the Chinese, and is obtained from Tai-thong, in the province of Chenn-si, and in larger quantities from Khotan, where an entire mountain is said to be composed of it. It has been held in the highest estimation among the Chinese from ancient times, and notwithstanding its extreme hardness, it is made into the most beautiful and curious objects, such as vases, cups, incense-burners, flasks; and even instruments of music.

These facts will enable us to appreciate the comparison so often drawn between porcelain and jade. Thus, the Thang white made by Ho is said to have been “brilliant as jade,” and a contemporary was making vases of artificial jade. Again, in the Song Dynasty, a red porcelain was made at Ting-tcheou, decorated with flowers, graved, painted, or in relief, and said to resemble “sculptured red jade.” Coming down to the Siouen-te period of the Ming Dynasty (1426-1435), we again meet with cups “as white and brilliant as jade,” with their surfaces slightly punctured. These appear to have been imitated in the Wan-li period (1575-1619), when beautiful cups of the whiteness of jade figure in the altar services of the Emperor. The{148} same description will apply to the porcelain of both periods. The glaze is likened to “a layer of congealed fat,” and has a pure ivory-like appearance and a soft unctuous touch, more nearly resembling that of French pate tendre than any other modern ware. This feeling is heightened rather than diminished by the slight roughness, or rather, irregularity of the surface, such as might be caused by sinking minute grains in the glaze.

Let us now see how far these comparisons with jade are warranted by the stone itself. Let it first be noted that many travellers bring from Canton a green and dark-green quality of chalcedony, under the impression that the wily merchants have given them genuine jade. There are also certain kinds of felspar, called nephrite, which have been mistakenly called jade. The genuine yu varies in color from an ivory white to a dark green. It is very hard, very heavy, and fine in grain. Even after it is polished it has the appearance of wax, and the impression made upon the eye is confirmed by the smooth, greasy touch. The exceptional colors are red, black, orange, citron yellow, turquoise and a deeper blue. The white variety called, par excellence, Oriental jade, reflects a pure milky light nearly resembling that of the opal. Japan and India supply a quality of white with the faintest possible tinge of green. Another very beautiful variety is the “imperial jade,” or emerald green, which is occasionally found mixed with white, like the colors in agate.

The value attached to jade was so great, that in China a special officer was appointed to take charge of the jade used in the personal decoration of the emperor, who wore several pieces attached to his girdle. Every description of jewel was made of jade, including those worn in the hair.

From these facts, and those previously narrated, it is evident that to compare porcelain with jade is to compliment it in terms beyond which Chinese language cannot go. Nothing higher or more laudatory can be said of it, and we can thus form some idea of the extreme beauty of the almost opalescent white porcelain of the Siouen-te and Wan-li periods. The admiration of the Chinese for this stone in colors now unknown may possibly also have inspired them to attempt its imitation in many of the finest colors which claim our admiration. The passage quoted from Confucius further suggests that even crackle may{149} have originated in trying to reproduce in pottery and porcelain the cracked variety of jade.

Equal to the turquoise in purity is the violet obtained from the oxide of manganese. Two artists (father and daughter) named Chou, made very beautiful porcelain of this color during the Song Dynasty. Specimens are now very rare, their brilliancy and richness leading collectors to grasp with avidity at any opportunity of becoming possessors of a good example.

The aubergine, or purple egg-plant violet, was also made under the Song, and is one of the celebrated productions of Kiun, in the province of Ho-nan. This is, however, inferior in beauty to the manganese violet. There is a third tint, of great softness and beauty. The violet is often used in conjunction with turquoise blue, as in a crackle teapot in the Avery collection in the shape of the peach of longevity, in which the body is violet, and the spout and decorating leaves, which are in relief, are in turquoise blue. The colors are also found intermingled in such groups as the Dogs of Fo sporting. Very curious effects are produced by shading the violet on either hand to blue and red. In pieces of this character the blue will be found on the base, and the color changes as it ascends, becoming a rich violet on the body and red on the top. The violet is treated in a manner precisely similar to the turquoise, the pieces being frequently decorated with incised designs.

The shaded violet specimens alluded to remind us of others, in a rich liver-red, where the color becomes paler as it ascends. Thus, in the five-fingered rosadon (Fig. 102) the base is a deep crimson, which turns to scarlet on the body, and finishes on the tips of the fingers in a cloudy white. This color, like the aubergine violet, and a bright red were found upon some of the works made at Kiun in the tenth century; nor must we forget the pieces like “red jade” made at Ting-tcheon{150} about the same period. It does not appear to have been used at King-teh-chin until the Yong-lo period, early in the fifteenth century. The bright red was reproduced by Thang-kong, the artist already mentioned, in the eighteenth century. It is difficult to follow the Chinese in the handling of colors so nearly akin, and yet differently treated, and producing effects so varied. The liver-red often appears as a true céladon upon pieces closely resembling in paste the hard opaque body of the old sea-green. These have rarely any decoration, and resemble in this respect many small objects, such as narrow-necked bottles, to which a bright red lends a color that in vivid brilliancy and clearness involuntarily recalls the comparison of the Ting porcelain with red jade.