[117] Chang Ying–wên in the Ch´ing pi tsang, published in 1595.
[118] Chinese characters a phrase which is not very lucid. In fact, I suspect a confusion with another tan Chinese character, which means "egg," and would give the sense "egg white," like the luan pai of the Ju yao.
[119] On the subject of crackle, see vol. ii., p. 197. The idea of a crackle assuming the form of round four– or five–petalled flowers like plum blossoms was carried out by the Ch´ien Lung potters on some of the medallion bowls (see vol. ii., p. 244), with a ground of bluish green enamel on which a network of lines and plum blossoms was traced in black.
[120] Chinese characters Ch´êng ni, lit. "pure, limpid, or clear clay," an expression which is explained in the T´ao shuo (bk. i., fol. 4 verso) as "refined earth," the word ch´êng (or ling) being equivalent to Chinese character t´ao, which means to wash.
[121] Chinese characters jung ch´ê, lit. "brilliant penetrate, or brilliant right through."
[122] The age is here probably the Sung period, for we must bear in mind that the author of the Cho kêng lu is practically quoting verbatim from the Sung writer Yeh–chih.
[123] Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 22.
[124] It may also explain the ruddy tinge of the green glaze, which, being transparent, would allow the reddish brown body colour to show through in the thinner parts.
[125] An early sixteenth–century work, the Tu kung t´an tsuan (quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 8 verso) tells of a Chinese sybarite Li Fêng–ming, who held a "lotus flower banquet. There were crystal tables twelve in number, and on them a series of vessels, all of Kuan porcelain, a display of elegance rarely seen at any time."
[126] Ya ku ch´ing pao shih. Ya ku is explained by Bretschneider (Mediæeval Researches, vol. i., p. 174) as equivalent to the Arabic yakut, and meaning a corundum, of which the Chinese recognise various tints, including deep blue, pale blue, muddy blue, besides yellow and white.
[127] Ch´ing ts´ui jo yü lan t´ien.
[128] Sê ch´ing tai fên hung. A more literal rendering of this phrase is "the colour of the glaze is ch´ing, with a tinge of red," which would refer to the reddish tone of a pale lavender glaze. On the other hand, the word tai is apparently used to describe the contrasting colours in parti–coloured jade and agate, e.g. huang sê tai t´u pan in Laufer (Jade, p. 140) to describe "yellow jade with earthy spots," and again (op. cit., p. 142), ch´ing yü tai hei sê, "green jade with passages of black colour."
[129] Po wu yao lan (quoted in the T´ao shuo, vol. iii., fol. 13 verso). These accidental effects are mentioned on both the Kuan and Ko wares, and are said to be either of a yellowish or a brownish red tint.
[130] "Wares of the Sung and Yüan Dynasties," Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, Plate i., fig. 4.
[131] See Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, Plate i., fig. 28; Plate ii., fig. 6.
[132] Speaking of the imitations of Kuan yao early in the nineteenth century, the T´ao lu (bk. ii., fol. 10) remarks: "Originally there were special departments for imitating Kuan yao. Now, only the imitators of the crackled wares make it. As for the imitations made at the (Imperial) factory, they are more beautiful," sc. than those made in the private factories.
[133] Bk. xxix., fol. 11.
[134] The word Hsü Chinese character has the meaning "continuation," and if it be not a place–name at present unidentified, it might conceivably be "the continuation or later Kuan ware."
[135] Bk. vii., fol. 6 verso.
[136] The Ch´i hsiu lei k´ao, quoted by Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 37.
[137] The authors of the Po wu yao lan and the Ch´ing pi ts´ang.
[138] Chinese characters hsieh chao wên, a debatable phrase, which seems best explained as a large irregular crackle resembling the tangle of claws seen on the top of a basket of crabs.
[139] Chinese characters Yü tzŭ. A crackle of finer mesh, which French writers describe as truité, or resembling the scales of a trout.
[140] Chinese characters pai chi sui, used by the author of the P´ai shih lei p´ien; see other references in the T´ao shuo and the T´ao lu.
[142] Quoted in the T´ao shuo (bk. v., fol. 9 verso).
[143] See vol. ii., p. 223.
[144] Chinese characters mi sê fên ch´ing. Mi sê is rendered in Giles's Dictionary, "Straw colour, the colour of yellow millet," and all Chinese authorities whom I have questioned agree that it is a yellow colour. Bushell in much of his published work rendered it "rice coloured," following Julien's couleur du riz, and others, including myself, have been misled by this rendering. Bushell, however, in a note in Monkhouse's Chinese Porcelain, p. 67, which is quoted at length in vol. ii., p. 220, pronounces in favour of the rendering yellow. The difficulty of finding a true yellow among the Sung wares to support the comparison with yellow millet has further complicated the question. The vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is figured in Monkhouse (fig. 22) as a specimen of old mi sê, is probably a Yung Chêng reproduction of the Sung type. It has a stone–coloured crackle glaze, overlaid with a brownish yellow enamel, a technique which is foreign to the Sung wares. Possibly one type of Sung mi sê was illustrated by the "shallow bowl with spout, of grey stoneware with opaque glaze of pale sulphur yellow," which Mr. Alexander exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910 (Cat. K. 18). Another kind is described by Bushell in the catalogue of the Morgan collection (p. 38) as follows: "Shallow bowl (wan). Greenish yellow crackled glaze of the Sung dynasty, leaving a bare ring at the bottom within. A specimen of ancient mi sê or millet–coloured crackle from the Kiang–hsi potteries. Formerly the possession of His Excellency Chang Yinhuan. D. 6 inches." Specimens of this type, with greenish and brownish yellow crackle glaze, have been found in Borneo, where they have been reputed to be of enormous age; there are several examples in the British Museum. The Hirth collection in the Gotha Museum includes four high–footed bowls of brownish yellow colour which seem to belong to this class.
[145] As explained in the T´ao lu (bk. ii., fol. 10 verso): "At Ching–tê Chên there is no special factory devoted to the imitation of Ko yao, but the manufacturers of crackled wares make it in addition to their own special line, and that is why they have the general name of Ko yao houses (Ko yao hu). Formerly, the manufacturers were acquainted with the origin of the word, but nowadays those who imitate Ko yao only copy a fixed model without knowing why it is called Ko yao."
[146] The Hsiang–hu wares were imitated at Ching–tê Chên in the Imperial factory about 1730. T´ang Ying himself gives the following note on them in the T´ao Ch´êng shih yü kao, written about this time: "Twenty li south–west of Ching–tê Chên is a waste place called Hsiang–hu Chinese characters, where there were formerly the foundations of Sung kilns. It used to be easy to find porcelain (tz´ŭ) fragments of old vessels and waste pieces. The material was very thin, and the ware was evidently millet–coloured (mi sê) and pale green (fên ch´ing)." The memoir of Chiang (1322) states that "the ware was beautiful and lustrous, but not greatly prized at that time." See T´ao lu, bk. viii., fol. 12, and bk. v., fol. 2. For Chi Chou ware, see p. 98.
[147] See Chinese, Corean, and Japanese Potteries, New York, Japan Society, 1914 No. 307.
[148] Bk. ii., fol. 4.
[149] Bk. vi., fol. 5 verso.
[151] See Burlington Magazine, May, 1909, "Wares of the Sung and Yüan Dynasties," Plate iii., fig. 11.
[152] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9.
[154] See T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 4. A factory of inferior reputation is supposed to have existed at the neighbouring village of Chin–ts´un (see Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 38). And the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 6) describes a factory at Li–shui Hsien in the Ch´u–chou district, whose productions were also known as Ch´u ware.
[155] In the T´u shu, bk. ccxlviii., section Tz´ŭ ch´i pu hui k´ao, fol. 13, we are told that the brothers Chang worked beneath the Han liu hill at Lung–ch´üan in the Sung and Yüan dynasties.
[156] T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 12 recto.
[157] Ts´ui has already been explained as meaning "kingfisher: a bird with bluish green plumage." That it also connotes the idea of a green colour is shown by the expression ts´ui yü, which is rendered in Giles's Dictionary, "emerald green jade."
[158] Author of the Ch´un fêng t´ang sui pi, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 12.
[159] Bk. vii., fol. 24 verso.
[160] Two examples in the Gotha Museum were figured in the Burlington Magazine, June, 1909, Plate iv.
[161] See T´ao lu, bk. iii., fol. 12 verso.
[162] Bk. vii., fol. 7 recto.
[163] Chinese characters
[164] T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 6.
[165] See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 31.
[166] See Bushell, Oriental Ceramic Art, p. 150.
[167] A large number of fragments and wasters, besides a few complete specimens, found on the site of these potteries, about 200 miles north of Bangkok, are now in the British Museum. The prevailing type of ware has grey porcellanous body and a thin transparent glaze of watery green celadon colour, often distinctly tinged with blue.
[168] Chinese characters See T´ao lu, vol. vi., fol. 3.
[169] Bk. vii., fol. 22.
[170] Chinese characters A phrase which the author of the T´ao lu considers to be a mistake for the homophone Chinese characters (tung yao or Eastern ware). He also quotes another misnomer for the ware, viz. Chinese characters tung ch´ing ch´i (winter green ware). This Tung ware is constantly alluded to in other works as tung ch´ing Chinese characters.
[171] Chinese characters lit. duplicated kingfisher green. Bushell, in his translation, renders it literally "kingfisher feathers in layers," a metaphor from the well–known jewellery with inlay of kingfisher feathers, which would suggest a turquoise tint. On the other hand, we find in Giles's Dictionary the phrase Chinese characters Yüan shan t´ieh ts´ui, "the distant hills rise in many green ranges" (the two forms of t´ieh being alternatives), a phrase recalling the "green of a thousand hills," which is used in reference to early green wares. See p. 16.
[172] Bk. ii., fol. 9.
[173] Bk. iii., fol. 12.
[174] Quoted from the Yün tsao (a selection of verses) in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 3.
[175] See Recueil des lettres édifiantes et curieuses. The above passage occurs in a long letter dated from Jao Chou, September 1st, 1712. See Bushell, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Appendix, p. 206.
[176] The only example which I have seen of an inlaid celadon which might be taken for Chinese is a dish in the Stübel Collection in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Dresden. It has a faint design, apparently inlaid, in a brownish colour.
[177] In the Oesterreichische Monatschrift, January, 1885, and succeeding numbers, A.B. Meyer's Alterthümer aus dem Ostindischen Archipel, etc. etc.
[178] The Chu fan chih, the author of which was Imperial inspector of foreign shipping, etc., in the province of Fukien. See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain: A Study in Chinese Mediæval Industry and Trade, Leipsig, 1888; and the translation of the Chu fan chih, published by Hirth and Rockhill, 1912.
[179] Where Marco Polo (see Yule, bk. ii., p. 218) states that "they make vessels of porcelain of all sizes, the finest that can be imagined ... and thence it is exported all over the world."
[180] See A.B. Meyer, op. cit.; Ling Roth, The Natives of Borneo; Carl Bock, Head Hunters of Borneo; Fay–Cooper Cole, Chinese Pottery in the Philippines, Chicago 1912.
[181] A thirteenth–century writer, one of whose works is translated by Barbier and Maynard, Dictionnaire Géographique de la Perse. See p. 240 of this book. Fragments of celadon porcelain were found on the ninth–century site of Samarra on the Euphrates. (See p. 148.)
[182] Much of the celadon found in Egypt would seem to be as late as the early part of the sixteenth century, to judge from the general name given to it by Egyptian merchants, "baba ghouri," after the sultan who reigned at that time.
[183] See E. Zimmermann in the Cicerone, III. Jahrgang, s. 496 ff.
[184] See Burlington Magazine, June, 1909, p. 164. Other pieces, apparently of Siamese make, have been found in Egypt, and it is most probable that Siamese celadons were shipped by the traders at Martaban in Pegu and sold by them along with the Chinese goods.
[185] See Catalogue of the Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1910, B. 27.
[186] See Cat. B.F.A., 1910, E 20, and Plate.
[187] See Chau Ju–kua (translated by Hirth and Rockhill), p. 9.
[188] See Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, op. cit., p. 4. The passage discovered by Hirth occurs in the T´ang pên ts´ao, the pharmacopœia of the T´ang dynasty, compiled about 650 A. D.
[189] See T´ao shuo, bk. ii., fol. 7 verso.
[190] See Ko ku yao lun, bk. vii., fol. 23. "Specimens with tear stains (lei hên) outside are genuine."
[191] The T'ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 13, quotes from T'ang shih ssŭ k'ao the following passage which bears on this point: "The Ting and Ju ware used by the Court generally have a copper band on the mouth. This was regarded as destroying their value. But modern collectors of Ting and Ju wares have come to regard the copper band on the mouth as a sign of genuineness. Dealers in curios declare it to be a sign of age."
[192] e.g. Po wu yao lan, T'ao lu, etc.
[193] Chinese character or Chinese characters. The word hua (lit. flowers) is used in the general sense of "ornament." The attempts of certain translators to confine it to the literal sense "flowers" has led to ridiculous results.
[195] An early eighteenth–century work, quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 11.
[196] See T´ao shuo, bk., ii., fol. 7.
[197] Bk. vii., fol. 23.
[198] The Memoir of Chiang (see p. 159), written in the Yüan dynasty, says that the "pure white ware of Ching–tê Chên in the Sung dynasty, when compared with the red porcelain (hung tz´ŭ) of Chên–ting and the Lung–ch´üan green ware, emulated these in beauty." Chên–ting is the Chên–ting Fu, the prefectural town of Ting Chou, and the ware indicated is no doubt Ting ware; but here the comparison clearly seems to be between white wares, and unless the word hung (red) applies to some variety of the Ting biscuit as distinct from the glaze, it is difficult to understand.
[199] Chinese character tzŭ, "purple or dark red brown," is, like most Chinese colour–words, a somewhat elastic term. The dictionary gives instances in which it is applied to "red sandal wood," "brown sugar," the ruby, the violet, and the peony.
[200] Op. cit., fig. 35.
[201] See p. 131. I have seen a single specimen of a bowl with carved design and creamy white glaze inside and all the appearances of a Ting ware, but coated on the exterior with a lustrous coffee brown monochrome. But without any other example to guide one's judgment, I should hesitate to say that this piece was older than the Ming dynasty.
[202] Hsü Tz´ŭ–shu, author of the Ch´a Su, a book on tea, quoted in the T´ao shuo, bk. v., fol. 15 verso.
[203] The potteries in the Chên–ting Fu district were active up to the end of the Ming dynasty, at any rate (see p. 199); and no doubt many of the coarse t´u ting specimens belong to the Ming period, but as their forms are archaic it is almost impossible nowadays to differentiate them.
[204] Julien, op. cit., p. 21, places this town in Kiang–nan, but this is clearly an error.
[205] In contrast with these there were specimens with "green mouth," ch´ing k´ou which were "wanting in richness and lustre."
[206] The date of Chou Tan–ch´üan is not given, but he is mentioned in the Ni ku lu, a mid–sixteenth–century work.
[207] A well–known type of bronze incense burner of the Shang dynasty. See the Shin sho sei, bk. i., fol. 2; and Hsiang's Album, fig. 1, where a Ting ware copy is illustrated.
[208] Julien, op. cit., pp. xxxiii.–xxxv.; the reference in the T´ao lu is bk. viii., fol. 5.
[210] Bk. ii., fol. 9 verso.
[211] The Liu ch´ing jih cha, written by T´ien Yi–hêng in the Ming dynasty.
[212] Chinese characters T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 9 verso. See also bk. ix., fol. 9, where the Ch´ing po tsa chih (1193 A. D.) is quoted as follows: "The wares used at the present day, which are made at So Chou and Ssŭ Chou, are not genuine Ting ware."
[213] Chinese characters T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 9 verso.
[214] Chinese characters T´ao lu, vol. vii., fol. 10 verso.
[215] F. Brinkley, Japan and China, vol. ix., p. 259.
[216] Nyo–fu is the Japanese name for Kiang–nan, the province of which Anhui forms a part.
[217] In the district of Hsiao Hsien, department of Hsü Chou. The ware is described in the T´ao lu (bk. vii., fol. 7) under the name Hsiao Chinese character yao.
[218] Chinese characters.
[219] Quoted in the T´ao lu, bk. ix., fol. 9.
[220] Chinese characters
[221] Chinese characters
[222] Bk. vi., fol. 23 verso. This account does not appear in the original edition, and was added in the later edition of 1459.
[223] Quoted in the T´ao shuo.
[224] Chinese character yu, which means "black," or "invisible blue or green."
[225] See Bushell, T´ao shuo, p. 48.
[226] "Have ornament."
[227] See Ko ku yao lun, loc. cit.
[228] Chinese characters T´ao lu, bk. vi., fol. 7 recto and verso.
[229] These must have resembled Ko yao. Hence, perhaps, the comparison in value between the fair Shu's ware and the Ko yao, p. 98.
[230] See T´ao lu, bk. vii., fol. 13 verso.
[232] For incidental reference to Tz´ŭ Chou vases and wine jars in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, see p. 128.
[233] See Bushell, O.C.A., p. 164.
[234] See Brinkley, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Arts, 1884; also Burlington Magazine, August, 1911, p. 264.