CHAPTER XVII
MOTIVES OF THE DECORATION
Chinese decoration, its motives and its meaning, might form the subject for a substantial and very interesting volume. But it can only be treated here in a summary fashion by enumerating a few of the motives which occur most frequently in porcelain. The designs on the earlier wares have already been discussed in the chapters dealing with the Ming and the preceding periods, but in view of the conservatism of the Chinese artists a certain amount of repetition will be inevitable in discussing the ornament of the Ch’ing dynasty porcelain.
If we except some of the hybrid designs on the export wares which were made for people unfamiliar with Chinese thought, we may assume that there is a meaning in all Chinese decoration apart from its ornamental intention; and this applies not only to the central motives but also as a rule to the subsidiary ornament such as borders and formal patterns. Consequently it is clear that a study of this inner meaning is a necessary condition for the full appreciation of the decorated porcelain.
Figure subjects and symbolical ornaments probably require the most explanation for the Western student; but unfortunately the former are often so difficult to identify that we have to be content with general headings such as court scenes, military scenes, dramatic subjects, illustrations of romance, etc. Possibly to the unusually well-read native most of these scenes would recall some known story, but the European can only hope to identify one here and there by a lucky chance. He can, of course, take a book of Chinese legends and by the exercise of a little imagination find a story for every scene; but such methods are not to be recommended, and it is infinitely preferable to give the design no label at all unless the identification is fully established. That at least leaves the question open.
[Illustration: Plate 133.--Late _famille rose_ Enamels.
Fig. 1.--Bowl painted in soft enamels, attendants of Hsi Wang Mu in boats. Mark, _Shên tè t’ang chih_. Tao Kuang period. Diameter 6⅞ inches. _British Museum._
Fig. 2.--Imperial Fish Bowl with five dragons ascending and descending, borders of wave pattern, _ju-i_ pattern, etc., _famille rose_ enamels. Late eighteenth century. Height 20 inches. _Burdett-Coutts Collection._]
[Illustration: Plate 134.--Porcelain Snuff Bottles. Eighteenth Century. _British Museum._
Fig. 1.--Subject from the drama, black ground. Yung Chêng mark. Height 2¾ inches.
Fig. 2.--Battle of demons, underglaze blue and red. Mark, _Yung-lo t’ang_. Height 3¾ inches.
Fig. 3.--Blue and white “steatitic” ware. Height 2½ inches.
Fig. 4.--Crackled cream white _ting_ glaze, pierced casing with pine, bamboo and prunus. Height 3¼ inches.
Fig. 5.--“Steatitic” ware with Hundred Antiques design in coloured relief. Chia Ch’ing mark. Height 2½ inches.]
These scenes from history and romance were favourite subjects with the K’ang Hsi decorators of blue and white and _famille verte_ porcelains. To instance a few types: the scene of the half-legendary Yao with his cavalcade coming to greet the Emperor Shun who is engaged, like the Roman Cincinnatus, in ploughing; the episodes of the three heroes of the Han dynasty, Chang Liang, Ch’ên P’ing and Han Hsin[493]; the heroes of the romantic period of the Three Kingdoms (221–265 A.D.) whose stories may be compared with those of our knights of the Round Table; the stories of brigands in the reign of Hui Tsung of the Sung dynasty.[494] The story of Su Wu, the faithful minister of Han Wu Ti, tending cattle in captivity among the Hiung-nu, is depicted on a bowl in the British Museum, and a dish in the same collection shows an emperor (perhaps Kao Tsu, the first of the T’ang dynasty) surrounded by his captains.
Processional scenes and subjects illustrating the life and customs of the times, peaceful domestic scenes with interiors of house or garden peopled by women and children, are more common in the _famille rose_ period when the warlike tastes of the Manchus had already been softened by a long period of peace. A civil procession and a military procession sometimes balance each other on two vases, the one being the _wên p’ing_ (civil vase), and the other the _wu p’ing_ (military vase). A mock dragon-procession formed by children at play is a not uncommon motive. Indeed playing children (_wa wa_) have been from the earliest times a subject frequently and most sympathetically depicted on Chinese porcelain. A historical child-scene is that in which the boy Ssŭ-ma Kuang broke the huge fish bowl with a stone to let out the water and save his drowning companion.
There are many motives intended to appeal to the Chinese literatus, and specially suited to ornament the furniture of the writing table. Symposia of literary personages, for instance, make an appropriate design for a brush pot, or again, the meeting of the celebrated coteries, the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove who lived in the third century, and the worthies of the Orchid Pavilion, including the famous calligrapher, Wang Hsi-chih, who met in the fourth century to drink wine, cap verses, and set their cups floating down the “nine-bend river” (see Plate 104, Fig. 1). The Horace of China, Li T’ai-po, the great T’ang poet, is represented in drunken slumber leaning against an overturned wine jar or receiving the ministrations of the Emperor and his court. He also figures among the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup, a suitable subject for an octagonal bowl. Poets, painters, and sages are often seen in mountain landscapes contemplating the beauties of Nature; two sages meeting on a mountain side is a frequent subject and is known as the “happy meeting,” or again, it is a single sage, with attendant carrying a bowl, book, and fan, or sometimes bringing an offering of a goose. In rare instances these figures can be identified with Chinese worthies such as Chiang Tzŭ-ya, who sits fishing on a river bank, or Chu Mai-ch’ên, the wood-cutter, reading as he walks with his faggots on his back.
The stories of the _Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety_ provide a complete series of popular subjects, which may be seen in the panels of Plate 91, Fig. 3. Women are represented by the Virtuous Heroines; by celebrated beauties such as Yang Kuei-fei, consort of the T’ang ruler Ming Huang,[495] and Hsi Shih, the Chinese Delilah who was the undoing of Fu Ch’ai, prince of Wu, in the fifth century B.C.; by the poetess Tan Hui-pan, and by a hundred nameless figures which occur in genre designs, and by the idealised beauties, _mei jên_ (graceful ladies), which the Dutch ungallantly dubbed with the name of _lange lijsen_ or long Elizas. The domestic occupations of a lady form another series of subjects for polygonal vessels; and women are sometimes seen engaged in the Four Subjects of Study--Poetry, Rites, History, and Music--or in the Four Liberal Accomplishments--Writing, Painting, Music, and Checkers--but the groups who make up these scenes are more often composed of men. The game of checkers or _gô_, which is so often loosely rendered chess,[496] is _wei ch’i_ the “surrounding game,” a favourite Chinese amusement, which figures in two well-known subjects of porcelain decoration. One of these is the legend of Wang Chih, the Taoist patriarch, watching the game played by two old men, the spirits of the Pole Stars, in a mountain retreat; the other is the story of the general Hsieh An, who refused to allow the news of an important victory to disturb his game.
Ladies of the court picking lotus flowers from boats on an ornamental lake in the presence of the Emperor and Empress represent the annual Lotus Fête at Peking, and there are numerous scenes in the Imperial pleasure grounds in which bevies of ladies from the harem are depicted.
The Eight Ambassadors of the Tribes of Man, the barbarian nations from the eight points of the compass, form a processional subject suitable for the exterior of bowls and cups. The ambassadors are grotesquely drawn figures, sometimes mounted on strange beasts, and carrying gifts as tribute to the Emperor. Dreams and visions are depicted in the usual Oriental manner by a cloud issuing from the dreamer’s head and expanding into a scene which represents the subject of the dream. Thus the youthful scholar is seen asleep with a vision of his future dignity floating above his head. Divine apparitions are differentiated by the presence of clouds around or below the main figures.
Deities and deified mortals are favourite subjects for porcelain decoration as well as for figures and groups modelled in the round. The three principal Chinese religions--Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism--exist side by side with perfect mutual toleration. Indeed the principles of the one are in many cases incorporated in the others. Buddhist and Taoist emblems are freely mingled in decorative art, and the three founders--Confucius, Buddha, and Lao-tzŭ--are grouped together in friendly conversation or examining a scroll on which is drawn the Yin-yang symbol of the duality of Nature.[497]
Confucianism is the religious or rather philosophical system officially recognised in China, but its adherents are chiefly among the literati. Though it inculcates ancestor-worship, it is not in itself concerned with an after life, and it contains few romantic superstitions calculated to fire the popular imagination or to suggest motives for decorative art. Confucius himself is frequently represented both in painting and sculpture, and his meeting with Lao-tzŭ is familiar in pictorial art. Confucianism recognises certain canonised mortals, the logical outcome of ancestor-worship, and among these the best known in art is Kuan Yü, a warrior famous at the end of the Han dynasty, who was not, however, canonised until the Sung period, and only in 1594 raised to the rank of a god (of War) under the title of Kuan Ti. It is reasonable to suppose that most of the numerous statuettes of this popular deity were made after the latter date. He is usually represented as a dignified personage with flowing beard seated in full armour with right hand raised in a speaking attitude; but he figures also on horseback or beside his charger, and with his faithful squires--Chou Ts’ang, who carries a halberd, and Kuan P’ing, his own son. Occasionally he is seen seated with a book in his hand, in which case he is regarded as a literary rather than a military power.
The gods of Literature have a very large following in China, where scholarship has been the key to office for upwards of two thousand years, the chief deity of the cult being Wên Ch’ang, or in full, Wên Ch’ang ti chün. He is the star god who resides in one of the groups of the Great Bear, a dignified bearded figure in mandarin dress seated with folded hands or mounted on a mule. A lesser but more popular divinity is the demon-faced K’uei Hsing, who was canonised in the fourteenth century. Originally a scholar, who though successful in the examinations was refused office on the ground of his preternatural ugliness, he threw himself in despair into the Yangtze and was carried up to heaven on a fish-dragon. He is easily recognised as a demon-like person, poised with one foot on the head of a fish-dragon (_yü lung_) which is emerging from waves. He brandishes triumphantly in his hands a pencil brush and a cake of ink.[498] The fish-dragon is itself a symbol of literary aspiration, from the legend that when the salmon come every year up the river to the famous falls of Lung-mên (the dragon gate), those which succeed in leaping up the falls are transformed into fish-dragons. This metamorphosis of the fish as it emerges from the water into the dragon is a favourite motive for porcelain decoration.
Buddhism, which was officially recognised in China by the Emperor Ming Ti in 67 A.D., had a far-reaching influence over the arts of sculpture and painting, and the revolution which it worked in the greater arts was naturally reflected in the lesser handicrafts. Buddhistic motives appear early in the Chinese pottery, and in the period with which we are at present concerned, the Buddhist religion supplied a great number of motives for the porcelain painter and the figure modeller. Sakyamuni himself is depicted or sculptured in various poses: (1) As an infant standing on the lotus and proclaiming his birth; (2) as an ascetic returning from his fast in the mountains; (3) seated cross-legged on a lotus throne with right hand raised in teaching attitude, the most frequent representation; (4) recumbent on a lotus pillow, in Nirvana; (5) in the Buddhist Trinity holding the alms bowl or patra between the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra. These two last when represented singly are usually mounted, Manjusri on a lion, and Samantabhadra on an elephant.
But by far the most popular figure of the Buddhist theogony in China is Kuan-yin, the Compassionate, and Kuan-yin, the Maternal; in the latter capacity she holds a child in her arms and displays a wonderful likeness to our images of the Virgin. But a full account of her has been given on p. 110, and need not be repeated. Next in popularity perhaps is the jolly monk with the hempen bag, Pu-tai Ho-shang, a semi-nude, corpulent person, with smiling face, and a large bag full of the “precious things.” He is also a great favourite in Japan, where he is known as Hotei, and worshipped as the god of Contentment. By the Chinese he is also regarded as Mi-lo Fo, the Maitreya or coming Buddha, and he has been added by them to the list of Arhats or apostles of Buddha. He is often represented surrounded by playful children to whom he is devoted.
The Arhats, or Lohan, are all known by their several attributes, but in porcelain decoration they usually appear in groups consisting of the whole or a large part of their number, which, originally sixteen, was increased in China to eighteen by the inclusion of Ho-shang and Dharmatrata. The latter is a long-haired individual who carries a vase and a fly whisk in his hands and a bundle of books on his back while he sits gazing at a small image of Buddha.
He is not to be confused with Tamo, the Indian Bodhidharma, the first Chinese patriarch, who came to Lo-yang and remained there in contemplation for nine years. The legend is that after his death (about 530 A.D.) he was seen returning to India wrapped in his shroud and carrying one shoe in his hand, the other having been left behind in his tomb. This is the guise in which he frequently appears in art (Plate 86), and he is often depicted crossing the Yangtze on a reed.
Many of the symbolical ornaments on porcelain have a Buddhistic significance, such as the eight emblems (see p. 298), the crossed dorjes or thunderbolts of Vajrapani,[499] the Buddhist jewel in a leaf-shaped halo of flames; and Sanskrit characters of sacred import are used as decoration for bowls and dishes, made no doubt for the use of the faithful. The principal animals associated with Buddhist designs are the elephant, who carries the jewel vase on his back, the white horse (_pai ma_), who brought the Buddhist scriptures across the desert from India, the hare, who offered himself as food to Buddha, and the Chinese lion who, under the name of the “dog of Fo” (Buddha), acts as guardian of Buddhist temples and images.
But the religion which has taken the greatest hold on Chinese imagination and which consequently has supplied the largest number of motives for their decorative art is undoubtedly Taoism. As originally taught by Lao-tzŭ, a contemporary of Confucius, in the sixth century B.C., the doctrine of Tao (the Way) pointed to abstraction from worldly cares and freedom from mental perturbation as the highest good. But just as the later but closely analogous doctrine of Epicurus degenerated into the cult of pleasure, so the true teaching of Lao-tzŭ was afterwards lost among the adventitious beliefs and superstitions which were grafted on to it by his followers. The secret of transmuting metals into gold and of compounding the elixir of life became the chief preoccupations of the Taoist sages, the latter quest appealing
## particularly to the Chinese with their proverbial worship of longevity;
and a host of legends grew up concerning mortals who won immortality by discovering the elixir, about fairies and the denizens of the Shou Shan or Hills of Longevity, about the Isles of the Blessed and the palace of Hsi Wang Mu in the K’un-lun mountains. It is this later and more popular phase of Taoism which figures so largely in porcelain decoration.
Lao-tzŭ is represented as a venerable old man with bald, protuberant forehead, who rides upon an ox, the same in features as the god of Longevity, Shou Lao, who is in fact regarded as his disembodied spirit. Shou Lao, however, is more commonly shown enthroned upon a rocky platform in the Hills of Longevity, holding in one hand a curious knotted staff, to which are attached rolls of writing, and in the other a peach, and surrounded by his special attributes, the spotted deer, the stork, and the _ling chih_ fungus. Thus seated he receives homage from the Eight Immortals and the other Taoist genii or _hsien_, who are as numerous as the fairies of our countryside. Other designs represent Shou Lao riding on a deer or flying on the back of a stork, or simply standing with his staff and peach, his robes embroidered with seal forms of the character _shou_ (longevity). In this last posture he is often grouped with two other popular deities, one in mandarin robes and official hat holding a _ju-i_ sceptre, which fulfils every wish, and the other also in official robes but holding a babe who reaches out for a peach in his other hand. Together they form the Taoist triad, Shou-hsing, Lu-hsing, and Fu-hsing, star-gods (_hsing_) of Longevity, Preferment, and Happiness. Fu-hsing in addition has sometimes two boy attendants carrying respectively a lotus and a hand-organ.
The Eight Taoist Immortals (_pa hsien_) are:--
1. Chung-li Ch’üan, also known as Han Chung-li, represented as a fat man, half-draped, who holds a _ling chih_ fungus in one hand and a fly-whisk or fan in the other.
2. Lü Tung-pin, a figure of martial aspect armed with a sword to slay dragons and evil spirits. He is the patron of barbers.
3. Li T’ieh-kuai, Li with the iron crutch, a lame beggar with a crutch and pilgrim’s gourd from which issue clouds and apparitions. He is patron of astrologers and magicians.
4. Ts’ao Kuo-ch’iu, in official robes, wearing a winged hat, and carrying a pair of castanets. He is patron of mummers and actors.
5. Lan Ts’ai-ho, of uncertain sex, carrying a hoe and a basket of flowers. Patron of gardeners and florists.
6. Chang Kuo Lao, the necromancer with the magic mule, of which he kept a picture folded up in his wallet. He would make the beast materialise from the picture by spurting water on to it; and at other times he would conjure it out of a gourd. His attribute is a musical instrument consisting of a drum and a pair of rods. He is patron of artists and calligraphers, and ranks as one of the gods of Literature.
7. Han Hsiang Tzŭ, who gained admission to the Taoist paradise and climbed the peach-tree of Immortality. He is shown as a young man playing on a flute, and is specially worshipped by musicians.
8. Ho Hsien Ku, a maiden who wears a cloak of mug-wort leaves and carries a lotus. She is patroness of housewives.
The Immortals are commonly represented in a group paying court to Shou Lao, or crossing the sea on the backs of various strange creatures or other supernatural conveyances on their way to the Islands of Paradise. Grouped in pairs they lend themselves to the decoration of quadrangular objects.
Other frequenters of the Shou Shan are the twin genii[500] of Union and Harmony (_ho ho êrh hsien_), an inseparable pair, depicted as ragged mendicants with staff and broom, or as smiling boyish figures, the one with a lotus and the other holding a Pandora box of blessings, from which a cloud is seen to rise; Tung-fang So, who stole the peaches of Hsi Wang Mu and acquired thereby a longevity of nine thousand years, is represented as a smiling bearded old man, not unlike Shou Lao himself, carrying an enormous peach, or as a boy with a peach to recall his youthful exploit. Liu Han, with his familiar three-legged toad, a wild-looking person, who waves a string of cash in the air, and very closely resembles the Japanese Gama Sennin (the Hou Hsien Shêng of China); Wang Tzŭ-ch’iao, who rides on a crane playing a flute, and Huang An, the hermit, whose steed is a tortoise. The god of Alchemy is figured, according to the identification of a statuette in the Musée Guimet, as a tall, draped person with beard and moustaches flowing down in five long wisps, a leaf-shaped fan in his left hand, and beside him a small figure of a devotee who holds up a book with questioning gesture.
The Queen of the Genii is Hsi Wang Mu (Queen Mother of the West). Her home is in the K’un-lun mountains, and the peach tree of Longevity grows in her gardens. In the tenth century B.C., the Emperor Mu Wang is reputed to have visited her palace, and the reception forms a pleasing subject for the artist, as does also her return visit paid to the Emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty. She also figures frequently on porcelain with her fair attendants crossing the sea on a raft, flying on the back of a phœnix or standing with a female attendant who carries a dish of peaches. Her messengers are blue-winged birds like the doves of Venus, who carry the fruit of longevity to favoured beings. With her attendant phœnix she presents a strong analogy with Juno and her peacock; and her Western habitat has favoured the theories which would connect her with Græco-Roman mythology, though her consort Hsi Wang Fu (King Father of the West and a personage obviously invented _ad hoc_) is quite insignificant and has nothing in common with the cloud-compelling Jove.
There is a female figure which is scarcely distinguishable from one of the attendants of Hsi Wang Mu on the one hand and from Lan Ts’ai-ho on the other. This is the Flower Fairy (_Hua hsien_) who carries a basket of flowers suspended from a hoe. And there are besides numerous magicians of more or less repute, such as Chang Chiu-ko, who is seen transforming pieces cut from his scanty garments into butterflies; and a host of nameless _hsien_ of local fame who figure in mountain retreats, such as the _Ssŭ hao_ or four hoary hermits.[501]
The animals connected with Taoist lore include the eight fabulous horses of Mu Wang which brought him to the palace of Hsi Wang Mu. They are usually seen at pasture frisking about in wild gambols. The deer, the familiar of Shou Lao, is depicted usually with a _ling chih_ fungus in his mouth; the toad and hare live in the moon where they pound the elixir of immortality; and the tortoise develops a long bushy tail after a thousand years of existence. All these are suggestive of longevity, as is also the crane and a number of flowers, fruits and trees such as the pine, bamboo and prunus (the three friends), the chrysanthemum, the willow, the peach, the gourd, and more especially the _ling chih_ fungus, the _polyporus lucidus_, which was originally an emblem of good luck, but afterwards of longevity.
The head of the _ling chih_ closely resembles[502] that of the familiar _ju-i_ sceptre which grants every wish, an auspicious object commonly seen in the hands of Taoist genii; and the same form occurs in a decorative border (see Plate 77, Fig. 2) which is variously known as the _ju-i_ head border, the _ju-i_ cloud border, or the cloud-scroll border, the conventional cloud being commonly rolled up in this form. It will also be found that formal ornaments, pendants and lambrequins often take the form of the _ju-i_ head in Chinese decoration.
The attributes of the Eight Immortals occur among the many symbols used in porcelain ornament; and among the landscapes will be found the gardens of Hsi Wang Mu and Mount P’êng-lai,[503] one of the three islands of the blessed, situated in the ocean east of China. Here the fountain of life flows in a perpetual stream: “the pine, the bamboo, the plum, the peach, and the fungus of longevity grow for ever on its shores; and the long-haired tortoise disports in its rocky inlets, and the white crane builds her nest on the limbs of its everlasting pines.”[504] Presumably, too, the Shou Shan is situated on this delectable island; and perhaps also the heavenly pavilion (_t’ien t’ang_), which appears among clouds as the goal to which a crane is often seen guiding some of the Taoist genii. Possibly, too, the conventional border of swirling waves punctuated by conical rocks carries a suggestion of the rocky islands of paradise rising from the sea.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.--The Yin-yang and Pa-kua]
There are besides many primitive beliefs traceable for the most part to Nature-worship, which prevailed in China long before the days of Confucius, Lao-tzŭ or Buddha. Some of these have been incorporated in the later religious systems, especially in that of Taoism, which was ready to adopt any form of demonology. The oldest system is that expounded by the legendary Fu Hsi, in which the phenomena of Nature were explained by reference to the mystic diagrams revealed to him on the back of a dragon horse (_lung ma_) which rose from the Yellow River. These are the _pa-kua_ or eight trigrams formed by the permutations of three lines, broken and unbroken, as in Fig. 1. A more common arrangement of them is according to the points of the compass, and enclosing another ancient device, the Yin-yang, a circle bisected by a wavy line, which symbolises the duality of Nature, _yin_ being the female and _yang_ the male element.
Demons abound in Chinese superstitions, and the demon face appears early in art on the ancient bronzes, from which it was sometimes borrowed by the porcelain decorator. This is the face of the _t’ao t’ieh_ (the gluttonous ogre) supposed originally to have represented the demon of the storm, and as such appropriately appearing against a background of “cloud and thunder” pattern, as the key-fret is called by the Chinese. Afterwards the _t’ao t’ieh_ seems to have been regarded, on homœopathic principles, as a warning against greed. Demons also appear in complete form in certain battle scenes and conflicts, such as the combat of the demons of the water and of air which proceeds in front of a group of Chinese dignitaries seated in the Kin-shan temple on the Yangtze river (see Plate 134, Fig. 2).
The sky and the stars of course contribute their quota of divinities. Beside the Taoist star-gods of Longevity, Honours and Happiness, there is the Jade Emperor or supreme lord of the universe, Yü wang shang ti, who is represented in mandarin dress holding a _ju-i_ sceptre and closely resembling Lu Hsing, the star-god of Honours. There is, too, the goddess of the Moon with a butterfly ornamenting the front of her robes, and a mirror in her right hand, besides the other denizens of the moon--Liu Han, the moon-hare and the moon-toad. A cassia tree also grows in the moon, and the “cassia of the moon” is a symbol of literary success.
The Sun is represented as a disc on which is a three-legged bird; and it is probable that the sun-disc is represented also in the so-called “pearl”[505] which is pursued or grasped by dragons; but this idea of the power of the storm threatening the sun was lost sight of in later art, and “a dragon pursuing a pearl” was considered a sufficient description of the motive. A curious scene depicting a mandarin shooting arrows at a dog in the sky alludes to the dog who devours the sun and so causes the eclipse.
The zodiacal animals are named on p. 211 (vol. i), and the four points of the compass are symbolised by the azure dragon for the East, the white tiger for the West, the black tortoise for the North, and the red bird for the South. The romance of two stars is embodied in the story of the Spinning Maiden (_Chih Nü_) and her lover, the Cowherd (_Ch’ien Niu_), who are separated for all the year save on one night when the “magpies fill up the Milky Way and enable the Spinning Damsel to cross over.”
Chang Ch’ien, the celebrated minister of Han Wu-ti, was one of the first great travellers of China, and among the legends which grew around his exploits is one which makes him ascend the Milky Way and meet the Spinning Damsel herself. This story arose because he was reputed to have discovered the source of the Yellow River, which had hitherto been supposed to rise in heaven, being in fact a continuation of the Milky Way. Chang Ch’ien is sometimes represented in Chinese art as floating on a log-raft on the Yellow River, and carrying in his hand a shuttle given to him by the Spinning Maiden.[506] The poet Li T’ai-po is also figured in the same kind of craft, but he is distinguished by a
## book in place of the shuttle.
Motives borrowed from the animal world are frequent on porcelain, though they represent to a large extent mythical creatures, first and foremost of which is the dragon. We need not enter into the conflicting theories as to the origin of the Chinese dragon. Whether he sprang from some prehistoric monster whose remains had come to light, or was evolved from the crocodile, he appears in any case to have belonged to Nature-worship as the power of the storm and the bringer of fertilising rain. There, are, however, various kinds of dragons--those of the air, the sea, the earth--and the monster takes many different forms in Chinese art. The archaic types borrowed by the porcelain decorators from ancient bronzes and jades are the _k’uei lung_ [chch 2] or one-legged dragon, and the _ch’ih lung_ [chch 2], the former a tapir-like creature which is said to have been, like the _t’ao t’ieh_, a warning against greed,[507] the latter a smooth, hornless reptile of lizard-like form with divided tail, who is also described as a _mang_.
But the dragon (_lung_) _par excellence_ is a formidable monster with “bearded, scowling head, straight horns, a scaly, serpentine body, with four feet armed with claws, a line of bristling dorsal spines, and flames proceeding from the hips and shoulders.” Such is the creature painted by the great master of dragon painting, Chang Sêng-yu, of the sixth century, and as such he is the emblem of Imperial power and the device of the Emperor. The Imperial dragon in the art of the last two dynasties has been distinguished by five claws on each of his four feet[508]; the four-clawed dragon was painted on wares destined for personages of lesser rank. The dragons are usually depicted flying in clouds, and pursuing the disc or pearl, which was discussed above, or rising from waves. Nine dragons form a decoration specially reserved for the Emperor; and on the palace porcelain the dragon and the phœnix (_fêng_) frequently appear together as emblems of the Emperor and Empress.
The _fêng-huang_,[509] a phœnix-like bird, is usually shown with the “head of a pheasant and the beak of a swallow, a long flexible neck, plumage of many gorgeous colours, a flowing tail between that of an argus pheasant and a peacock, and long claws pointed backward as it flies.” It is the special emblem of the Empress. In archaic designs there is a _k’uei fêng_ or one-legged phœnix, a bird-like creature terminating in scrolls, which, like the corresponding _k’uei lung_, occasionally appears in porcelain designs. Another bird-like creature scarcely distinguishable from the _fêng_ is the _luan_; the former being based, as it is said, on the peacock of India, and the latter on the argus pheasant. Another creature of dual nature is the _ch’i lin_, commonly called the kylin, which consists of the male (_ch’i_) and the female (_lin_). It is in itself a composite animal with the “body of a deer, with the slender legs and divided hoofs; the head resembles that of a dragon, the tail is curled and bushy, like that of the conventional lion, and the shoulders are adorned with the flame-like attributes of its divine nature. It is said to attain the age of a thousand years, to be the noblest form of animal creation, and the emblem of perfect good; and to tread so lightly as to leave no footprints, and so carefully as to crush no living creature.” Its appearance was the sign of the coming of a virtuous ruler. It is important to note that the _ch’i lin_ is quite distinct from the Chinese lion, and is also to be carefully separated from the other chimera-like creatures known in Chinese art under the general title _hai shou_ or sea monsters.
The lion in Chinese art (_shih_ or _shih tzŭ_, the Japanese _shishi_), though of qualified ferocity in appearance, is in reality a peaceful, docile creature who expends his energy on a ball of silk brocade, the streamers from which he holds in his massive jaws. In general aspect (Plate 95), in his tufts of hair and his bushy tail, he closely resembles the Peking spaniel, who is in fact called after him the lion dog (_shih tzŭ kou_). He is usually represented in pairs, the one with one foot on a ball of brocade, and the other, presumably the lioness, with a cub. The larger lion figures are placed as guardians by the gates of Buddhist temples, from which function the lion has earned the name of “dog of Fo” (i.e. Buddha); the smaller sizes, usually mounted on an oblong base with a tube attached to hold an incense-stick, have a place on the domestic altar. Another mythical creature not unlike the lion is the _pi hsieh_ of archaic art which is supposed to ward off evil spirits.[510]
The king of beasts in China is the tiger (_hu_), whose forehead is marked by Nature with the character _wang_ [chch] (prince). He is the solar animal, the lord of the mountains, and the chief of all quadrupeds. The white tiger represents the western quadrant and the autumn; and images of tigers in ancient times served many purposes, such as guarding the graves of the dead and summoning the living to battle.
In addition to the sea monsters there are sea horses, who speed at a flying gallop over waves; and there are the _pai ma_ and _lung ma_ and the eight horses of Mu Wang, already described, to represent the horse in art. The deer is a Taoist emblem of longevity, and also in its name _lu_ suggests the auspicious word _lu_ (preferment); and there is a fabulous one-horned creature distinct from the _ch’i lin_, and known as the _t’ien lu_ or deer of heaven. Rams are sometimes represented as personifying the revivifying powers of spring; and the monkey occasionally figures in decoration, his name _hou_ suggesting another word _hou_, which means to expect (office), and providing an appropriate design for presentation to a candidate in the State examinations. Another motive suitable for the same purpose is the fish leaping from waves, which has been already explained; and fish in general are cleverly depicted by the porcelain decorators swimming among water plants. The fish has always been a favourite motive in China, and in ancient art it appears to have symbolised power and rank. The double fish is one of the Buddhist emblems, and also symbolises conjugal felicity. The tortoise has already been mentioned among the emblems of longevity.
Birds are drawn with wonderful skill and spirit by Chinese artists, and they provide a frequent motive both for the painter and figure modeller. The crane is the companion of Shou Lao and a symbol of long life; a pair of mandarin ducks suggest conjugal affection; egrets among lotus plants, geese, and wild duck in marshy landscapes also pleased the Chinese fancy. The magpie is an emblem of happiness, and two magpies foretell a happy meeting; the cock is the bird of fame, and he is often associated with the peony, which is the _fu kuei_ flower, to suggest the phrase _kung ming_ (fame), _fu kuei_ (riches and honours!). There are other birds which are associated with special trees and flowers; the pheasant is often seen perched on a rock beside the peony and magnolia; partridges and quails go with millet; swallows with the willow; sparrows on the prunus, and so on. A comprehensive group represents the “hundred birds” paying court to the phœnix.
The bat is a symbol of happiness from its name _fu_ having the same sound as _fu_ (happiness). Among insects, the cicada (at one time regarded as a symbol of life renewed after death) is a very ancient motive; and the praying mantis who catches the cicada is an emblem of courage and perseverance.[511] Fighting crickets are the fighting cocks of China, and supply a sporting motive for the decorator; and butterflies frequently occur with floral designs or in the decoration known as the Hundred Butterflies, which covers the entire surface of the vessel with butterflies and insects.
Flower painting is another forte of the Chinese decorator, and some of the most beautiful porcelain designs are floral. Conventional flowers appear in scrolls, and running designs, especially the lotus and peony scrolls and the scrolls of “fairy flowers,” the _pao hsiang hua_ of the Ming blue and white. But the most attractive designs are the more naturalistic pictures of flowering plants and shrubs, or of floral bouquets in baskets or vases. The flowers on Chinese porcelain are supple, free, and graceful; and, though true enough to nature to be easily identified, are never of the stiff copy-book order which the European porcelain painter affected at one unhappy period. A long list of the Chinese porcelain flowers given by Bushell includes the orchid (_lan_), rose, jasmine, olea fragrans, pyrus japonica, gardenia, syringa, several kinds of peony, magnolia (_yü lan_), iris, hydrangea, hibiscus, begonia, pink and water fairy flower (_narcissus tazetta_). Many more no doubt can be identified, for the Chinese are great cultivators as they are great lovers of flowers. In fact, the word _hua_ [chch] flowery is synonymous with Chinese, and _chung hua_ [chch 2] is China. Plate 126 is an example of the Hundred Flower design, known by the French name _mille fleurs_, in which the ground of the vase is a mass of naturalistic flowers so that the porcelain looks like a bouquet.
There are special flowers for the months[512]:--(1) Peach (_t’ao_) for February, (2) Tree Peony (_mu tan_) for March, (3) Double Cherry (_ying t’ao_) for April, (4) Magnolia (_yü lan_) for May, (5) Pomegranate (_shih liu_) for June, (6) Lotus (_lien hua_) for July, (7) Pear (_hai t’ang_) for August, (8) Mallow (_ch’iu k’uei_) for September, (9) Chrysanthemum (_chü_) for October, (10) Gardenia (_chih hua_) for November, (11) Poppy (_ying su_) for December, (12) Prunus (_mei hua_) for January. From these are selected four to represent the seasons--_mu-tan_ peony for spring, lotus for summer, chrysanthemum for autumn, and prunus for winter--which supply charming motives for panel decoration or for the sides of quadrangular vases.
The chrysanthemum besides is associated with its admirer T’ao Yüan-ming, and the lotus with Chou Mao-shu and the poet Li T’ai-po. But as a rule the floral designs carry some hidden meaning, the flowers being grouped so as to suggest some felicitous phrase by a play on their names.[513] The peony we have seen to be the _fu kuei_ (riches and honours) flower; the chrysanthemum, as Dr. Laufer has suggested, being the flower of the ninth (_chiu_) month, may connote longevity through the word _chiu_ (long-enduring); the prunus (_mei hua_) carries the obvious suggestion of _mei_ (beautiful), and instances might easily be multiplied.
Among the trees, the cassia suggests literary honours, the willow longevity, as also the pine, bamboo and plum, who are called the “three friends,”[514] faithful even in the “winter of our discontent.” Among the fruits the gourd is an emblem both of long life and of fertility, and the three fruits (_san kuo_)--peach, pomegranate and finger citron--symbolise the Three Abundances of Years, Sons and Happiness. The orange is a symbol of good luck, and no doubt the others which occur less frequently contain similar suggestions.
Landscape (_shan shui_) is one of the four main divisions of Chinese pictorial art, and it is well represented in porcelain decoration. The Sung and Ming masters provided designs which were freely copied, and views of the beauty spots of China and of the celebrated parks and pleasure grounds were frequently used. It is one of these landscapes which the English potters borrowed for the familiar “willow pattern” design, and the sentimental tale which some fanciful writer has attached to the pattern is a mere afterthought. Figure subjects and landscapes are combined in many designs, such as the meeting of sages, romantic incidents, besides the more homely motives of field work, fishing, rustics returning from the plough mounted on their oxen, and the like. The four seasons, too, are represented in landscape with appropriate accessories, such as blossoming peach trees in a mountain scene for spring, a lake scene with lotus gatherers for summer, a swollen river and autumn tints for autumn, and a snowstorm for winter.
A great variety of symbols and emblematical devices appear in the porcelain decoration of all periods, whether interwoven with the designs, grouped in panels, or placed under the base in lieu of a mark. Bushell[515] classifies the most familiar of them under the following headings:--
1. Symbols of Ancient Chinese Lore: _Pa-kua_ and _Yin-yang_ (see p. 290); _Pa yin_ (eight musical instruments); _Shih êrh chang_ (twelve ornaments embroidered upon sacrificial robes).
2. Buddhist symbols: _Pa chi hsiang_ (eight emblems of happy augury). _Ch’i pao_ (seven paraphernalia of the _chakravartin_ or universal sovereign).
3. Taoist symbols: _Pa an hsien_ (attributes of the Eight Immortals).
4. The Hundred Antiques (_Po ku_). _Pa pao_ (the Eight Precious Objects).
The _pa-kua_ (eight trigrams) and the _Yin-yang_ symbol of the duality of Nature have been described. The eight musical instruments are: (1) _Ch’ing_, the sounding stone, a sort of gong usually in form of a mason’s square. It forms a rebus for _ch’ing_ (good luck). (2) _Chung_, the bell. (3) _Ch’in_, the lute. (4) _Ti_, the flute. (5) _Chu_, the box, with a metal hammer inside. (6) _Ku_, the drum. (7) _Shêng_, the reed organ. (8) _Hsüan_, the ocarina, a cone with six holes.
The twelve _chang_ or ancient embroidery ornaments are: (1) _Jih_, the Sun, a disc in which is a three-legged bird, and sometimes, the character _jih_ [chch]. (2) _Yüeh_, the moon; a disc with hare, toad and cassia tree, and sometimes the character _yüeh_ [chch]. (3) _Hsing ch’ên_, the stars: represented by three stars connected by straight lines. (4) _Shan_, mountains. (5) _Lung_, dragons. (6) _Hua ch’ung_, the “flowery creature,” the pheasant. (7) _Tsung yi_, the temple vessels: one with a tiger design and the other with a monkey. (8) _Tsao_, aquatic grass. (9) _Huo_, fire. (10) _Fên mi_, grains of rice. (11) _Fu_, an axe. (12) _Fu_, a symbol of distinction[516] (see vol. i., p. 227).
The Eight Happy Omens (_pa chi hsiang_) were among the signs on the sole of Buddha’s foot. They are usually drawn with flowing fillets attached (Fig. 2), and they are as follows: (1) _Lun_, the wheel or chakra, sometimes replaced by the bell (_chung_). (2) _Lo_, the shell. (3) _San_, the State umbrella. (4) _Kai_, the canopy. (5) _Hua_, the (lotus) flower. (6) _P’ing_, the vase. (7) _Yü_, the fish; a pair of them.[517] (8) _Ch’ang_, the angular knot representing the entrails; an emblem of longevity.[518]
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--The Pa chi hsiang]
The Seven Gems (_ch’i pao_) are: (1) _Chin lun_, the golden wheel. (2) _Yü nü_, the jade-like girl. (3) _Ma_, the horse. (4) _Hsiang_, the elephant. (5) _Chu ts’ang shên_, divine guardian of the treasury. (6) _Chu ping ch’ên_, general in command of the army. (7) _Ju i chu_ the jewels which fulfil every wish; a bundle of jewelled wands bound round with a cord.
The _Pa an hsien_, Attributes of the Eight Immortals, as detailed above (p. 287), are: (1) _Shan_, the fan of Chung-li Ch’üan. (2) _Chien_, the sword of Lü Tung-pin. (3) _Hu lu_, the gourd of Li T’ieh-kuai. (4) _Pan_, the castanets of Ts’ao Kuo-chiu. (5) _Hua lan_, the basket of flowers of Lan Ts’ai-ho. (6) _Yu ku_, the bamboo tube and rods of Chang Kuo Lao. (7) _Ti_, the flute of Han Hsiang Tzŭ. (8) _Lien hua_, the lotus flower of Ho Hsien Ku.
The _Po ku_, or Hundred Antiques, is, as its name implies, a comprehensive group including all manner of symbols and symbolical ornaments, which were frequently grouped together in panel decoration. Bushell[519] describes two typical panels on specimens in the Walters collection. One contained the apparatus of the scholar and painter, viz. books on tables, brushes in vases, water pots and scroll pictures, all enveloped with waving fillets mingled with tasselled wands and double diamonds, which are symbols of literary success. The other contained a tall vase with peonies; a low vase with peacock feather, an emblem of high rank; a lion-shaped censer on a four-legged stand, the incense smoke from which rises in form of a pair of storks; a set of incense-burning implements, a bundle of scroll pictures, a _ju-i_ sceptre, a musical stone, a sword, and a paper weight.
A favourite set of _Po-ku_ emblems is the _Pa pao_ (Fig. 3) or Eight Precious Objects: (1) _Chu_, the pearl, which grants every wish. (2) _Ch’ien_, the “cash,” a copper coin used to symbolise wealth. (3) Lozenge, or picture (_hua_). (4) _Fang shêng_, the open lozenge, symbol of victory.[520] (5) _Ch’ing_, the musical stone. (6) _Shu_, a pair of books. (7) _Chüeh_, a pair of horn-like objects. (8) _Ai yeh_, the leaf of the artemisia, fragrant plant of good omen and a preventative of disease.
A branch of coral, a silver ingot, a pencil brush and cake of ink are common emblems; and the swastika occurs both by itself (vol. i., p. 227) or interwoven with the character _shou_ (vol. i., p. 227), or even as a fret or diaper pattern. The swastika is a world-wide symbol; in China it is called _wan_, and used as a synonym for _wan_ (ten thousand), and as such it is regarded as a symbol of _wan shou_ (endless longevity). A lyre wrapped in an embroidered case, a chess-or _gô_-board with round boxes for the white and black pieces, a pair of books, and a pair of scroll pictures symbolise the “four elegant accomplishments,” _ch’in_, _ch’i_, _shu_, _hua_ (music, chess, writing and painting).
[Illustration: Fig. 3.--The Pa pao]
The figurative aspect of Chinese decoration has been repeatedly noticed, and occasional examples of direct play upon words or rebus devices have been given incidentally. The Chinese language is peculiarly suited for punning allusions, one sound having to do duty for many characters; but it is obvious that a fair knowledge of the characters is required for reading these rebus designs. There is, however, a certain number of stock allusions with which the collector can easily make himself familiar. The commonest of these is perhaps the bat (_fu_) which symbolises happiness (also pronounced _fu_ in Chinese). The Five Blessings (_wu fu_), which consist of longevity, riches, peacefulness and serenity, love of virtue and an end crowning the life, are suggested by five bats; and a further rebus is formed of red bats among cloud scrolls, reading _hung fu ch’i t’ien_, “great happiness equally heaven” (_t’ien_); _hung_ being the sound of the character for “great, vast,” as well as for red, and red being, so to speak, the colour of happiness in Chinese eyes.
Other common rebus designs are suggested by such words as _lu_ (deer), _lu_ (preferment); _yü_ (fish), _yü_ (abundance); _ch’ing_ (sounding stone), _ch’ing_ (good luck); _ch’ang_ (the intestinal knot), _ch’ang_ (long); and the composition of the rebus phrase often includes such ideas as _lien_ (lotus), _lien_ (connect, combine); _tieh_ (butterfly), _tieh_ (to double). But almost every sound in the Chinese spoken language represents a considerable number of characters, and it would be possible with a little ingenuity to extract several rebus sentences out of any complicated decoration. It is well to remember, however, that most of the ordinary allusions have reference to some good wish or felicitous phrase bearing on the five blessings, on the three abundances or on literary success.
To quote a few further instances: the design of nine (_chiu_) lions (_shih_) sporting with balls (chü) of brocade has been read[521] _chiu shih t’ung chü_, “a family of nine sons living together.” An elephant (_hsiang_) carrying a vase (_p’ing_) on its back (_pei_) is read[522] _hsiang pei tai p’ing,_ “Peace (p’ing) rules in the north (_pei_).” A tub full of green wheat is read[523] _i t’ung ta ch’ing_, “the whole empire (owns) the great Ch’ing dynasty.” Three crabs holding reeds is read[524] _san p’ang hsieh ch’uan lu_, “three generations gaining the first class at the metropolitan examinations.” Two pigeons perched on a willow tree is read[525] _êrh pa_ (_k’o_) _t’eng t’ê_, “at eighteen to be successful in examinations.”
A group of three objects consisting of a pencil brush (_pi_), a cake of ink (_ting_) and a _ju-i_ sceptre crossed one over the other (Fig. 4), occurs both in the field of the decoration and as a mark under the base. It is a pure rebus, reading _pi ting ju i_, may things be fixed (_ting_) as you wish (_ju i_, lit. according to your idea). Another obvious rebus which occurs as a mark (Fig. 5) consists of two peaches and a bat (double longevity and happiness), and floral designs are very commonly arranged so as to suggest rebus phrases.
[Illustration: Fig. 4]
[Illustration: Fig. 5]
But the Chinese decorator did not always express himself in riddles. Inscriptions are frequent on all forms of decorative work, as is only natural in a country where calligraphy ranks among the highest branches of art. To the foreign eye Chinese writing will not perhaps appear so ornamental as the beautiful Neshky characters which were freely used for decorative purposes on Persian wares; but for all that, its decorative qualities are undeniable, and to the Chinese who worship the written character it is a most attractive kind of ornament. Sometimes the surface of a vessel is almost entirely occupied by a long inscription treating of the ware or of the decoration which occupies the remaining part; but more often the writing is limited to an epigram or a few lines of verse. The characters as a rule are ranged in columns and read from top to bottom, the columns being taken from left to right; and rhyming verse is written in lines of three, five or seven characters each. The inscriptions are often attested by the name or the seal of the author. The Emperor Ch’ien Lung, a prolific writer of verses, indited many short poems on the motives of porcelain decoration, and these have been copied on subsequent pieces.
As for the style of writing, the ordinary script is the _k’ai shu_, which dates from the Chin dynasty (265–419 A.D.), but there are besides many inscriptions in which the archaic seal characters _chuan tzŭ_ are employed, or at least hybrid modern forms of them; and there is the cursive script, known as _ts’ao shu_ or grass characters, which is said to have been invented in the first century B.C. The seal and the grass characters are often extremely difficult to translate, and require a special study, which even highly educated Chinese do not profess to have mastered.
Single characters and phrases of auspicious meaning in both seal form and in the ordinary script occur in the decoration and also in the place of the mark. Many instances have already been noted in the chapters dealing with Ming porcelains, such as _fu kuei k’ang ning_ (riches, honours, peace and serenity), _ch’ang ming fu kuei_ (long life, riches and honours), etc., see vol. i., p. 225. The most frequent of these characters is _shou_ (longevity), which is written in a great variety of fanciful forms, mostly of the seal type. The “hundred forms of shou” sometimes constitute the sole decoration of a vase; and as already observed[526] the swastika (_wan_) is sometimes combined with the circular form of the seal character _shou_ to make the _wan shou_ symbol of ten thousand longevities. _Fu_ (happiness) and _lu_ (preferment) also occur, though less frequently.
Buddhistic inscriptions are usually in Sanskrit characters, but we find occasional phrases such as _Tien chu en po_ [chch 4] (propitious waves from India) and _Fo ming ch’ang jih_ [chch 4] (the ever bright Buddha) in ordinary script or seal, one character in each of four medallions; and the sacred name of _O mi t’o fo_ [chch 4], Amida Buddha, similarly applied, would serve as a charm against evil.
In addition to the central designs, there is a number of secondary ornaments which round off the decoration of a piece of porcelain. Chief of these are the border patterns, of which a few favourites may be exemplified. At the head of the list comes the Greek key-fret or meander (see Plate 12, Fig. 1), which, like the swastika, is of world-wide use. On the ancient bronze this pattern was freely used both in borders and as a diaper background, and it is described by Chinese archæologists as the “cloud and thunder pattern.” It is sometimes varied by the inclusion of the swastika, in which case it is known as the swastika fret. Another bronze pattern freely borrowed by the porcelain decoration is the border of stiff plantain leaves which appears appropriately on the neck or stem of an upright vase (see Plate 89, Fig. 1).
The border of small “S” shaped scrolls is apparently derived from silkworm cocoons; but the curled scrolls and another scroll pattern with more elaborate curves are intended to suggest clouds. A further development of the cloud pattern is scarcely distinguishable from the _ju-i_ head border (see Plate 77, Fig. 2). Indeed the terms, “connected cloud” pattern, _ju-i_ cloud pattern, and _ju-i_ head pattern, are used almost interchangeably by Chinese archæologists.
Conventional waves are represented by a kind of shaded scale pattern or a diaper of spiral coils, and the more naturalistic “crested wave” border, punctuated by conical rocks, has already been mentioned. There are besides narrow borders of zig-zag pattern with diagonal hatching, and the ordinary diaper designs, in addition to the familiar gadroons and arcaded borders.
The wider borders are usually borrowed from brocade patterns with geometrical or floral ornament, broken by three or four oblong panels containing symbols or sprays of flowers; and when a similar scheme is followed in some of the narrow edgings, the flowers are unhesitatingly cut in half, as though the pattern were just a thin strip taken from a piece of brocade.
A few special borders have been described on the pages dealing with armorial porcelain,[527] among which were the well-known “rat and vine” or “vine and squirrel” pattern (see Plate 119, Fig. 3), reputed to have first appeared on a picture by the Sung artist, Ming Yüan-chang.[528] A rare border formed of red bats side by side occurs on a few plates of fine porcelain which are usually assigned to the K’ang Hsi period, but are probably much later.
On the whole, the Chinese border patterns are comparatively few in number, being in fact a small selection of well-tried designs admirably suited to fill the spaces required and to occupy the positions assigned to them on the different porcelain forms.
As to the sources from which these and the other designs described in this chapter were borrowed by the porcelain decorator, we can only speak in general terms. Ancient bronze vessels, metal mirrors, carved jades, stamped cakes of ink, embroideries, brocades, handkerchiefs, and illustrated books no doubt provided the greater part of them. The purely pictorial subjects would be based on the paintings in silk and paper which the Chinese arrange in four chief categories: (1) figures (_jên wu_),(2) landscape (_shan shui_),(3) nature subjects (_hua niao_, lit. flowers and birds), and (4) miscellaneous designs (_tsa hua_). Selections of desirable designs from various sources were no doubt arranged in pattern books, and issued to the porcelain painters.
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