CHAPTER IV

CHIA CHING [chch 2] (1522–1566) AND LUNG CH’ING [chch 2] (1567–1572)

The Imperial potteries at Ching-tê Chên were busy in the long reign of Chia Ching, grandson of Ch’êng Hua, under the supervision of one of the prefects of the circuit who took charge in place of the palace eunuch of previous reigns. Chinese accounts of the porcelain of this important period, summarised in the _T’ao shuo_, include passages from the late Ming and therefore almost contemporary works, the _Shih wu kan chu_ and the _Po wu yao lan_. In the former we are told that the Mohammedan blue was largely used, but that the material for the “fresh red” (_hsien hung_)[99] was exhausted, and that the method of producing the red colour was no longer the same as of old, the potters being capable only of making the overglaze iron red called _fan hung_. The _Po wu yao lan_ gives a more intimate description of the ware, and the passage[100]--the last in that work on the subject of porcelain--may be rendered as follows:--

“Chia Ching porcelain includes blue-decorated and polychrome wares of every description; but unfortunately the clay brought to the place from the neighbouring sources in Jao Chou gradually deteriorated, and when we compare these two classes of porcelain with the similar productions of the earlier periods of the dynasty the (Chia Ching) wares do not equal the latter. There are small white bowls (_ou_) inscribed inside with the character _ch’a_ [chch 1] (tea), the character _chiu_ [chch 1] (wine), or the characters _tsao t’ang_ [chch 2] (decoction of dates), or _chiang t’ang_[101] [chch 2] (decoction of ginger); these are the sacrificial altar vessels regularly used by the Emperor Shih Tsung (i.e. Chia Ching), and they are called white altar cups, though in form and material they are far from equalling the Hsüan Tê vessels. The Chia Ching shallow wine cups with rimmed mouth,[102] convex centre,[103] and foot with base rim,[104] decorated outside in three colours with fish design, and the small vermilion boxes, no bigger than a “cash,” are the gems of the period. As for the small boxes beautifully painted with blue ornament, I fear that the Imperial factories of after times will not be able to produce the like. Those who have them prize them as gems.”

A few supplementary comments in the _T’ao shuo_ further inform us that the Mohammedan blue of the Chia Ching period was preferred very dark (in contrast with the pale blue of the Hsüan Tê porcelain), that it was very lovely, and that supplies of this blue arrived providentially at the time when the “fresh red” failed[105]; and also that the supplies of earth from Ma-ts’ang were daily diminishing till they were nearly exhausted, and consequently the material of the ware was far from equalling that of the Hsüan Tê period. The _T’ao lu_ adds practically nothing to the above statements.

Fortunately, there are still to be found a fair number of authentic specimens of Chia Ching porcelain, but before considering these in the light of the Chinese descriptions, it will be helpful as well as extremely interesting to glance at the lists of actual porcelain vessels supplied to the palace at this time. From the eighth year of this reign, the annual accounts of the palace porcelains have been preserved in the Annals of Fou-liang, from which they were copied in the provincial topographies. Two of these lists (for the years 1546 and 1554) are quoted by Bushell,[106] and a general summary of them is given in the _T’ao shuo_.[107] To quote them in full here would take too much space, but the following notes may be useful to the reader, who, with his knowledge of the later porcelains, should have no difficulty in reconstructing for himself the general appearance of the court wares of the time.

The actual objects[108] supplied consisted chiefly of fish bowls (_kang_), covered and uncovered jars (_kuan_), of which some were octagonal, bowls (_wan_), dinner bowls (_shan wan_) of larger size, saucer dishes (_tieh_) and round dishes (_p’an_), tea cups (_ch’a chung_), tea cups (_ou_), wine cups (_chiu chan_), and libation cups (_chüeh_) with hill-shaped saucers (_shan p’an_) to support their three feet, various vases (_p’ing_), slender ovoid jars for wine (_t’an_), ewers or wine pots (_hu p’ing_), and wine seas (_chiu hai_) or large bowls. A large number of complete dinner-table sets (_cho ch’i_) occur in one of the lists, and we learn from the _T’ao shuo_ that uniform sets with the same pattern and colours throughout were an innovation of the Ming dynasty. A set[109] comprised 27 pieces, including 5 fruit dishes (_kuo tieh_), 5 food dishes (_ts’ai tieh_), 5 bowls (_wan_), 5 vegetable dishes (_yün tieh_), 3 tea cups (_ch’a chung_), 1 wine cup (_chiu chan_), 1 wine saucer (_chiu tieh_), 1 slop receptacle (_cha tou_), and 1 vinegar cruse (_ts’u chiu_). The slop receptacle appears to have been a square bowl used for the remnants of food (see Plate 66, Fig. 1).

The sacrificial vessels of the period included tazza-shaped bowls and dishes (_pien tou p’an_), large wine jars (_t’ai tsun_), with swelling body and monster masks for handles, “rhinoceros” jars (_hsi tsun_) in the form of a rhinoceros carrying a vase on its back, besides various dishes, plates, cups, and bowls of undefined form.

The decorations are grouped in six headings:--

(1) Blue and white (_ch’ing hua pai ti_, blue ornament on a white ground), which is by far the largest.

(2) Blue ware, which included blue bowls (_ch’ing wan_), sky-blue bowls (_t’ien ch’ing wan_), and turquoise bowls (_ts’ui ch’ing wan_). In some cases the ware is described as plain blue monochrome, and in one item it is “best blue monochrome” (_t’ou ch’ing su_), while in others there are designs engraved under the glaze (_an hua_). In others, again, ornament such as dragons and sea waves is mentioned without specifying how it was executed. Such ornament may have been etched with a point in the blue surface,[110] or pencilled in darker blue on a blue background or reserved in white in a blue ground. Another kind is more fully described as “round dishes of pure blue (_shun ch’ing_) with dragons and sea waves inside, and on the exterior a background of dense cloud scrolls[111] with a gilt[112] decoration of three lions and dragons.” Bushell[113] speaks of the “beautiful mottled blue ground for which this reign is also remarkable,” and which, he says, was produced by the usual blend of Mohammedan and native blue suspended in water.

(3) Wares which were white inside and blue outside.

(4) White ware, plain[114] or with engraved designs under the glaze (_an hua_, lit. secret ornament).

(5) Ware with brown glaze in two varieties, _tzŭ chin_ (golden brown), and _chin huang_ (golden yellow), with dragon designs engraved under the glaze. These are the well-known lustrous brown glazes, the former of dark coffee brown shade, and the latter a light golden brown.

(6) Ware with mixed colours (_tsa sê_), which included bowls and dishes decorated in iron red[115] (_fan hung_) instead of the “fresh red” (_hsien hung_); others with emerald green colour (_ts’ui lü sê_); bowls with phœnixes and flowers of Paradise in yellow in a blue ground; cups with blue cloud and dragon designs in a yellow ground; boxes with dragon and phœnix designs engraved under a yellow glaze; dishes with design of a pair of dragons and clouds in yellow within a golden brown (_tzŭ chin_) ground; and globular bowls with embossed[116] ornament in a single-coloured ground.

To these types Bushell adds from other similar lists crackled ware (_sui ch’i_), tea cups of “greenish white porcelain” (_ch’ing pai tz’ŭ_), which seems to be a pale celadon, and large fish bowls with pea green (_tou ch’ing_) glaze.

The source of the designs of the porcelain is clearly indicated in the following passage in the _T’ao shuo_[117]: “Porcelain enamelled in colours was painted in imitation of the fashion of brocaded silks, and we have consequently the names of blue ground, yellow ground, and brown gold (_tzŭ chin_) ground. The designs used to decorate it were also similar, and included dragons in motion (_tsou lung_), clouds and phœnixes, _ch’i-lin_, lions, mandarin ducks, myriads of gold pieces, dragon medallions (_p’an lung_, lit. coiled dragons), pairs of phœnixes, peacocks, sacred storks, the fungus of longevity, the large lion in his lair, wild geese in clouds with their double nests, large crested waves, phœnixes in the clouds, the son-producing lily, the hundred flowers, phœnixes flying through flowers, the band of Eight Taoist Immortals, dragons pursuing pearls, lions playing with embroidered balls, water weeds, and sporting fishes. These are the names of ancient brocades, all of which the potters have reproduced more or less accurately in the designs and colouring of their porcelain.”

The following analysis of the designs named in the Chia Ching lists will show that the blue and white painters of the period took their inspiration from the same source:--

=Floral Motives.=

Celestial flowers (_t’ien hua_), supporting the characters _shou shan fu hai_ [chch 4], “longevity of the hills and happiness (inexhaustible as) the sea.”

Flowers of the four seasons (the tree peony for spring, lotus for summer, chrysanthemum for autumn, and prunus for winter).

Flowering and other plants (_hua ts’ao_).

The myriad-flowering wistaria (_wan hua t’êng_).

The water chestnut (_ling_).

The pine, bamboo, and plum.

Floral medallions (_t’uan hua_).

Indian lotus (_hsi fan lien_).

Knots of lotus (_chieh tzŭ lien_[118]).

Interlacing sprays of lotus supporting the Eight Precious Symbols or the Eight Buddhist Emblems.[119]

Branches of _ling chih_[120] fungus supporting the Eight Precious Symbols.

_Ling chih_ fungus and season flowers.

Lotus flowers, fishes, and water weeds.

Floral arabesques (_hui hui hua_).

Flowers of Paradise (_pao hsiang hua_) [chch 3].

The celestial flowers and the flowers of Paradise are no doubt similar designs of idealised flowers in scrolls or groups.[121] The _pao hsiang hua_, which is given in Giles’s Dictionary as “the rose,” is rendered by Bushell “flowers of Paradise” or “fairy flowers.” Judging by the designs with this name in Chinese works, and also from the fact that the rose is a very rare motive on Chinese wares before the Ch’ing dynasty, whereas the _pao hsiang hua_ is one of the commonest in the Ming lists, Bushell’s rendering is probably correct in the present context.

=Animal Motives=, mythical or otherwise.

Dragons, represented as pursuing jewels (_kan chu_); grasping jewels (_k’ung chu_); in clouds; emerging from water; in bamboo foliage and fungus plants; among water chestnut flowers; among scrolls of Indian lotus; emerging from sea waves and holding up the Eight Trigrams (_pa kua_); holding up the characters _fu_ [chch] (happiness) or _shou_ [chch] (longevity), as on Fig. 1 of Plate 66.

Dragons of antique form. These are the lizard-like creatures (_ch’ih_) with bifid tail which occur so often in old bronzes and jades.

Dragon medallions (_t’uan lung_).

Nine dragons and flowers.

Dragons and phœnixes moving through flowers.

Dragon, and phœnixes with other birds.

Phœnixes flying through flowers.

A pair of phœnixes.

Lions[122] rolling balls of brocade.

Flying lions.

Hoary[123] lions and dragons.

Storks in clouds.

Peacocks (_k’ung ch’iao_) and _mu-tan_ peonies.

Birds flying in clouds.

Fish and water weeds.

Four fishes.[124]

=Human Motives.=

Children (_wa wa_) playing.

Three divine beings (_hsien_) compounding the elixir of Immortality.

Two or four Immortals.

The Eight Immortals (_pa hsien_) crossing the sea; or paying court to the god of Longevity (_p’êng shou_), or congratulating him (_ch’ing shou_).

A group of divine beings (_hsien_) paying court to the god of Longevity.

Two designs of doubtful meaning may be added here:

(1) “Jars decorated with _chiang hsia pa chün_,”[125] a phrase which means “the eight elegant (scholars) of Chiang-hsia (i.e. below the river),” but has been translated by Bushell, using a variant reading,[126] as “the eight horses of Mu Wang.” The latter rendering ignores the presence of _chiang hsia_, and the former, though a correct reading of the original, is not explained in any work of reference to which I have had access.

(2) “Bowls with _man ti ch’iao_,” lit. “graceful (designs) filling the ground.” The meaning of _ch’iao_ is the difficulty, and Bushell in one translation[127] has rendered it “graceful sprays of flowers,” which sorts well with rest of the phrase, but in another[128] he has assumed that it means “graceful beauties” in reference to the well-known design of tall, slender girls, which the Dutch collectors named _lange lijsen_ (see Plate 92, Fig. 2). The latter rendering, however, goes badly with _man ti_, “filling the ground,” which is certainly more applicable to some close design, such as floral scroll work. This is, however, a good example of the difficulty of translating the Chinese texts, where so much is left to the imagination, and consequently there is so much room for differences of opinion.

[Illustration: Plate 68.--Blue and White Porcelain. Sixteenth Century.

Fig. 1.--Perfume Vase, lions and balls of brocade. Height 8¾ inches. _V. & A. Museum._

Fig. 2. Double Gourd Vase, square in the lower part. Eight Immortals paying court to the God of Longevity, panels of children (_wa wa_). Height 21 inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._

Fig. 3.--Bottle with medallions of _ch’i-lin_ and incised fret pattern between. Late Ming. Height 9 inches. _Halsey Collection._]

[Illustration: Plate 69.--Sixteenth Century Porcelain.

Fig. 1.--Bowl of blue and white porcelain with silver gilt mount of Elizabethan period. Height 3¾ inches. _British Museum._

Fig. 2.--Covered Jar, painted in dark underglaze blue with red, green and yellow enamels; fishes and water plants. Chia Ching mark. Height 17 inches. _S. E. Kennedy Collection._]

[Illustration: Plate 70.--Porcelain with Chia Ching mark.

Fig. 1.--Box with incised Imperial dragons and lotus scrolls; turquoise and dark violet glazes on the biscuit. Diameter 9½ inches. _V. & A. Museum._

Fig. 2.--Vase with Imperial dragons in clouds, painted in yellow in an iron red ground. Height 8½ inches. _Cologne Museum._]

[Illustration: Plate 71.--Sixteenth Century Porcelain.

Figs. 1 and 2.--Two Ewers in the Dresden Collection, with transparent green, aubergine and turquoise glazes on the biscuit, traces of gilding. In form of a phœnix (height 11 inches), and of a crayfish (height 8¼ inches).

Fig. 3.--Bowl with flight of storks in a lotus scroll, enamels on the biscuit, green, aubergine and white in a yellow ground. Chia Ching mark. Diameter 7 inches. _Alexander Collection._]

=Emblematic Motives.=

Heaven and Earth, and the six cardinal points (_ch’ien k’un liu ho_[129]), or “emblems of the six cardinal points of the Universe.”

_Ch’ien_ and _k’un_ are the male and female principles which are represented by Heaven and Earth, and together make up the Universe. The identification of these emblems is obscure. They might simply be the Eight Trigrams (_pa kua_), which are explained next, for two of these are known as _ch’ien_ and _k’un_, and together with the remaining six they are arranged so as to make up eight points of the compass. But in that case, why not simply say _pa kua_ as elsewhere?

On the other hand, we know that certain emblems were used in the Chou dynasty[130] in the worship of the six points of the Universe, viz. a round tablet with pierced centre (_pi_) of bluish jade for Heaven; a yellow jade tube with square exterior (_ts’ung_) for Earth; a green tablet (_kuei_), oblong with pointed top, for the East; a red tablet (_chang_), oblong and knife-shaped, for the South; a white tablet, in the shape of a tiger (_hu_), for the West; and a black jade piece of flat semicircular form (_huang_) for the North. All these objects are illustrated in Laufer’s _Jade_, but as they have not, to my knowledge, appeared together in porcelain decoration, the question must for the present be left open.

* * * * *

The _pa-kua_ [chch 2] or Eight Trigrams, supported by dragons or by waves and flames.

These are eight combinations of triple lines. In the first the lines are unbroken, and in the last they are all divided at the centre, the intermediate figures consisting of different permutations of broken and unbroken lines (see p. 290). These eight diagrams, by which certain Chinese philosophers explained all the phenomena of Nature, are supposed to have been constructed by the legendary Emperor Fu Hsi (B.C. 2852) from a plan revealed to him on the back of the “dragon horse” (_lung ma_) which rose from the Yellow River.[131] Among other things, they are used to designate the points of the compass, one arrangement making the first figure represent the South (also designated _ch’ien_[chch] or Heaven), and the last figure the North (also designated _k’un_[chch] or Earth), the remaining figures representing South-West, West, North-West, North-East, East, and South-East.

* * * * *

The _pa pao_ [chch 2], or Eight Precious Symbols, supported by fungus sprays.

These are usually represented by (1) a sphere or jewel, which seems to have originally been the sun disc; (2) a circle enclosing a square, which suggests the copper coin called a “cash”; (3) an open lozenge, symbol of victory or success; (4) a musical stone (_ch’ing_); (5) a pair of books; (6) a pair of rhinoceros horns (cups); (7) a lozenge-shaped picture (_hua_); (8) a leaf of the artemisia, a plant of good omen, which dispels sickness. (See p. 299.)

* * * * *

The _pa chi hsiang_ [chch 3], or Eight Buddhist Symbols, supported on lotus scrolls.

These symbols, which appeared among the auspicious signs on the foot of Buddha, comprise (1) the wheel (_chakra_), which is sometimes replaced by the hanging bell; (2) the shell trumpet of Victory; (3) the umbrella of state; (4) the canopy; (5) the lotus flower; (6) the vase; (7) the pair of fish, emblems of fertility; (8) the angular knot (representing the entrails), symbol of longevity. (See p. 298.)

The hundred forms of the character _shou_ (longevity)--_pai shou tz’ŭ_.

* * * * *

_Ju-i_ sceptres and phœnix medallions.

The _ju-i_ [chch 2] (“as you wish”) sceptre brings fulfilment of wishes, and is a symbol of longevity (see vol. i., p. 227). The head of the _ju-i_, which has a strong resemblance to the conventional form of the _ling chih_ fungus, is often used in borders and formal patterns variously described as “_ju-i_ head patterns,” “cloud-scroll patterns,” or “_ju-i_ cloud patterns.”

Close ground patterns of propitious clouds (_yung hsiang yün ti_).

Cloud designs are propitious because they symbolise the fertilising rain, and they are commonly represented by conventional scrolls as well as by the more obvious cloud patterns.

* * * * *

Crested sea waves (_chiang ya hai shui_).

_Chiang ya_ [chch 2] (lit. ginger shoots) is rendered by Bushell “crested waves,” the metaphor being apparently suggested by the curling tops of the young plant.

Cups decorated[132] with the characters _fu shou k’ang ning_ [chch 4] (happiness, long life, peace, and tranquillity).

A blue and white vase with these characters in medallions framed by cloud scrolls on the shoulders is shown on Plate 68.

=Miscellaneous Motives.=

The waterfalls of Pa Shan [chch 2] in the province of Szechuan.

Gold weighing-scales (_ch’êng chin_ [chch 2]).

A design named _san yang k’ai t’ai_ [chch 4], a phrase alluding to the “revivifying power of spring,” and said by Bushell to be symbolised by three rams. Cf. Fig. 2 of Plate 122.

The mark of the Chia Ching period, though not so freely used as those of Hsüan Tê and Ch’êng Hua, has been a favourite with Japanese copyists, whose imitations have often proved dangerously clever. Still, there are enough genuine specimens in public and private collections in England to provide a fair representation of the ware. In studying these the blue and white will be found to vary widely, both in body material and in the colour of the blue, according to the quality of the objects.

Plate 77 illustrates a remarkably good example of the dark but vivid Mohammedan blue on a pure white ware of fine close grain with clear glaze. The design, which consists of scenes from the life of a sage, perhaps Confucius himself, is painted in typical Ming style, and bordered by _ju-i_ cloud scrolls and formal brocade patterns. The Chia Ching blue is often darker[133] and heavier than here, resembling thick patches of violet ink, to use Mr. Perzynski’s phrase. This powerful blue is well shown in the large vase given by Mr. A. Burman to the Victoria and Albert Museum (Plate 72), and by a fine ewer in Case 22 in the same gallery. The latter has an accidentally crackled glaze on the body with brownish tint, due, no doubt, to staining.

On the other hand, a large double-gourd vase in the British Museum, heavily made (probably for export), is painted with the eighteen Arhats, or Buddhist apostles, in a dull greyish blue, which would certainly have been assigned to the Wan Li period were it not for the Chia Ching mark. This is, no doubt, the native cobalt without any admixture of Mohammedan blue.

The body material in these specimens varies scarcely less than the blue. In the colour stand on Plate 77 the ware is a pure clean white, both in body and glaze. On other specimens--particularly the large, heavily built jars and vases made for export to India and Persia--the ware is of coarser grain, and the glaze of grey or greenish tone. The tendency of the Ming biscuit to assume a reddish tinge where exposed to the fire is exaggerated on some of these large jars, so that the exposed parts at the base and foot rim are sometimes a dark reddish brown. Doubtless the clay from different mines varied considerably, and the less pure materials would be used on these relatively coarse productions. On the other hand, the better class of dish and bowl made for service at the table is usually of clean white ware, potted thin and neatly finished, and differing but little in refinement from the choice porcelains of the eighteenth century. Such are the dragon dish described on p. 32 and the polychrome saucers which will be mentioned presently.

The export trade with Western Asia and Egypt, both by sea and land, must have been of considerable dimensions in the middle of the sixteenth century. Broken pieces of Chinese blue and white are found on all the excavated sites in the Near East, and the influence of the Chinese porcelain is clearly seen in the blue, or blue and brown, painted faience made in Persia, Syria, and Egypt in the sixteenth century. The reflex influence of Persia on the Chinese wares has already been noted, and it is clear that Persian taste was studied by the makers of the dishes, bottles, pipes, and other objects with birds and animals in foliage and floral scrolls of decidedly Persian flavour, which are still frequently found in the Near East. It was this type of Chinese porcelain which inspired Italian maiolica potters in their decoration _alla porcellana_, as well as the decorators of the Medici or Florentine porcelain, the first European porcelain of any note. Françesco Maria, the patron of the Medici porcelain, died in 1587, and as little, if any, of the ware was made after his death, the rare surviving examples may be safely taken as reflecting, where any Chinese influence is apparent, the influence of the mid-sixteenth century porcelains.

[Illustration: PLATE 72

Vase with Imperial five-clawed dragons in cloud scrolls over sea waves: band of lotus scrolls on the shoulder. Painted in dark Mohammedan blue. Mark on the neck, of the Chia Ching period (1522–1566) in six characters.

Height 21 inches. _Victoria and Albert Museum._]

An interesting series of Ming blue and white export wares collected in India was lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1910 by Mrs. Halsey. It included a few Chia Ching specimens, and among them a melon-shaped jar with lotus scrolls in the dark blue of the period. This melon form has been popular with the Chinese potters from T’ang times, and it occurs fairly often in the Ming export porcelains. A companion piece, for instance, at the same exhibition was decorated with handsome pine, bamboo, and plum designs. Others, again, are appropriately ornamented with a melon vine pattern, a gourd vine, or a grape vine with a squirrel-like animal on the branches. The drawing of these pieces is usually rough but vigorous, the form is good, and the blue as a rule soft and pleasing; and though entirely wanting in the superfine finish of the choice K’ang Hsi blue and white, they have a decorative value which has been sadly underrated.

The polychrome porcelains of the Chia Ching period are rarer than the blue and white, but still a fair number of types are represented in English collections. Of the colours applied direct to the biscuit the early glazes of the _demi-grand feu_--turquoise, aubergine violet, green and yellow--were doubtless applied as in the previous century to the large wine jars, vases and figures in the round. An unusual specimen of this class is the marked Chia Ching cake box in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated on Plate 70. The design--Imperial dragons among floral scrolls--is traced with a point in the paste and covered with a delicate turquoise glaze, the background being filled with violet aubergine. Similarly engraved designs coloured by washes of transparent glazes in the three colours--green, yellow and aubergine brown--are found with the Chia Ching mark as with that of Chêng Tê, and Plate 73 illustrates two singularly beautiful bowls with designs outlined in brown and washed in with transparent glazes. The one has flowering branches of prunus, peach and pomegranate in white, green and aubergine in a yellow ground, and the other phœnixes and floral scrolls in yellow, green and white in a ground of pale aubergine. Both have the Chia Ching mark. Fig. 2 of Plate 71 is another member of the same group, with a beautiful design of cranes and lotus scrolls in a yellow ground. There are, besides, examples of these yellow and aubergine glazes in monochrome. A good specimen of the latter with Chia Ching mark in the British Museum has fine transparent aubergine glaze with iridescent surface, the colour pleasantly graded, which contrasts with the uniform smooth glaze and trim finish of a Ch’ien Lung example near to it.

Two interesting ewers in the Dresden collection (Figs. 1 and 2 of Plate 71) probably belong to this period, or at any rate to the sixteenth century. They are fantastically shaped to represent a phœnix and a lobster, and are decorated with green, yellow, aubergine and a little turquoise applied direct to the biscuit. Parts of the surface have been lightly coated with gilding, which has almost entirely disappeared. These pieces are mentioned in an inventory of 1640, and a lobster ewer precisely similar was included in the collection made by Philipp Hainhofer in the early years of the seventeenth century.[134]

Among the examples of on-glaze enamels of this period are those in which the coral red derived from iron oxide (_fan hung_) is the most conspicuous colour. This red is often highly iridescent, displaying soft ruby reflections like Persian lustre; at other times it is richly fluxed, and has a peculiarly vitreous and almost sticky appearance. The former effect is well seen in a small saucer in the British Museum, which has a wide border of deep lustrous red surrounding a medallion with lions and a brocade ball in green. The latter is seen on a square, covered vase in the same case, decorated on each side with full-faced dragons in red and the usual cloud accessories in inconspicuous touches of green and yellow. The yellow enamel of the period is often of an impure, brownish tint and rather thickly applied, but these peculiarities of both yellow and red continued in the Wan Li period.

[Illustration: PLATE 73

Two Bowls with the Chia Ching mark (1522–1566), with designs outlined in brown and washed in with colours in monochrome grounds.

Fig. 1 with peach sprays in a yellow ground. Diameter 8 inches. _Alexander Collection._

Fig. 2 with phœnixes (_fêng-huang_) flying among scrolls of _mu-tan_ peony. Diameter 7 inches. _Cumberbatch Collection._]

The combination of enamel colours with underglaze blue, which was so largely used in the Wan Li period as to be generally known by the name _Wan li wu ts’ai_ (Wan Li polychrome), is not unknown on Chia Ching wares. The wide-mouthed jar, for instance, from the collection of Mr. S. E. Kennedy[135] (Plate 69, Fig. 2) is decorated with a design of fish among water plants in deep Chia Ching blue combined with green, yellow and iron red enamels; and a small bottle-shaped vase in the British Museum has the same blue combined with on-glaze red, green, yellow and aubergine, the design being fish, waves, and water plants. The greens of this and the Wan Li period include various shades--bright leaf green, pale emerald, and a bluish green[136] which seems to be peculiar to the late Ming period.

A box in the collection of Dr. C. Seligmann has a dragon design reserved in a blue ground and washed over with yellow enamel, on which in turn are details traced in iron red; and another peculiar type of Chia Ching polychrome in the Pierpont Morgan Collection (Cat. No. 882) is a tea cup with blue Imperial dragons inside, “on the outside deep yellow glaze with decoration in brownish red of intensely luminous tone, derived from iron, lightly brushed on the yellow ground: the decoration consists of a procession of boys carrying vases of flowers round the sides of the cup with addition of a scroll of foliage encircling the rim.” Both these specimens have the Chia Ching mark.

Allusion has already been made (p. 6) to a type of bowl which belongs to the Ming period, though opinions differ as to the exact part of that dynasty to which it should be assigned. The bowls vary slightly in form, but the most usual kind is that shown on Plate 74 with well rounded sides. A common feature, which does not appear in the photograph, is a convex centre. Others, again, are shallow with concave base, but no foot rim. The decoration of those in the British Museum includes (1) a coral red exterior with gilt designs as described on p. 6, combined with slight underglaze blue interior ornament, (2) a beautiful pale emerald green exterior similarly gilt, with or without blue ornament inside, and (3) a single specimen with white slip traceries in faint relief under the glaze inside, the outside enamelled with turquoise blue medallions and set with cabochon jewels in Persia or India. There are similar bowls in the Dresden collection, with pale sky blue glaze on the exterior. As already noted, one or two of the red bowls have the Yung Lo mark, but, as a rule, they are marked with phrases of commendation or good wish,[137] such as _tan kuei_ (red cassia, emblem of literary success), _wan fu yu t’ung_ (may infinite happiness embrace all your affairs!) Two of them are known to have sixteenth-century European mounts, viz. the red bowl mentioned on p. 6, and a green specimen in the British Museum.[138] Without denying the possibility of some of the red examples dating back to the Yung Lo period, the conclusion is almost irresistible that we have here in one case the _fan hung_ decoration which replaced the _hsien hung_ in the Chia Ching period, and in another the _ts’ui lü_ (emerald green), named among the colours of the Imperial Chia Ching porcelains.

The Chia Ching monochromes already mentioned include white, blue, sky blue, lustrous brown, turquoise, green, yellow, and aubergine, with or without designs engraved in the paste (_an hua_). None of these call for any further comment, unless it be the distinction between blue and sky blue of the Imperial wares. The former, no doubt, resulted from the Mohammedan blue (blended with native cobalt) mixed with the glaze, and must have been a fine blue of slightly violet tone: the latter was apparently the lavender-tinted blue which goes by the name of sky blue on the more modern porcelains.

We read in more than one passage in the Chinese works that the imitation of the classical porcelains of Hsüan Tê and Ch’êng Hua was practised in the Chia Ching period, and the name of a private potter who excelled in this kind of work has been preserved. A note on this artist, given in the _T’ao lu_[139] under the heading _Ts’ui kung[140] yao_, or Wares of Mr. Ts’ui, may be rendered as follows:--

“In the Chia Ching and Lung Ch’ing periods there lived a man who was clever at making porcelain (_t’ao_). He was famed for imitations of the wares in the traditional style and make of the Hsüan Tê and Ch’êng Hua periods, and in his time he enjoyed the highest reputation. The name given to his wares was Mr. Ts’ui’s porcelain (_ts’ui kung yao tz’ŭ_), and they were eagerly sought in all parts of the empire. As for the shape of his cups (_ch’ien_), when compared with the Hsüan and Ch’êng specimens[141] they differed in size but displayed the same skill and perfection of design. In the blue and polychrome wares his colours were all like the originals. His were, in fact, the cream of the porcelains made in the private factories (_min t’ao_).”

[Illustration: PLATE 74

Two Bowls in the British Museum with gilt designs on a monochrome ground. Probably Chia Ching period (1522–1566)

Fig. 1 with lotus scroll with etched details on a ground of iron red (_fan hung_) outside. Inside is figure of a man holding a branch of cassia, a symbol of literary success, painted in underglaze blue. Mark in blue, _tan kuei_ (red cassia.) Diameter 4½ inches.

Fig. 2 with similar design on ground of emerald green enamel. Mark in blue in the form of a coin or _cash_ with the characters _ch’ang ming fu kuei_ (long life, riches and honours!). Diameter 4¾ inches.]

It is interesting to note that the imitation of the early Ming porcelains began as soon as this, and we may infer from the usual Chinese procedure that the marks of the Hsüan Tê and Ch’êng Hua periods were duly affixed to these clever copies.

_Lung Ch’ing_ [chch 2] (1567–1572)

We read in the _T’ao shuo_[142] that the Imperial factory was re-established in the sixth year of this reign (1572), and placed under the care of the assistant prefects of the district. This would seem to imply that for the greater part of this brief period the Imperial works had been in abeyance. Be this as it may, there was no falling off in the quantity of porcelain commanded for the Court, and the extravagant and burdensome demands evoked a protest from Hsü Ch’ih, the president of the Censorate,[143] in 1571. It was urged among other things that the secret of the copper red colour (_hsien hung_) had been lost, and that the potters should be allowed to use the iron red (_fan hung_) in its place: that the size and form of the large fish bowls which were ordered made their manufacture almost impossible: that the designs for the polychrome (_wu ts’ai_) painting were too elaborate, and that square boxes made in three tiers were a novelty difficult to construct. Fire and flood had devastated Ching-tê Chên, and many of the workmen had fled, and he (the president) begged that a large reduction should be made in the palace orders.

We are not told whether this memorial to the emperor had the desired effect. In the case of the next emperor a similar protest resulted in a large reduction of the demands. But the document discloses several interesting facts, and among other things we learn that the designs for some of the ware and for the coloured decoration were still sent from the palace as in the days of Ch’êng Hua.

The official lists of porcelain actually supplied to the Court of Lung Ch’ing have been briefly summarised in the _T’ao shuo_[144]; but they do not include any new forms, and the motives of decoration were in the main similar to those recorded in the Chia Ching lists. The following, however, may be added to the summary in the previous chapter:--

The _yü tsan hua_, rendered in Giles’s Dictionary as the “tuberose,” by Bushell as the “iris.”

Clumps of chrysanthemum flowers.

Interlacing scrolls of _mu-tan_ peony.

_Ch’ang ch’un_ (long spring) flowers, identified by Bushell with the “jasmine.”

A “joyous meeting,” symbolised according to Bushell by a pair of magpies.

The Tartar pheasant (_chai chih_).

The season flowers supporting the characters [chch 4] _ch’ien k’un ch’ing t’ai_, “Heaven and earth fair and fruitful!”

Monsters (_shou_) in sea waves.

Flying fish.

Historical scenes (_ku shih_), as well as genre subjects (_jên wu_).

Children playing with branches of flowers.

This last design occurs both in the form of belts of foliage scrolls, among which are semi-nude boys, and of medallions with a boy holding a branch, on blue and white and polychrome wares of the late Ming period. But it is a design of considerable antiquity, and it is found engraved on the early Corean bowls which, no doubt, borrowed from Sung originals.

Though all these designs are given under the general heading of blue and white, we may infer that the polychrome which is occasionally mentioned was used in combination with the blue. Thus the mention of “phœnixes in red clouds flying through flowers,” of “nine red dragons in blue waves,” and of “a pair of dragons in red clouds,” recalls actual specimens which I have seen of Lung Ch’ing and Wan Li boxes with designs of blue dragons moving through clouds touched in with iron red. Again, where the blue designs are supplemented with “curling waves and plum blossoms in polychrome (_wu ts’ai_),” one thinks of the well-known pattern of conventional waves on which blossom and symbols are floating, as on Plate 79. Other types of decoration mentioned are yellow grounds and white glaze, both with dragon designs engraved under the glaze (_an hua_), peacocks and _mu-tan_ peonies in gilding, and moulded ornament. A specific example of the last are the lions which served as knobs on the covers of the ovoid wine jars (_t’an_).

The author of the _T’ao shuo_ pays a handsome tribute to the skill of the late Ming potters. “We find,” he says, “that the porcelain of the Ming dynasty daily increased in excellence till we come to the reigns of Lung Ch’ing and Wan Li, when there was nothing that could not be made.” At the same time he finds fault with a particular kind of decoration which was encouraged by the degraded and licentious tastes of the Emperor Lung Ch’ing, and seems to have only too frequently marred the porcelain of the period.[145]

The rare examples of marked Lung Ch’ing porcelain in our collections do not call for special comment, and the unmarked specimens will hardly be distinguished from the productions of the succeeding Wan Li period. There are, however, two boxes in the British Museum which may be regarded as characteristic specimens of the Imperial blue and white porcelains. Both are strongly made with thick but fine-grained body material and a glaze of slightly greenish tone; and the designs are boldly sketched in strong outline and washed in with a dark indigo blue. One is a square box with four compartments decorated with five-clawed dragons in cloud scrolls, extended or coiled in medallions according as space demanded; and the other is oblong and rectangular, and painted on the sides (the cover is missing) with scenes of family life (_jên wu_). In both cases the base is unglazed except for a sunk medallion in which the six characters of the Lung Ch’ing mark are finely painted in blue.

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