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.