The Beginnings of Porcelain in China 



INTRODUCTORY 



In February of 19 10, while in Si-ngan fu, the capital of Shen-si 

 Province, the writer received from Mr. Yen, a Chinese scholar and 

 antiquarian of note with whom he was on very friendly terms, a curious 

 bit of ancient pottery, which at first sight bore all the characteristic 

 marks associated with what is known as Han pottery, but which, on 

 the other hand, exhibited a body and a glaze radically different from 

 that ware (Plate I). Mr. Yen accompanied the object with a written 

 message, explaining the circumstances under which it had been found, 

 and commenting to some extent on its historical value. Following 

 is a literal rendering of his letter: "I once heard dealers say that they 

 had seen 'Han porcelain' (Han ts'e $IJt&), but I had no faith in this 

 statement. In the winter of the year ting wei T tJc (1907) I secured 

 a large vase, and suspected that it might be an object of the Han 

 period, but did not dare to be positive about this point. In the spring 

 of last year some one brought to light, from a Han grave which he had 

 excavated, ancient jade pieces and such-like things, together with 

 an enormous iron cooking-stove. On the latter are found, cast in 

 high relief, six characters reading, 'Great felicity! May it be service- 

 able to the lords!' (ta ki ch'ang i hou wang ^C cf H *£L $: 3: ). On the 

 top of this stove was placed a small 'porcelain jar.' I lost no time in 

 sending out an agent to effect a purchase, but the stove had already 

 passed into the hands of a merchant. So I obtained only the 'porce- 

 lain jar' in question, the material and style of which proved identical 

 with those of the large vase purchased by me years ago. For this 

 reason I now felt positive that the question is here of 'Han porcelain.' 

 Subsequently I acquired also a jar of the type styled lei f&, and big 

 and small vases; in all, four. From that time the designation 'Han 

 porcelain' began to be established in the world. 



"Written in Ch'ang-ngan by Yen Kan-yuan $1 ~M* M on the day 

 when the flowers sprout forth (Hf 36 ^ ) , of the second month of 

 the second year of the period Suan-t'ung (February 27, 19 10)." 



While I had a deep respect for Mr. Yen's learning and extensive 

 knowledge of archaeological subjects, I remained sceptic as to the 

 identification of his jar with what he styled Han ts'e, and, though recog- 

 nizing its intrinsic merit as a piece of evidence filling a lacune in our 



79 



