n6 Beginnings of Porcelain 



comments on this passage, that ngo has there the meaning of "white 

 clay" (pai ngo), which, he adds, is identical with the term pai shan 

 used in the Herbals (pen ts'ao), so that what he means is doubtless 

 kaolin. Also Yen Shi-ku (579-645), annotating the same word in the 

 Han Annals, states that "it is identical with what is now called 'white 

 earth' (pai Vu)." It is interesting that these Confucian scholars of 

 the third and sixth centuries respectively were acquainted with kaolin, 

 thus following suit with their Taoist colleagues; but it appears rather 

 doubtful whether the term, as used in the Annals of Se-ma Ts'ien, can 

 really be credited with the significance "kaolin." There is no other 

 testimony to this effect (leaving aside the dubious Shan hat king) in 

 the Han period; and, be this as it may, the passage in question is not 

 conclusive, the substance ngo being mentioned solely as a product of 

 nature, without any allusion to human exploitation. In the Glossary 

 of the T'ang Annals the term ngo is interpreted as "white earth" 

 (pai fu U i). 1 



In the T'ang period, kaolin formed also a desirable article for tribute 

 or taxes to the Court, which certainly means that it was employed in 

 the manufacture of pottery. The Wu ti ki £i i& 12 ("Records of the 

 Land of Wu"), by Lu Kuang-wei ££ M t^, written at the end of the 

 ninth century, mentions the mountains of Hang In! tfj as hoarding 

 white earth that resembles jade and is very resplendent, and that the 

 people of Wu, who gathered it, sent as tribute under the name pai 

 ngo. 2 



Passing beyond the Han period, we find the word ngo employed in 

 times of antiquity, but in a peculiar sense, quite distinct from the later 

 significance "potter's clay." In the early period it was strictly an 

 architectural term, and implied a function falling within the province 

 of a mason. This ancient significance is acknowledged by the dic- 

 tionary Erh ya, which, in its section concerned with the nomenclature 

 of buildings, states that ngo is the designation for a whitewashed wall; 

 and the dictionary Shi ming W & , by Liu Hi §'j 88 of the Posterior 

 Han, is still more explicit on this point, as evidenced by the annotation 

 that the wall is first raised from mud, and then invested with a coating 

 of lime.' The Shuo wen explains the term as "white plaster" (pai Vu 

 6 fifc). The principal office of the word was that of a verb, with the 



1 T'ang shu shi yin, Ch. 5, p. 20. 



1 According to the Gazetteer of the Prefecture of Su-chou (5m chou fu chi, 

 Ch. 20, p. 15b), kaolin is still dug on the Yang-shan near Su-chou to a depth of a 

 hundred feet. 



, 5fctS^L^C^QKI$^-& ( Shi min &< section 5, p. 8; ed. of King sun t'ang 

 ts'ung shu or Han wet ts'ung shu). 



