312 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



CHIN DYNASTY, 266 TO 419. 



Under the Chin dynasty (A. D. 266 to 419) another manufactory is 

 mentioned as existinj^ in the present department of Wenchou, in Cheh- 

 kiang province, which produced porcelain (known as Tung-ou t'ao) of 

 a blue (or possiblj^ celadon) color which was held in high esteem. 



SUI DYNASTY, 581 TO 617. 



Under the Sui dynasty, in spite of its short-liyed existence, consid- 

 erable progress appears to have taken place. Mention is made of a 

 green porcelain manufactured under the directions of Ho Chou or Ho 

 Kuei-lin, president of the board of works, to replace glass, the method 

 of making which had been forgotten ""since its introduction into China 

 by Indian or Syrian artisans about A. D. 424." ^ A celebrated work- 

 man, named T'ao Yii,'^ is said to have produced porcelain so like jade, 

 that is, semitransparent and of vitreous appearance, that his vases 

 were known as "artificial jade;" and about the close of this or the 

 beginning of the following d3^nasty porcelain, white in color and 

 bright as jade (known as Ho-yao, i. e.. Ho porcelain), was manufac- 

 tured by Ho Chung-ch'u, a workman who came from Hsinp'ing, the 

 district where porcelain {tz^v) had its first origin under the Han dynasty. 

 An imperial decree of 5S3 ordered the establishment of a manufactory 

 at the place now known as Chingte-chen (so named from the title of 

 the period,^ Chingte, in which it was inaugurated) for articles for the 

 use of the imperial household, and several others sprang up in the 

 vicinity shortly afterwards. 



' F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 230 et seq. 



■■'The producer's reputed name, meaning as it does "faience or kihi jade," sounds 

 apocryphal, and seems more likely to have been the term by which this ware was 

 known. 



^ It being contrary to etiquette to mention the personal name of a Chinese sovereign, 

 the practice was introduced B. C. 163, under the earlier Han dynasty, of the mon- 

 arch, on his accession to the throne, selecting some title for his reign in place of the 

 title of Prince so-and-so, which had been usually employed prior to the time of Shih 

 Huangti, B. C. 221. These titles were usually so chosen as to be of happy augury, 

 but if, in spite of such good omen, disorder or misfortune ensued or some other rea- 

 son seemed to render a change advisable, one title would be abandoned in favor of 

 another. This title is termed n?en-/(ao, "the year designation," because so long as 

 it lasted the date of all events was chronicled as such and such a year of such and 

 such a title, or nien-hao. Upon his death, however, the emperor received an honor- 

 ific title, and but one title, no matter how many n(>n-/ioo, or "year designations," 

 he may have employed while alive, under which the religious ceremonies due to him 

 were offered, and which is therefore termed the miao-hao, or "temple designation." 

 Thus it results that when in Chinese literature a deceased emperor is personally 

 alluded to he is spoken of under his "temple designation," while if the date of an 

 event which occurred during his reign is quoted it is said to have taken place in such 

 and such a year of the appropriate "year designation." Take, as an instance, the 

 la.st emperor of the Yiian dynasty, who reigned from 1333 to 1367; if spoken of per- 

 sonally his title would be Shunti of the Yuan dynasty; but if the year 1331 were 



