328 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



The same authority adds that none of these porcelains lasted long. 

 Specimens are, however, I believe, still to be found. Hsiang Tzu- 

 ching, after describing a small jar, of globular form, with two boldly 

 designed phcenixes molded in high relief as handles, interrupting a 

 border of spirally ornamented medallions, adds: 



Chiinchow porcelain is put at the bottom of tlie Sung potteries, yet a jar like this 

 one, of elegant form, good color, and fine engraved work, equals^, if not excels, as a 

 flower vase, one of Ju, Kuan, Ko, or Ting pottery. It is marked beneath with the 

 numeral wa, five, an additional proof that it is really a Chiin piece.' 



TUNG-CH'ING-YAO. 



Tnn(i-ch>%ng-yao^ or celadon porcelain, from the eastern capital, was 

 produced at factories situated in the department of K'aifeng, Honan 

 province, the so-called eastern capital of the Sung monarchs, before 

 their I'etreat southward, from 960 to 1126. It was of various shades 

 of celadon, uncrackled (seemingly), with the ornamentation engraved 

 under the glaze. The description given by Hsiang Tzii-ching of a 

 small vessel of this ware will convey a truer idea of its character than 

 the vague disquisition of the encycloptedists. 



"It is of hexagonal form, with lobed border, decorated in panels, 

 with formal sprays of flowers, plum blossoms, polyporus fungus, and 

 grass, chrysanthemum, bamboo, etc., carved in relief under a glaze of 

 bright green color like jade, raised in faint millet-like tubercles."^ 



LESS CELEBRATED VARIETIES. 



in addition to the above celebrated productions of the Sung dynasty, 

 the following l^ss remarkable varieties may be mentioned: 

 The Ilsiao-yao^ from the Hsiao district, in the department of Hsuchou, 



Kiangnan province, extremely thin and brilliant, white in color, 



and very elegant in shape and workmanship. 

 The Chichow-yao^ from the district of that name, corresponding with 



the present Luling district, in the department of Chi-an, Kiangnan 



province; both white and violet, the latter closely resembling the 



pots and saucers for growing sword grass," are translated by M. Julien "les plats 

 sous le pied desquels on a peint un glaieul.". This misconception of the meaning 

 has, as Doctor Hirth points out, led astray all later writers on porcelain and its marks, 

 who have thus been led by Julien into describing the acorns as a mark, when found 

 on the foot of a vessel of its being a Kiun (Chiin) piece of the finest quality. Doctor 

 Hirth also draws attention to the fact that the expression t'u-ssii-wcn, translated 

 by Julien when treating of one class of this porcelain as showing "veines imitant les 

 soies (polls) du lievre," really means showing veining like the cuscuta or dodder — 

 t'n-sna being the name of that plant. 



'S. W. Busheli, Chinese Porcelain before the Present Dynasty, No. 20, 30, 41, 79. 

 S. Julien, L'Histoire et la Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise, pp. 74, 75. F. Hirth, 

 Ancient Chmese Porcelam, pp. 16, 17. 



■•'S. Juhen, op. cit., pp. 67-69; S. W. Busheli, op. cit., No. 70. 



