840 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



mentioned bj' Chinese writers is cups intended for use upon the palace 

 altars, and hence termed tan-cJum^ which are said to have resembled 

 white jade and to have been exceptionally beautiful. One maker, 

 named Ts'ui, who is stated to have lived during this and the following 

 reio"n, is however mentioned as a successful imitator of the porcelain of 

 the Hsiiante and Ch'enghua periods, his productions being known as 

 Ts'ui-kung yao-tz'% " Mr. Ts'ui's porcelain ware."^ 



From 1567 to 1619. 



During the Lungching (1567 to 1572) and Wanli (1573 to 1619) 

 periods it appears to have been difficult to obtain supplies of good 

 clav; and this fact, combined with the increasing disorder throughout 

 the Empire and the enormous extent of the supplies ordered for palace 

 use, caused a marked deterioration in the quality of the ware produced, 

 though the workmanship is at times highl}^ spoken of, especially in the 

 case of porcelain decorated in enamel colors — the most highly prized 

 having marks on them resembling "millet grains," or a surface marked 

 as with the pittings on orange peel {Vapparcmce chagrinee d'^une peau 

 d"" orange). 



While, however, the productions of the government factories were 

 marked b}^ an ever-increasing decadence, serious efforts were made by 

 private producers to stay the downward tendency, and two individuals 

 would seem to have won for themselves and their ware a very high 

 reputation. Chou Tan-ch'iian, a native of Wumen, imitated the ancient 

 masterpieces of Tinchow porcelain so successf ull}^ that the most expert 

 connoisseurs failed, it is said, to detect the fraud, and willingly pur- 

 chased them at such enormous sums as 1,000 ounces of silver each 

 ($1,500). Another maker, of unknown origin, but whose name tradi- 

 tion says was Hao Shih-chiu, made cups of "liquid-dawn tint," bright 

 as vermilion, and of egg-shell of a beautiful brilliant white, and weigh- 

 ing in some cases only just over half a penn}" weight, or about one- 

 fortieth of an ounce, for which extravagant prices were paid. This all 

 sounds, however, much exaggerated. Other productions of his were 

 celadon vases resem]>ling Kuan-yao, or the elder Chang's ware (Ko-yao), 

 except that they were not crackled, and vases of a color which the 

 French tevrnfeiulle-morte, or fond Icujae., a brown or coffee tint, derived 

 from ferruginous clay. This artist was known as Ilu-hung., "Mr. 

 Pots," or Hu-yln-tao-jen., "the Taoist hidden in a pot," apparently 

 pseudonyms adopted T)y him in allusion to an old legend preserved in 

 the /Shen-/isien-e/iu(t n , an ancient work on Taoist immortals, and signed 

 his jars with the mark Jlu-yln-lao-jen, "the old man hidden in the 

 pot." According to the legend, Hu-kung, the Old Man of the Pot, 

 was a magician, endowed with marvelous powers of healing, who lived 



^S. Julien, L'Histoire et la Fabrication de la Porcelaine Chinoise pp. 97, 100. 



