rEKAMir ART IN (IIINA. 879 



5;i. I'nsr, of square body, i-ontratrtiiig to form short, fircular, everted iiei'k, on wliich 

 above each side of the body is the character for "longevity," shuu, in four 

 out of the hundred forms it may take in the "seal" style of writing. The 

 four sides of the body bear two paintings in the distinctive colors of la Jatiiillr 

 rcrte, one of the famous club of the seven worthies of the bamboo grove 

 anuising themselves with nuisic, chess, and wine; the other a historical scene 

 representing an ancient general on his way to attack the Man-tz'u, or South- 

 ern Chinese, giving audience .during a halt upon the banks of the Yangtse. 

 Between the paintings are lengthy disquisitions suggested by the subjects of 

 the drawings. As these are dated ' ' the 29th day of the 9th moon of the year 

 of the cyclic characters Kwel ino,^' that is, 1703, it is justifiable to conclude 

 that is the date of the vase, that being the only year to which these charac- 

 ters would apply during K'anghsi's reign to which the coloring shows it to 

 belong. Mark, a leaf. Height, 18| inches. (See Plate 2.) 



The club of the seven worthies of the bamboo grove was an association 

 of convivial men of letters, formed in the latter half of the third 

 century, who were accustomed to meet for learned discussions and 

 jovial relaxation in a grove of bamboos. The seven worthies were 

 Hsiang Tz'u-Ch'i; Chi Shu-yeh, a celebrated functionary and man 

 of letters, but no less renowned as a lover of the wine-cup and as a 

 musician. He was also an ardent devotee of alchemy. Incurring 

 the displeasure of Ss'u-ma Chao, minister of the last sovereign of 

 the house of Wei, he was executed as a propagator of magic arts and 

 heretical doctrines, when he showed his contemj)tof death by tuning 

 his guitar on the way to execution; Lin Po-lun, who was wholly 

 devoted to joviality and wished he could be accompanied by a grave- 

 digger to at once inter him should he fall dead over his i-ups; 8han 

 Chii-yuan, a statesman, under Wu Ti of the T'ang dynasty, cele- 

 brated for the patronage he extended to rising talent; WangChi'in- 

 chung, a minister of Hwei Ti of the house of Chin, at once infamous 

 for his avarice and for having intrusted the discharge of his duties 

 to base underlings that he might altandon himself to a life of extrava- 

 gance and pleasure; Yi'ian Chung-jung, famous as a lover of music 

 and wine, and as a philosoi)her studying content and nioileration 

 in preference to the ways of ambition; and Yiian Tz'u-tsung, uncle 

 of the last, a pu))lic functionary, but preferring the (luietism preached 

 l)y the philos()i)hers Lao-tze and Chuang-tze, whose follower he 

 professed himself to be, to tlie toils of public life.' 

 54, 55. J 'Idles (a i)air) of white K'anghsi porcelain, decorated inside with a painting 

 in natural colors of the great Taoist sage and philosopher Lao-tze, with lofty 

 head, seated under a tree; his attendant is preparing writing materials for 

 his use. Round the brim are the eight Buddhistic emblems joined by con- 

 ventional foliage of natural color, but of paler tones than the central design. 

 Mark, as on No. 44. Diameter, 6J inches. 



Lao-tze was the founder of the Taoist system of philosoi)hy. He is said 

 to have been surnamed Li and named Erh, l)ut his history is almost 

 altogether legendary. His l)iography, as given by the great histo- 

 rian Ss'u-ma Cliien, who wrote the first comprehensive survey of the 

 history of China from the legendary period of Huangti down to B. C. 

 104, contains, however, some particulars which may be considered 

 authentic. According to this account he was the keeper of the records 

 at Lo, the capital of the Chou dynasty, about the close of the sixth 

 century B. C, and professed a doctrine of abstraction from worldly 



'Mayers, Chinese Reader's Manual, Nos. 246, 411, 587, 799, 96;5, 968. 



