CERAMIC ART IN CHINA. 399 



tional lotus flower below, and a larger flower of same above, with scroll-like 

 foliage on a <leep magenta ground, whieh is covered outside the flowers and 

 leaves with delicate foliate ornamentation engraved in the i)aste. Earliest 

 specimens of the so-called "medallion bowls" which a few years ago brought 

 sucli high prices in England. Mark as on No. 186. Height, 2^ inches; 

 diameter, 5| inches. 

 :'42. DIkIi of white porcelain, of low, slightly ovate shape, formed by a lotus leaf 

 (Xi'linnhiiiD) xjteciosKiii) curling uj* at edges, veining incised on in.side and in 

 relief on outside; a flower and seed-pod ascend on outside from beneath leaf 

 to rest on its edge, while a lizard crawls from inside having its body on the 

 leaf-edge and head raised itloft. Covered throughout with flue "peacock" 

 green glaze, uncrackled. No mark. Diameter, 8i and 9| inches. 

 243. Snuff-bottk of pure white Chienlung porcelain, of flattened ovate shape termi- 

 nating in long, slender neck. On one side is Yang Kuei-fei, and on the 

 other Hsi Shih clad in rich embroidered robes playing on the guitar, painted 

 with great delicacy above 1)rilliant glaze. No mark. 



Yang Kuei-fei, the daughter of an obscure otflcial in the modern Szee- 

 huen, was introduced by the designing minister Li Liu-fu into the 

 seraglio of the Emperor Ming Huang, of the T'ang dynasty (died 

 A. I). 762). Becoming enamored of her beauty, the Emperor aban- 

 doned the wise counsels of Chang Yiich, Chang Chin-ling, and other 

 ministers, under whose administration the empire enjoyed great 

 prosperity, and sank, year by year, more deeply in the toils of amo- 

 rous dalliance. The Princess Yang's three sisters were also intro- 

 duced into the seraglio and endowed with valuable fiefs. No outlay 

 was spared in gratifying the caprices and covetousness of this family 

 of favorites, and the nation was sacrificed to the licentious enjoy- 

 ment of the court, till at last the people rose in revolt, the aged 

 monarch was forced to take refuge in western China, and, after 

 undergoing the mi.sery of witnessing the butchery of his favorites, 

 to abdicate in favor of his son. 

 Hsi Shih, the daughter of humble parents, but the ne plus ultra of love- 

 liness in Chinese tradition. A report of her consummate beauty 

 having reached the ears of her sovereign, Kou Chien, Prince of 

 : Yiich, a state occupying the east coast of China below the Yangtse 



in the fifth century B. C, he had the girl trained in all the accom- 

 plishments of her sex and sent her as a present to his victorious 

 r rival, the Prince of Wu, in the hope that her charms might prove 



I his ruin. The stratagem was successful and Fu Ch'a, Prince of Wu, 



J abandoning himself to lustful dalliance, was ere long defeated 



J and crushed. It is said of Hsi Shih that finding her beauty was 



* enhanced by an air of melancholy, she was accustomed to knit her 

 .* brows as though in pain, and this device, adding as it did to her 



attractiveness, was copied by rival beauties, who vainly sought to 



* equal her charms. ' 



r 244. Vnse, white Chienlung porcelain, Vjulging from foot to two-thirds height, then 

 I contracting to short everted neck. Ornamented with long trailing stalks of 



^ conventional lotus flowers and leaves moulded in relief on paste; confined 



> below ))y foliate panel ornamentation, also in relief, with shading engraved 



in the paste, and at)Ove, by a band of same, having above it a band of geo- 

 metrical pattern and round the neck a foliate band, both engraved in the 

 paste and covered by a celadon glaze so faint as to be almost white. No 

 mark. Height, 12| inches. 



'Mayers, Chinese Reader's Manual, No. 571. 



