130 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



forms vary in size with that of their spaces, and are distributed 

 within them with the skill of sound and well-established ornamental 

 design. A slight obliteration has taken place in course of time and 

 interferes a little with the definition of them, but there is nothing of 

 haphazard or barbaric art about them. The strange forms given to 

 the birds and dragons on the wine vase were meant as ornament; 

 more graceful realistic forms were designed and modeled at this 

 period, so that the strangeness is by no means due to want of ability 

 to do better, and does not therefore imply barbaric or primitive 

 performance. The other vase (pi. 1, fig. 2), with elephants' heads 

 and rings, is of another phase of treatment, but one just as old as 

 that of the conventional qrnament on the wine vase. The ornament 

 in this second vase is freer and more dainty, and some of the details 

 are much more naturalistic. In the upper broad band about the 

 neck are graceful, slim dragons upon a background fretted with the 

 key pattern. About the bowl of the vase the background is of small 

 continuous stems with spirals, upon which are large conventional 

 forms, which, by the way, are arranged rather like those of our own 

 seventeenth century strap ornament. Authorities say that this old 

 Chinese conventional ornament is one of many which are intended to 

 be emblematical of the dragon. Above it occur two Vandyke panels 

 filled with a pointed device, which is suggestive, at least, of a lotus 

 blossom, a detail very frequent in Mohammedan ornament done by 

 Persians centuries later. Around the base is a band of swirling and 

 foaming waves. These two bronzes give us at least some idea of 

 unusual versatility in ornamental design. But besides such examples 

 as" these of the great technical skill and mature power of design 

 possessed by the Chinese in the eighth century B. C. and much earlier, 

 too, there are still older traditions and records of Avhat they were 

 doing in the ornamental arts. Some 2000 B. C, for instance, some 

 500 years before Joseph introduced his brethren to Pharoah, who 

 would have been wearing a long flax tunic spotted with simple lotus 

 buds inwoven with colored wools, the Emperor Shun's silken robes 

 had been woven and embroidered with the 12 chang or ornaments. 

 These consisted of (1) a solar disk upon a bank of clouds, a three- 

 legged bird within the disk; (2) a lunar disk containing a hare with 

 pestle and mortar pounding the elixir of life; (3) a constellation of 

 three stars; (4) mountains; (5) five-clawed dragons; (6) variegated 

 pheasants; (7) a pair of temple vases somewhat like one of those we 

 have seen, but ornamented with a tiger and a monkey; (8) grass in 

 sprays; (9) fiery scrolls; (10) grains of millet grouped in a medal- 

 lion; (11) a warrior's ax, and (12) a symbol resembling two E's 

 back to back. 



It would take up too much time to go on reciting the number of 

 other different representative and fanciful ornaments that enter into 



