THE CERAMIC ART IN CHINA. 397 



from a passage ill tlie PHng him-p'-u, aii essay on flower-pots aud flowers 

 iQ pots, from the pea of Chang Ch'ieute, an author who wrote near the 

 close of the Ming dynasty, that is, about the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth century : 



lu ancient times no vases were made of porcelain, aud up to the T'ang dynasty all 

 such vessels were made of copper. It was not till then that pottery came into vogue. 

 After this period we find a large number of classes of porcelain, such as the kinds 

 known as Ch'ai (that described above), Ju, Kuan, Ko, Ting, Lungch'iian Chiinchou, 

 Changsheng, Wuni (all of the Sung dynasty period), Hsuante and Ch'enghua (of the 

 Ming dynasty). Among antiquities, copper articles are the best; of porcelain, the 

 Ch'ai and Ju kinds, though the best of all, have ceased to exist; Kuan, Ko, Hsiian, 

 and Ting porcelains are the most precious curiosities of the present day; whereas the 

 porcelains called Luugch'iian (the heavy old celadons of modern collectors), Chiin- 

 chou, Changsheng, Wuni and Ch'enghua are esteemed as objects of only secondary 

 value." * 



As Chang Ch'ien-te further says that he constantly met with speci- 

 mens of Juchou ijorcelain, and since vases of that ware are figured 

 in Hsiang TzQ-chiug's catalogue, it would appear that this highly 

 esteemed porcelain must have disappeared from the fmarket towards 

 the close of the sixteenth century. It is curious, too, that while Chang 

 Ch'ien-te places the productions of the Ch'enghua period (1465 to 1487[ 

 at the foot of the list of porcelains of " only secondary value," the 

 prices paid for this ware within a century of its production were very 

 high. In Hsiang Tzu-chiug's catalogue the price paid for a tazza-shaped 

 cup is stated to have been 60 taels (or $90 gold); and of two miniature 

 wiuecups he says, " these are choice specimens of the wine cups of 

 this celebrated reign, aud are valued at 100 taels ($150 gold) the jjair, 

 yet now even for this money it is impossible to get them."t 



SUNG DYNASTY, 960 to 1259. 



The porcelain manufactured under this dynasty appears to have far 

 excelled in quality and delicacy of workmanship all that preceded it, 

 the Ch'ai-yao aloue perhaps excepted. The shapes and ornamental 

 decorations appear to have been modelled, as a rule, after ancient 

 bronzes, as figured in illustrated catalogues of the most celebrated 

 specimens of such vessels (as the Po ku t'u), published during the 

 Hsiian-ho period, 1119 to 1125, and the K'aoku-t'u; and when not 

 modeled after such ancient designs, the vessel took the form of some 

 natural object, as a tree or flower or of some animal real or imaginary. 

 In the former the pattern was engraved with a pointed style in the 

 paste, and was broken here and there by lions' or dragons' heads in 

 bold relief, with an elaboration and wealth of ornament hitherto un- 

 dreamed of. That a remarkable degree of proficiency had by this time 

 been obtained in the Ceramic art is evident from the descriptions pre- 



* Hirth : Ancient Porcelain, p. 10. t liushell : Op. cit.. No. 55, 59. 



