410 REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



siderably accelerated by the euonnous extent of the imperial orders 

 for the supply of the palace, which, sometimes aggregating 100,000 

 pairs of articles on a single occasion, taxed the resources of the 

 government factories beyond their strength, with the result that, in 

 order to economize money and labor, colors which were expensive or 

 difficult to procure, were replaced by others less costly and more simple 

 in their ingredients, and artistic beauty and excellence of workmanship 

 were sacrificed to promptness in providing the supplies ordered. It is 

 the gradual dispersion of the articles comprised in the vast orders 

 issued during the Lungch'ing (1567 to 1572) and Wanli (1573 to 1619) 

 periods that has provided the bulk of the specimens in the possession 

 of modern collectors of what has come to be considered (though in view 

 of the much higher artistic merit of the ware produced under earlier 

 emperors very unfairly considered) the characteristic Ming porcelain, 

 porcelain somewhat coarse in make, faulty in shape, and decorated with 

 paintings which, though characterized by boldness of design, are usually 

 marked by want of care in execution. 



While, however, the work of the government factories showed these 

 unmistakable signs of decadence, strenuous efforts were made by a 

 few isolated private manufacturers to raise the art to its earlier level 

 of excellence. The imitations by Ohou Tan-ch'iian of the beautiful old 

 Tingchou ware, and the cups of Hao Shih-chi of a "dewy-dawn red'' 

 and of eggshell (the latter at times only weighing one-fortieth of an 

 ounce apiece) are spoken of in terms of the highest admiration, and 

 brought fabulous prices. But though these efforts were, if the 

 statements of Chinese writers can be relied upon, crowned with 

 complete success so far as the artist's individual productions were 

 concerned, they were inadequate to prevent the downward tendency 

 exerted by the government establishments at Chingte-chen, which 

 had already for a long while almost monopolized the production of 

 porcelain in China. 



During the remainder of the period that the Ming dynasty held the 

 throne its energies were so much occupied in endeavoring to suppress 

 internal disorder and in resisting the attacks of the Manchu Tartars 

 on its northern frontiers that no attention was paid to the ceramic art. 



From 1403 to 1424. 



During the Yunglo period (1403 to 1424) much white porcelain, with 

 ornamentation in blue under the glaze, commonly known in Europe as 

 " blue and white china," was manufactured, which holds third place in 

 regard to excellence among this class of ware produced during the 

 Ming dynasty, that of the Hsiiante period (1426 to 1435) occupying the 

 first, and that of the Ch'enghua period (1465 to 1487) the second place. 

 The blue employed is stated in the annals of Pouliang to have been 

 brought from some Mohammedan country as tribute, and was thence 

 known as Mohammedan bine. Dnring the Yunglo and Hsiiante periods 



