418 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



Hu-kung was in his, and although invisible, he himself — that is, his in- 

 ventive genius — is contained in it. It impresses me as the most sympa- 

 thetic device a ceramic artist could select as a mark." * 



PRESENT DYNASTY, 1644 to DATE. 



The factories at Chingte-chen, which had been closed during the last 

 years of the Ming dynasty, were not re-opeued till the Manchu emper- 

 ors had firmly seated themselves upon the throne — during the reign of 

 K'anghsi (A. D. 1662 to 1722). He and his two successors, Yungcheng 

 (L723tol735) and Ohienlung (1736 to 1795), w^iile maintaining the 

 qualities which had enabled their race to gain its high position, at once 

 adopted the civilization of the conquered nation. No less eminent as 

 scholars and statesmen than as able generals, loving the magnificent 

 but no less aiming at practical utility, they set vigorously to work to re- 

 form those portions of the theoretically admirable system of govern- 

 ment which had been allowed to fall into decay, to improve and beautify 

 the capital and its palaces, to diffuse education and to encourage the 

 fine arts. The factories at Chingte-cheu were not slow to feel the effects 

 of this change of system. The kilns increased rapidly in number, till 

 at the date of P. d'Entrecolles' letters, they aggregated over three 

 hundred in full activity, the fires of which at night so illuminated the 

 hills surrounding the plain in which the town stands, that it seemed as 

 some vast city abandoned to the tiames, and over a million souls found 

 a means of livelihood in its busy streets. The production was not char- 

 acterized by activity alone, however. The ablest artists were employed 

 to paint and to design ornamentation, to enhance the beauty of which 

 they at times availed themselves of foreign ideas ; odes from the emperor's 

 pen were reproduced upon vases in fac simile, or short extracts were in- 

 troduced as subjects for illustration; vases and cups were specially or- 

 dered to confer upon distinguished personages, their achievments being 

 epitomized in the paintings which decorated these precious heirlooms 

 (N"o. 169); the workmen and decorative artists were educated to a 

 higher level of proficiency ; and the direction of the factories was con- 

 fided to officers who were known to be possessed of the knowledge re- 

 quisite for such a position. Progress was sure and rapid; and during 

 the seventy-five years between 1698 and 1773 — comprising roughly the 

 latter half of K'anghsi's reign, the whole of Yungcheng's and rather 

 more than half that of Chienluug — the manufacture and decoration of 

 porcelain in China attained a degree of excellence which in my opinion 

 has never been reached either before or since. 



During the early part of K'anghsi's reign (1662 to 1722) green was, 

 as it had been among the later productions of the Ming dynasty — dur- 

 ing the Lunching and Wanli periods of 1567 to 1619 — the predominating 

 color employed in decoration, such porcelain being hence termed la 



*Hirth : Op cit., p. 72. Julien : Op cit. pp. 99, 103, 104, 206. 



