454 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



46. Jiowl, large, everted, of pure white R'alighsi porcelain, plain inside. On outside 



is a branch of peach tree bearing fruit and leaves, the latter in all stages 

 from tlie light green of the newly burst leaf to the brown of the withered and 

 worm-eaten, admirably painted. On the branch is seated a large bird, termed 

 by the Chinese a paroquet, but having a red beak, brown breast, green 

 plumage around neck and below it, with brown on back, and black and 

 gray wings and tail. A fine specimen. Mark, as above. Height, '3i inches ; 

 diameter, 8J inches. 



47. 48. Wine-cups (a pair), small, with straight lips, of white K'anghsi porcelain, 



covered outside with a monochrome dull glaze of violet magenta; plain in- 

 side, except at bottom, where are two plumsand some beans delicately painted. 

 Mark, as above. Height, If inches ; diameter, 'Si inches. 

 49-52. Boivls (4), everted, of white K'anghsi porcelain, having Imperial five-clawed 

 fl.ying dragons {v. No. 4) engraved in paste, os'er which are sprays of roses 

 and plum-blossoms, buds and leaves of various shades of green, open flower* 

 and butterflies alternately yellow and aubergine purple-biown under a trans- 

 parent glaze. Mark, as above. Height. 2f inches; diameter, 5|^ inches. 

 53, Fase, of square body, contracting to form short, circular, everted neck, on which 

 above each side of the body is the character for " longevity," shou, in four out 

 of the hundred forms it may take in the "seal" style of writing. The four 

 sides of the body bear two paintings in the distinctive colors of lafamille 

 verte, one of the famous club of the seven worthies of the bamboo grove 

 amusing themselves with music, chess, and wine; the other a historical scene 

 representing an ancient general on his way to attack the Man-tz'u, or South- 

 ern Chinese, giving audience during a halt upon the banks of the Yangste. 

 Between the paintings are lengthy disquisitions suggested by the subjects of 

 the drawings. As these are dated " the 29th day of the 9th moon of the year 

 of the cyclic characters Kioei mo," i. e., 170.3, it is justifiable to conclude that 

 is the date of the vase, that being the only year to which these characters 

 would apply during K'anghsi's reign to which the coloring shows it to belong, 

 Mark, a leaf. Height, 18f inches. 



The club of the seven worthies of the bamboo grove was an association 

 of convivial men of letters, formed in the latter half of the third 

 century, who were accustomed to meet for learned discussions and 

 jovial relaxation in a grove of bamboos. The seven worthies were 

 Hsiang Tz'u-Ch'i ; Chi Shu-Zeh, a celebrated functionary and man of 

 letters, but no less renowned as a lover of the wine-cup and as a 

 musician. He was also an ardent devotee of alchemy. Incurring 

 the displeasure of Ss'u-ma Chao, minister of the last sovereign of the 

 house of Wri, he was executed as a propagator of magic arts and 

 heretical doctrines, when he showed his contempt of death by tun- 

 ing his guitar on the way to execution ; Lin Po-lun, who was wholly 

 devoted to joviality and wished he could be accompanied by a grave- 

 digger to at once inter him, should he fall dead over his cups ; Shan 

 Chii-yuan, a statesman, under Wa Ti of the T'ang dynasty, cele- 

 brated for the patronage he extended to rising talent ; Wang Chtin- 

 chung, a minister of Hwei Ti of the house of Chin, at once infamous 

 fur his avarice and for having intrusted the discharge of his duties 

 to base underlings that he might abandon himself to a life of ex- 

 travagance and pleasure ; Ylian Chung-jung, famous as a lover of 

 music and wine, and as a philosopher studying content and modera- 

 tion in preference to the vrays of ambition; and Yilan Tz'u-tsung, 

 uncle of the last, a public functionary, but preferring the quietism 

 preached by the philosophers Lao-Hze and Chuang-Hze, whose fol- 

 lower he professed himself to be, to the toils of public life.* 



* Mayers: Op. cit., Nos. 246, 411, 587, 799, 963, 968. 



