Page 336 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

CHAPTER XII

YUNG CH^NG IgjE PERIOD (1723-1735)

THE Emperor, K'ang Hsi, was succeeded by his son, who
reigned from 1723-1735 under the title Yung Cheng. The

interest which the new ruler had taken as a prince in ceramic

manufactures is proved by a passage in the first letter (written in

1712) of Pere d'Entrecolles in which he instances among remarkable
examples of the potter's skill a " great porcelain lamp made in

one piece, through which a torch gave light to a whole room. This

work was ordered seven or eight years ago by the Crown Prince."

We are further told that the same prince had ordered the manu-

facture of various musical instruments in porcelain. These could not

all be made, but the most successful were flutes and flageolets, and

a set of chimes made of nine small, round and slightly concave

plaques, which hung in a frame, and were played with drum-sticks.

Apparently the Emperor continued to take an intimate interest in

the industry after he had ascended the throne, for he commanded

his brother the prince of Yi to announce personally to T'ang Ying

his appointment at Ching-te Chen in 1728.

At the beginning of the reign the direction of the Imperial

factory was in the hands of Nien Hsi-yao,^ who, in his capacity

of inspector of customs at Huai-an Fu,^ dispensed the funds for

Athe Imperial porcelain. brief note in the T^ao lu,^ under the

heading " Nien ware of the Yung Cheng period," sums up in the

usual compressed style of Chinese ceramic writers the character

of the porcelain made at this time. The duty of Nien, inspector

of customs at Huai-an Fu, we read, was to select the materials,

and to see that the porcelain was furnished to the Imperial orders.

The ware was extremely refined and elegant. The coloured porcelains

^^^-^ Another name of this official, Yen kung, is mentioned in the T'ao lu, bk.

v., fol. 11 verso.
' Situated at the junction of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze.
^ Loc. cit.

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