Page 459 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Motives of the Decoration 283

Ladies of the court picking lotus flowers from boats on an orna-
mental lake in the presence of the Emperor and Empress represent
the annual Lotus Fete at Peking, and there are numerous scenes in
the Imperial pleasure grounds in which bevies of ladies from the
harem are depicted.

The Eight Ambassadors of the Tribes of Man, the barbarian
nations from the eight points of the compass, form a processional
subject suitable for the exterior of bowls and cups. The ambassadors
are grotesquely drawn figures, sometimes mounted on strange beasts,
and carrying gifts as tribute to the Emperor. Dreams and visions
are depicted in the usual Oriental manner by a cloud issuing from
the dreamer's head and expanding into a scene which represents the
subject of the dream. Thus the youthful scholar is seen asleep
with a vision of his future dignity floating above his head. Divine
apparitions are differentiated by the presence of clouds around or
below the main figures.

Deities and deified mortals are favourite subjects for porcelain
decoration as well as for figures and groups modelled in the round.

—The three principal Chinese religions Confucianism, Buddhism,
—and Taoism exist side by side with perfect mutual toleration.

Indeed the principles of the one are in many cases incorporated in

the others. Buddhist and Taoist emblems are freely mingled in

—decorative art, and the three founders Confucius, Buddha, and
—Lao-tzu are grouped together in friendly conversation or exam-

ining a scroll on which is drawn the Yin-yang symbol of the duality

of Nature.^

Confucianism is the religious or rather philosophical system

officially recognised in China, but its adherents are chiefly among
the literati. Though it inculcates ancestor-worship, it is not in
itself concerned with an after life, and it contains few romantic

superstitions calculated to fire the popular imagination or to suggest
motives for decorative art. Confucius himself is frequently repre-
sented both in painting and sculpture, and his meeting with Lao-tzu
is familiar in pictorial art. Confucianism recognises certain canonised

mortals, the logical outcome of ancestor-worship, and among these
the best known in art is Kuan Yii, a warrior famous at the end of the
Han dynasty, who was not, however, canonised until the Sung period,
and only in 1594 raised to the rank of a god (of War) under the title

A^ group of five old men similarly employed represents the wu lao (the five old ones),

the spirits of the five planets.