Page 465 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Motives of the Decoration 289

ad hoc) is quite insignificant and has nothing in common with the

cloud-compelHng Jove.
There is a female figure which is scarcely distinguishable from

one of the attendants of Hsi Wang Mu on the one hand and from

Lan Ts'ai-ho on the other. This is the Flower Fairy {Hua hsien)
who carries a basket of flowers suspended from a hoe. And there
are besides numerous magicians of more or less repute, such as Chang
Chiu-ko, who is seen transforming pieces cut from his scanty garments
into butterflies ; and a host of nameless hsien of local fame who
figure in mountain retreats, such as the Ssu hao or four hoary

hermits.^

The animals connected wath Taoist lore include the eight fabulous

horses of Mu Wang which brought him to the palace of Hsi Wang

Mu. They are usually seen at pasture frisking about in wild gambols.
The deer, the familiar of Shou Lao, is depicted usually with a ling
chih fungus in his mouth ; the toad and hare live in the moon where
they pound the elixir of immortality ; and the tortoise develops
a long bushy tail after a thousand years of existence. All these are
suggestive of longevity, as is also the crane and a number of flowers,
fruits and trees such as the pine, bamboo and prunus (the three
friends), the chrysanthemum, the willow, the peach, the gourd,
and more especially the ling chih fungus, the polyporus lucidus,
which was originally an emblem of good luck, but afterwards of

longevity.

The head of the ling chih closely resembles ^ that of the familiar
ju-i sceptre which grants every wish, an auspicious object commonly
seen in the hands of Taoist genii ; and the same form occurs in
a decorative border (see Plate 77, Fig. 2) which is variously known
as the ju-i head border, the ju-i cloud border, or the cloud-scroll
border, the conventional cloud being commonly rolled up in this
form. It will also be found that formal ornaments, pendants and
lambrequins often take the form of the ju-i head in Chinese deco-

ration.

The attributes of the Eight Immortals occur among the many

^ See Catalogue of the Pierpont Morgan Collection, vol. i., p. 156.

2 Indeed it is likely that the modern ju-i head derives from the fungus. The fu-i
jm j^ means " as you wish " or " according (/u) to your idea (0," and the sceptre, which
is made in all manner of materials such as wood, porcelain, lacquer, cloisonne enamel,,
etc., is a suitable gift for wedding or birthday. Its form is a slightly curved staff
about 12 to 15 inches long, with a fungus-shaped head bent over like a hook. On.

the origin of the ju-i, see Laufer, Jade, p. 335.

—II 2 L