Page 33 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

INTRODUCTION.
5
the furnaces. He is said to be as a stout man, but
depicted
does not seem to be portrayed upon the ceramics of his country
as might be expected.
In addition to King-te-chin, there were many more manu-
factories of the referred
porcelain, history of that name, already
to, giving the names of fifty-six others, of which thirteen were
in the province of Ho-nan, eight in Che-keang, and eight in
Keang-see, King-te-chin itself being in the last-named province,
and its shipping port, Nanking, which has thus given its name
to the blue and white shipped therefrom, while the various
other manufactories in the south their wares
exported through
Canton, which in like manner gave its name thereto. It may
be well here to some account of which for
give King-te-chin,
hundreds of was the chief centre of the
years porcelain trade,
and the is an of the of
following epitome description given it
by Pere d'Entrecolles in 1717 : King-te-chin was situated one
from and from Iao-tchcou, in a
league Feou-liang eighteen
surrounded of
large plain by high mountains, at the junction
two rivers, which formed a or harbour, about a in
port league
length, filled with boats. Like all places ending in te-clriu, it
was not a walled but in other well rank
city, respects might
among the largest and most populous in China, being said at
that time to contain above a million inhabitants. It stretched
the above-named harbour, the houses crowded into
along being
narrow streets, which, however, were laid out with some regu-
and the had a
larity, place very busy appearance. Although
to live in, as most articles had to be from a
expensive brought
distance, still the poor flocked to it in search of employment ;
children, the feeble, and even the blind found employment by
colours and in other three thousand furnaces
grinding ways,
being at that time at work, which at night gave the town the
appearance of being on fire.' 2 Fires were frequent, but the
2 "
And bird-like on balanced wing
poise
Above the town of King-te-tching,
—
A burning town or seeming so,
Three thousand furnaces that glow
and fill the air
Incessantly,
With smoke uprising, gyre on gyre,
And painted by the lurid glare
Of jets and flashes of red fire."
"
Longfellow, Ke*ramos."