Page 89 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

cgant and playful, seem to find the whole incident rather amusing.
Happy the man whose tomb was adorned with such charming
figures!
The power of the Chinese craftsman to impart life and movement LACQUER
to his subjects is vividly shown in the decoration of the lacquer ob-
jects for which Szechwan province was especially famous. That
the output of her factories—especially those of Shu and Kuang-
han—must have been considerable we know from the first cen-
tury a.d. Discourses on Salt and Iron, whose author protests that the
wealthy classes were spending five million copper cash annually
on lacquer alone. A number of Szechwan lacquer bowls, cups, and
boxes, bearing dates between 85 B.C. and a.d. 71, have been found
in tombs in the vicinity of Pyongyang in North Korea.
Most famous, though undated, is the "painted basket" (actually
a box) found in a tomb at Lo-lang. Around the top, under the fit-
ted lid, arc ninety-four figures of filial sons, virtuous and wicked
rulers and ancient worthies. All are sitting on the floor, but mo-
notony is avoided by the skill and inventiveness with which they 91 Gentlemen in con venation Pel ail
ofa painted pottery tile. Eastern Han
Dynasty.

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