Page 131 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

SUNG AND YUAN WARES

Unfortunately, of such kilns few records have been

preserved. Whatever their achievements, Ching-te-

chen eclipsed them sufficiently to become alone tra-
Aditional. " The
book quoted in the Tao-lu says :

vases of Ching-te-chen, made of plastic clay, are of

perfect whiteness and without faults." And again :
" The white and the celadon vases used in the prov-

inces of Chekiang, of Hupeh r of Szechuen, and of

Kwangtung, come from the Ching-te-chen factories."

Pieces destined for the Court were distinguished as
Shu-fu-yao, or " ware for the use of the palace."

They were sometimes marked Shu-fu. The author

of the Tao-lu speaks of these wares as the product of

private workshops, but his evident meaning is that
their manufacture was not confined to Government

kilns. The latter were not constantly employed in

supplying the wants of the palace. Often a money
tax was levied from them in lieu of keramic services,

and at such times they naturally devoted themselves

to working for the ordinary market. Thence, doubt-

less, arose the habit of distinguishing between wares

intended for sale and those for imperial use. The

chief variety of this Shu-fu-yao was white. It was in

fact an imitation of the celebrated Ting-yao of the
preceding dynasty. H'siang, in his " Illustrated Cata-

logue," shows a specimen of the ware. He describes

it as a small bottle-shaped vase, decorated with dragons

in the midst of clouds and having lion's-head handles,

all faintly engraved in the paste, under a white glaze.

He then goes on to say : " The porcelain of our

own (Ming) dynasty, of the reigns of Tung-lo and

Hsuan-te, decorated with patterns engraved under a

white glaze, was made after the imperial porcelain.
The Shu-fu porcelain itself was copied from the Ting-

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