Page 144 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

which had long before this time been employed in

Western Asia in the decoration of pottery." There

is no apparent reason to suppose that the nature of

this "Mohammedan blue" (Hui-ching\, as it was

called, had undergone any change between the tenth
Aand the fifteenth centuries.
more reasonable

hypothesis is that improved methods of treating it

were among the scientific and technical developments
for which the Ming epoch was remarkable. Dr.

Bushell has the following note on the subject :

The blue colour used for painting under the glaze was
originally brought from one of the Mohammedan countries

on the West of China as tribute, according to the Official

Description of the Province of Kiangsi. In the reign of

Hsuan-te (14261435) it was called Su-ni-po blue, and it is

recorded that the supply of it faded before the reign of

Cheng-hua (14651487). In other books of the period it

is called Su-ma-li, or Su-ma-ni blue. In the reign of Chia-
y

ching (15221567) Mohammedan blue was again obtained

by a eunuch governing the province of Yunnan, and the

blue-and-white of this reign is still celebrated for its brilliant

colour. The supply again ran short towards the end of

this reign, and an inferior blue was produced from the in-

cineration of Wu-ming-yiy a cobaltiferous ore of manganese

found in different parts of China. The Mohammedan blue

was broken up with the hammer, and the pieces which
showed on fracture vermilion spots were picked out as the

first-class blue, those with silver stars being used for the

medium colour, and from each sixteen ounces of these

pieces three ounces remained after the incineration in a

closed vessel. The remaining fragments were thrown into

water, impurities drawn off by magnetic iron ore, and the

residue yielded another thirtieth part by weight of the true

blue. If this blue were employed alone the colour was apt

to spread, and it was necessary to add a proportion of native

blue, not too much or the colour would be dull and heavy.
" " of the
The blue was a mixture of ten parts
first-class

102