Page 152 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

edly the blue of this era offered a striking contrast to

anything that went before. Why such should have

been the case it is not easy to determine. Looking

at the history of the time, it will perhaps be right to

refer the general art progress that took place during

Hsuan-te's reign to the peaceful state of the empire.

The two first Ming sovereigns were at war through-
out nearly the whole of their reigns. Not until the

closing year of Yung-lo's life can the authority of the

dynasty be said to have been firmly established and

the tranquillity of the country assured. The third

emperor reigned only a few months and was suc-

ceeded by Hsuan-te, who happily found leisure to
Hedevote attention to peaceful pursuits.
received

envoys from remote States, as Malacca and Bengal,

and since it is known that the mineral used for paint-

ing porcelain in blue under the glaze was originally

brought as tribute from one of the Mohammedan

countries to the west of the Middle Kingdom, there

may be truth in the hypothesis advanced by some

that the first plentiful supply of it reached Ching-te-

chen at the beginning of Hsuan-te's reign. What is

more probable, however, and less at variance with
history, is that the manner of employing this blue

for painting designs on porcelain was not fully under-

stood by earlier experts.

Of course the Kai-pien-yao was not the only kind

of blue-and-white ware manufactured during the

Hsuan-te era. On the contrary, judging from the

great rarity of surviving specimens, despite the high

value set upon them from the moment of their pro-

duction to the present day, the inference is that but

a limited supply of it was turned out. Much com-

moner and more plentifully manufactured was ordi-

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