Page 168 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

between soft-paste and hard-paste porcelain is here

made in each account of the products of an era,

the difference must never be lost sight of. Soft-
paste blue-and-white ware stands always at the head
of its class, and is separated by a long interval from

every competitor.

The Cheng-te period was followed by Chia-ching
(15221567). The year-mark of this era Ta-
Ming Chia-ching mien chi has been more abundantly

forged than that of any other period except Cheng-

hwa. From this fact alone may be inferred the

quantity and reputation of the porcelains man-
ufactured by the Chia-ching keramists. This was

indeed the last era of the Ming dynasty when Mo-
hammedan blue was procurable. Another note-

worthy fact is that the supply of porcelain required

for the use of the Court had now become enormous.

Pieces were ordered not by dozens, but by hundreds.
Scores of thousands of vases, bowls, and other utensils

went up every year to Peking, and the resources of
the factories at Ching-te-cheng were subjected to an

ever-increasing strain. Lists of the porcelains re-

quisitioned by the Court during this and the two
subsequent reigns are preserved in Chinese records

and have been translated by Dr. Bushell. They are

interesting not alone as a record of the nature of the

pieces required for imperial use, but also as indicat-
ing the style of decoration then adopted. Dr. Bushell
observes that " the designs are said to have been

principally derived from brocaded satin and ancient
embroidery," and that " most of the subjects enu-
merated are still employed in ornamenting the im-

perial porcelain of the present day." The following

is the portion of the list bearing upon our immediate

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