Page 72 - Oriental Series Japan and China, Brinkly

CHINA

porcelains cannot be classed as representing the ancient ele-

gance in style. When the white paste is so covered with

green enamel that, at the places where it is not put on thick,

white patches will shine through, this is the porcelain

burned by Chang Sheng of the Sung dynasty, and therefore

called Chang-yao ; when compared to the [ordinary] Lung-

chuan it displays greater delicacy of workmanship.'

12. The l says: 'The green por-

Ch'un-feng-t ang-sui-p'i

celain made by the younger brother was pure and clear like

fine jadestone and much valued by the world ; it resembled
the Kuan-yao in make. The porcelain made by the elder

brother was of a fainter colour.'

Other extracts relating to these wares are also quoted
in Dr. Hirth's brochure, but they convey no special

information.

Doubts have been expressed about the date when
Lung-chuan ware was first manufactured. The Sung

dynasty covered a period of three centuries, and con-

siderable progress was evidently made in the keramic

art during that long interval. To attribute the origin

of a factory to the Sung dynasty is, therefore, unsatis-

factorily vague. There is only one authority to fix
Athe era of the Chang brothers.
work quoted by

Dr. Hirth says that they lived during the Southern

Sung dynasty (11271280), and the earliest Lung-

chuan celadons may therefore be referred to the first

half of the twelfth century.

It is on record that there were two Lung-chuan fac-

tories. One was at Liu-tien, sixty miles distant from
Lung-chuan. The choicest celadon was produced
there. The second was at a village called Chin-tsun.

Inferior specimens of Lung-chuan-yao were potted

there. Liu-tien stood at the foot of a hill (called

Liu-hua-shan), on the top of which there was sup-

posed to be an unfathomable lake.

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