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literary references to porcelain and to Jingdezhen. The work concludes with fifty three

additional remarks by Zheng Tinggui about literary allusions, history of terminology, style

descriptions, and different color descriptions extant in Jingdezhen.

As is well known, manuals of taste appeared in increasing numbers in the late-

sixteenth century of the Ming dynasty, including such written works as Wen Zhenheng’s ˖

ቤЖTreatise on Superfluous Things (Zhangwu zhi ڗيқ) or Cao Zhao’s ૎݇ Gegu

yaolun. These manuals have been otherwise known as “handbooks to elegant living.”

Compared to these “handbooks,” Jingdezhen Tao lu enjoyed even more widespread

transmission both in and outside of its community of origin during the first century after its

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initial publication. In the light of the late Ming books on taste, the Tao lu was a part of a

tradition of texts hitherto understood as technical guides, such as the Southern Song manual

Yingzaofashi ᐄிجό of 1103 AD (Building Standards), or the mid-seventeenth century

Tiangong kaiwu ˂ʈකي (1637). However, the Tao lu was not merely a technical how-to

manual with the purpose of transmitting technical instruction. In other words, the Records

was not a potters’ manual written for the sake of training artisans. Neither was it meant to

be an instruction textbook compiled for the sake of transmitting practical technique to those

ever so curious foreigners. After all, in its mission to solidify the brand of Jingdezhen in the

production of high quality porcelain, as will be shown in this chapter, why would the

authors wish to divulge such precious secrets? Despite its utilization both as a technical

manual and art-authenticating guide in the subsequent century after its first publication, its

original intention was to record and laud the present-day circumstances of Jingdezhen. Tao

lu was first published after the massive imperial library and book cataloguing project under