Page 173 - Chinese Porcelain Vol II, Galland

FAMILLE VERTE. 339

official. He flourished under the Emperor Yuan Ti. In
B.C. 61 he was promoted to be Governor of the Metropolitan
"
District. The account reads as follows : He made a practice
of his wife's ; and when the rallied
painting eyebrows emperor
him on the point, he replied that this was a matter of the
highest importance to women."
No. 581. Dish. Diameter, 16^ inches ; height, 2^ inches.
Mark, shell in two blue lines. The decoration is marked off
by black circles. The diaper border is roughly drawn, the
in red eight reserves, however, are marked
patterns being ; the
off by green and yellow bands, the symbols being in these
colours with red fillets. As is not unusual, it will be noticed
that the are taken from both the and
symbols eight ordinary
eight Buddhist emblems. The bottom of the dish is divided
by green speckled work into four leaf-shaped and one square
reserve. The former are decorated with flowers chrysan-
themums, flower spray with bee, flower with butterfly, and
prunus with bird, probably representing the four seasons. In
the centre is seated an elderly gentleman with a lady on his
knee, while a young man is in the act of walking away.
"
During the Han dynasty, when the empire was divided
into three kingdoms, Liu Pei, ruler of the Shoo Kingdom, was
possessed of great power, and Sun Chuan, King of Woo, wished
to injure him, and with this purpose in view gave him his
younger sister in marriage. Liu Pei saw through the scheme
and begged his wife to save him. Afterwards, on the first day
i.e. Liu and his wife, under a
of the New Year, they, pretence
of to the river to sacrifice to their
going offer ancestors,
The shows them about to and the
escaped. picture depart,
gentleman in front was a brave general of Liu's, who had
accompanied him to Woo. (It should be explained that Sun
Chuan Liu to to Woo for his and would not
got go wedding,
all'ow him to return to his own kingdom.)"
Mayers, at p. 133, and the "Chinese Biographical Diction-
at the of Liu Pei, who seems to have
ary," p. 516, give history
lived from A.D. 162-223, and was the founder of the minor
Han
dynasty.