Page 231 - Chinese Art, Vol II By Stephen W. Bushell

GLASS. — 63

Po-shan is situated at the foot of a range of mountains, and the
" rocks " which Dr. Williamson mentions arc probably quartz :
other parts of the province, as the neighbourhoods of Yung-ching
and Tsi-mi, yield abundance of rock crystal of various colours.
A recent letter in the North China Herald (January 27, 1903),
describing a mob riot in Po-shan consequent on an attempt to start
a government monopoly glass-ware factory there, says :
" Po-shan is a place renowned in Cliina for the manufacture and finish
of its glass-ware, articles of imitation white jade, coloured glazed tiles, etc.
These goods are mostly bought up by Peking dealers, and sold by them as
Ching liao or ' Peking glass,' although really made in Poshan, Shantung.
Nearly seven-tenths of the population of Po-shan, men, women, and children,
are engaged in one way or other in the manufacture. The whole region
outside the city walls is dotted with kilns and private works, large and small,
according to the means of the owners, the poorest of whom sell their pro-
ductions piecemeal for cash to the agents of the Peking dealers."
The district managers had forbidden the agents buying more on
pain of fines and confiscation : hence the riots. Liao is the vulgar
name for glass, and liao ch'i is the term used for " glass ware " in
the Customs tariff. The Ching liao, properly so called, is really
made in the capital itself from glass rods and plates brought up
from Po-shan, and is far superior in design and finish, as well as in
price, to the provincial production dignified by the saine name.
A glass factory was established in the palace at Peking in the
year 1680, among the ateliers founded by the Board of Works under
the patronage of the emperor K'ang Hsi, a list of which has been
given in Vol. I., page 116. The imperial glass house is noticed
in the letters of the Roman Catholic missionaries of the time who
seem to have aided in the work, as many of the designs betray
European influence. A letter in the Memoires concernant les
Chinois (vol. ii., pp. 462, 477), written about 1770, says that a
good number of vases were made every year, some requiring great
labour because nothing was blown : but he adds that the manu-
factory was only an appendage to the imperial magnificence, mean-
ing, no doubt, that the production was intended only for the use
-2 A
8941.