Page 300 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

CHAPTER XIV

KUANGTUNG ^^^ WARES

THOUGH the province of Kuangtung has long been celebrated

for its pottery, only very meagre information is procurable

Aon the history of its factories. single reference in the

T'u sku^ carries us back to the T'ang dynasty (618-906), when we

learn that earthenware cooking vessels were made in the potteries

(fao chia) of Kuang Chou (i.e. Canton), which when glazed were

better than iron vessels and more suitable for the decoction of

Adrugs. " vessel of the capacity of a bushel sold for ten cash :

and they were things which were worth preserving."

The next mention occurs in the T'ao lu, which gives a short

account of the wares under the heading Kuang yao, but beyond

the statement that the industry originated at Yang- Chiang, it

gives no information as to the date or circumstances of its com-

mencement.- For the rest this account is very confused and un-

^ The T'u shu. Section xxxii., Part viii., section entitled' T'ao kung pu tsa lu, fol. 1

verso quoting from the Ling piao lu i ^^i^S^, by Liu Hsiin, of the Tang dynasty.
;

* Bk. vii., fol. 16. " This is the ware which was first made at Yang-chiang Hsien

^iL^ in the Chao-ch'ing Fu in Kuangtung. It is, in fact, an imitation of the

Yang-tz'u ware. Consequently, the Records of the Province state that the productions

of Yang-cliiang in Kuangtung include ' porcelain wares ' {iz^u ch'i). I have seen

incense burners (lu), vases (p'ing), cups (chien), plates (t'ieh), bowls (wan), dishes (p'an),

pots (hu), and boxes (ho) of this manufacture. They are very ornamental and bright,

but in taste, fineness, elegance, and lustre they are not equal to porcelain wares. Nor

have they been able to avoid the occurrence of flaws exposing the body, which are

unsightly. Still they are imitated at T'ang's manufactory, the imitations being admir-

able in their elegance and lustre, and excelling the Kuang yao. These, like the Tz'Q-

Chou and Hsu-Chou tjTpes of ware, are none of them made of porcelain clay." The
Tao ching chi shih states : " He (i.e. T'ang Ying) imitates singularly well the Kuang

yao glaze, being particularly successful with the spotted blue (ch'ing tien #li)

kind of glaze. Following this author, imitations were also made of the copies pro-

duced at T'ang's factory." The greater part of this passage seems to contain a con-

#^fusion of ideas. Yang-tz'H or "foreign porcelain" was the name given to the

painted Canton enamels which are described on the next page of the Tao lu under

that heading. The passage beginning " I have seen " and ending " equal to porce-

lain wares " is taken almost verbatim from the sections which deal with Canton enamels

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