Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/105

 Dr. Hirth, who has made a special study of the subject of céladon, gives information, already quoted, the gist of which is that, while the céladons of the Ming and earlier eras manufactured at the Lung-chuan factories, had red, or reddish-brown pâte, the Ming céladons of Ching-tê-chên had white pâte. The rule is rough but, on the whole, trustworthy. It must not be too rigidly applied, however. For although a reddish tinge of greater or less intensity is essentially characteristic of the Lung-chuan-yao (including the Ko-yao), and perhaps of the Ju-yao, the Kuan-yao of the Sung dynasty is not necessarily thus distinguished.

During an interval of about thirty years preceding, and as many following, the fall of the Ming dynasty (1644), the keramic art in China lapsed into comparative neglect. But at an early period of the reign of Kang-hsi (1662-1722), during the present, or Tsing dynasty, an energetic revival took place, and fine céladons began once more to appear among the products of the Ching-tê-chên factory. Later on, during the reigns of Yung-ching (1723-1735) and Chien-lung (1736-1795), still greater attention was given to this class of ware. Two celebrated experts raised the keramic art to its highest point of excellence. They were Nien Hsi-yao, called also Nien-kung, who occupied the post of superintendent at the Ching-tê-chên factories under the emperor Yung-ching, and Tang Ying, who was associated with Nien from 1727 and succeeded him in 1736. The wares made at Ching-tê-chên under the direction of these masters are commonly known as Nien-yao and T'ang-yao. Among them many beautiful specimens of céladon are found. Sometimes an attempt was made to