Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/77

 pig's liver, since the red, ch'ing and green colours got mixed together like saliva hanging down through not being sufficiently fired, are not to be distinguished as different kinds. For, such names as "mucus," or "pig's liver," which are given to this class of porcelain, have been invented for fun's sake. Among these porcelains, those which have bottoms like the flower-pots in which sword-grass is grown, are considered the most excellent; the others, viz., those which have bottoms like ton-shaped censers, Ho-fang jugs or Kuan-tsü, are all of a yellowish, sandy paste, for which reason they are not good in appearance; they have been made in recent years at I-hsing, the paste consisting of a gritty clay, though the enamel somewhat resembles the better class article; but they do not stand wear and tear.'

Refering to the simile of kingfisher's plumage, Dr. Hirth says:—

To a European eye the tints appearing in old Chün-yao porcelains, besides the reddish colours, are perhaps rather bluish than greenish; but it should be considered that, by the admixture of white and red materials, the exact description must have been very difficult to a Chinese writer. Probably no better metaphor could have been found for the colour described than the plumage of the parrot (ying-ko-lü), if we think of the red-tailed bird of a greyish plumage, which is so superior to all other varieties for its linguistic faculties.

Referring to the numbers on the bottom, he says:—

Julien (p. 74) translates: 'Les vases qui portaient au dessous du pied les charactères numériques, i., (un), eul (deux);' eitel (China Rev., vol. x., p. 311): 'Specimens bearing one or two numerical characters at the bottom.' I have, against