Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 8.djvu/28

 addressed an edict to the potters (Haji) of the Imperial kilns, directing that thenceforth the utensils for his table should be not doki, but seiki. The term doki signifies a vessel of earth,—a piece of pottery, in short. But the meaning of seiki is more obscure. Literally, the translation is "pure utensil,"—a rendering which helps very little. Certain Japanese antiquarians are disposed to distinguish seiki as "porcelain," and "doki" as pottery, but such a hypothesis is untenable. What seems most probable is that some improved shapes, or methods of technique, were introduced at that time, and that to these the Emperor applied the term seiki, merely to signify his approval. It has been surmised that glazed pottery then first came into vogue, for, though the balance of testimony goes to prove that this important branch of their art was not practised by Japanese potters with Japanese materials until a much later period, there is just a possibility that the clay necessary for glazing purposes was procured from China or Korea long before its discovery in Japan. According to certain authorities, Yūriaku summoned from Korea a potter called Kohi., [sic] and caused him to settle in the province of Kawachi,. [sic] The same accounts say that kilns were built during his reign, at Kusasu in Settsu, Fushimi in Yamashiro, Fujikata in Ise, as well as at other places in the provinces of Tamba, Tajima, and Inaba. But the whole question is wrapped in obscurity.

The next epoch in the history of the manufacture brings the student to the middle of the eighth century, when there came from Korea a man regarded by posterity as one of the great benefactors of the Japanese people. This was Gyōgi, a Buddhist priest, reputed to be a scion of the family then ruling