CHINA
between soft-paste and hard-paste porcelain is here made in each account of the products of an era, the difference must never be lost sight of. Soft-paste blue-and-white ware stands always at the head of its class, and is separated by a long interval from every competitor.
The Chêng-tê period was followed by Chia-ching (1522-1567). The year-mark of this era—Ta-Ming Chia-ching mien chi—has been more abundantly forged than that of any other period except Chêng-hwa. From this fact alone may be inferred the quantity and reputation of the porcelains manufactured by the Chia-ching keramists. This was indeed the last era of the Ming dynasty when Mohammedan blue was procurable. Another noteworthy fact is that the supply of porcelain required for the use of the Court had now become enormous. Pieces were ordered not by dozens, but by hundreds. Scores of thousands of vases, bowls, and other utensils went up every year to Peking, and the resources of the factories at Ching-tê-chêng were subjected to an ever-increasing strain. Lists of the porcelains requisitioned by the Court during this and the two subsequent reigns are preserved in Chinese records and have been translated by Dr. Bushell. They are interesting not alone as a record of the nature of the pieces required for imperial use, but also as indicating the style of decoration then adopted. Dr. Bushell observes that "the designs are said to have been principally derived from brocaded satin and ancient embroidery," and that "most of the, subjects enumerated are still employed in ornamenting the imperial porcelain of the present day." The following is the portion of the list bearing upon our immediate
122
