The evidence of Sir Aurel Stein's excavations in the regions of Turfan, imperfect as it is, points to the existence of this kind of ware at least as early as the Sung dynasty. Fragments with the typical glaze of the so-called Yüan-tz´ŭ were found, for instance, on a site which was thought to have been closed in the Sung dynasty, and again at Vash-shahri, which was "believed to have been occupied down to the eleventh or twelfth century." Making ample allowance for error in calculating the dates of these buried cities, we may still fairly consider that some of these finds come within the limits of the Sung dynasty. _Chien_ [Chinese] _yao_ This ware, which has already been mentioned in several passages, originated at Chien-an, but the factory was subsequently removed to the neighbouring Chien-yang. Both places are in the Chien-ning Fu, in the province of Fukien, and the term Chien yao derives from the character _chien_, which occurs in all these place names. The beginning of the manufacture is unknown, but it certainly dates back to the early Sung period, being mentioned in a tenth-century work,[278] and the potteries were still flourishing at the commencement of the Yüan dynasty.[279] A characteristic specimen figured in Plate 42 is a tea bowl with soft, dark brown earthenware body and thick, lustrous, purplish black glaze, mottled and streaked with golden brown. The brown forms a solid band at the mouth and tails off into streaks and drops on the sides, finally disappearing in a thick mass of black. The spots and streaks of brown suggested to Chinese writers the markings on a partridge's breast or on hare's fur, and the bowls are usually known as "hare's fur cups"[280] or "partridge cups." The dark colour of the glaze made them specially suitable for the tea-testing competitions which were in fashion in the Sung period, the object of the contest being to see whose tea would stand the largest number of waterings, and it was found that the least trace of the tea was visible against the black glaze of the Chien bowls. The testimony of an eleventh-century writer[281] on this point is of interest. "The tea," he says, "is light in colour and suits the black cups. Those made at Chien-an are purplish black (_kan hei_) with markings like hare's fur. Their material, being somewhat thick, takes long to heat, and when hot does not quickly cool, which makes them specially serviceable. No cups from any other place can equal them. Green (_ch´ing_) and white cups are not used in the tea-testing parties." [Illustration: Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Plate 42.--Two _Temmoku_ Bowls, dark-bodied Chien yao of the Sung dynasty. Fig. 1.--Tea Bowl (_p´ieh_), purplish black glaze flecked with silvery drops. Diameter 7½ inches. _Freer Collection._ Fig. 2.--Tea Bowl with purplish black glaze shot with golden brown. Height 3¾ inches. _British Museum._]