Scarcely less marvellous is the incident recorded in the _Yü chang ta shih chi_, written about 1454.[290] "At the time when the temple of the god (of pottery) was in existence, an Imperial order was given to Ching-tê Chên to make a wind-screen; but it was not successful, and was changed in the kiln into a bed six feet long and one foot high. At the second attempt it was again changed and became a boat three feet long. Inside the boat were the various fittings all complete. The officials of the prefecture and district all saw it. But it was pounded to pieces with a pestle, for they did not dare to let it go to court." Another story[291] tells how Chia and I (John Doe and Richard Roe) when hunting were led in pursuit of a wounded hare into an ancient tomb in the mountains, where they found a large jar containing two white porcelain vases and an ink slab. Chia broke one of the vases, but I stopped any further vandalism and carried the other specimens home. He used the vase for flowers, but for several days he noticed "an, emanation from within issuing from the _Yin yün_ (generative power of nature) like a vapour of cloud." Being puzzled, he tried plucking the stalks of the flowers, and "found that they contained no moisture, and yet the plants did not wither. Moreover, the buds kept strong, as if they had rooted in the clay of the vase. So he began to be astonished at the vase, regarding it as a kind of _yao pien_. One day, during a great storm of wind and rain, suddenly there was a flash and a peal of thunder, and the vase was shaken to pieces. I was very much alarmed and distressed." The _Yang hsien ming hu hsi_ speaks of instances in which the Yi-hsing teapots were affected in a peculiar way, the ware changing from drab to rosy red when filled with tea; and we have already seen that Hsiang Yüan-p'ien illustrates in his Album examples of this, which he solemnly assures us he would not have believed had he not seen it happen before his eyes. In all these cases the ware was supposed to have been completely changed in the kiln and to have acquired supernatural properties. "The magic of the god had entered into the ware in the firing and had not left it." FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 286: In the _Kuei hai yü hêng chih_, quoted in the _T´ao lu_, bk. ix., fol. 2 verso.] [Footnote 287: In the _Ning chai ts´ung hua_, quoted in the _T´ao lu_, bk. ix., fol. 4.] [Footnote 288: See _T´ao shuo_, Bushell, op. cit., p. 47.] [Footnote 289: In the _Yün* hsien tsa chi_, quoted in the _T´ao lu_, bk. ix., fol. 1 verso.] [Footnote 290: Quoted in the _T´ao lu_, bk. viii., fols. 12 and 13.] [Footnote 291: From the _Erh shih lu_, quoted in the _T´ao lu_, bk. ix., fol. 15.] CHAPTER XI PORCELAIN AND ITS BEGINNINGS