[Illustration: [Chinese] _Chu shih chü_ = red rocks retreat; studio name of a painter.] PALACE HALL MARKS [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ch´êng tê t´ang chih_ = ordered for the Ch´êng-tê (complete virtue) hall.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ching wei t´ang chih_ = made for the Ching-wei (reverent awe) hall.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Hsü hua t´ang chih_ tsêng = made for the Hsü-hua hall, for presentation.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Tan ning chai chih_ = made for the Tan-ning (peace and tranquillity) pavilion.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ssŭ pu chai chih_ = made for the Ssŭ-pu pavilion (i.e. pavilion for meditation for the correction of faults).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Shên tê t´ang chih_ = made for the Shên-tê (cultivation of virtue) hall. (See Vol. ii., p. 264.)] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Shên tê t´ang po ku chih_ = antique made for the Shên-tê hall.] (3) _Potters' names, etc._ Marks which include potters' names (apart from the uncertain hall marks) are rare on Chinese porcelain though frequent enough on pottery. But it will be remembered that at Ching-tê Chên at any rate the porcelain passed through so many hands that the individuality of the work was lost, and consequently a personal mark would be, as a rule, misleading. The question of signatures in the field of the decoration has been discussed[455] with the conclusion that they belong rather to the artists who painted the original copied by the pot-painters than to the pot-painter himself. Perhaps we should include here a fairly common type of mark, usually in the form of a small seal of a conventional and quite illegible character, which goes by the name of "shop marks." But it is not clear whether they refer to the maker or the firm who ordered the porcelain. POTTERS' MARKS [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ma chên shih tsao_ = made by ma ch´ên-shih (on a T´ang vase).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Chang chia tsao_ = made by the Chang family (on Tz´ŭ Chou ware). (See Vol. i., p. 105.)] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Wang shih ch´ih ming_ = Mr. Wang Ch´ih-ming (on Tz´ŭ-Chou ware).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _I shêng_ = harmonious prosperity. Perhaps a potter's name (on Kuangtung ware).] MARKS ON KUANGTUNG WARE [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ko ming-hsiang chih_ = made by Ko Ming-hsiang (eighteenth century).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ko yüan hsiang chih_ = made by Ko Yüan-hsiang (eighteenth century).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Huang yün chi_ = mark of Huang-yün (nineteenth century).] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Li Ta-lai_ = potter's name.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Hou-ch´ang_ = potter's name.] POTTERS' MARKS--_continued_. [Illustration: [Chinese] _Yi hsing tzŭ sha_ = brown earth (lit. sand) of Yi-hsing.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ming-yüan_ = a late Ming potter at Yi-hsing.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Hui mêng-chên_ = name of a late Ming potter at Yi-hsing, copied on modern wares.] [Illustration: [Chinese] _Ch´ên Ming Yüan chih_ = made by Ch´ên Ming-Yüan, Yi-hsing.]