The usual formulæ are employed by the _T’ao lu_ in describing the Imperial ware of this reign. It was made of plastic clay and refined material, and though, as a rule, the porcelain was thick, there were some exceedingly thin varieties known as _t’o t’ai_[6] or “bodiless” porcelains. Besides the plain white specimens, there were others engraved with a point[7] or coated with vivid red (_hsien hung_). The _Po wu yao lan_,[8] reputed a high authority on Ming porcelains and written in the third decade of the seventeenth century, adds “blue and white” to the list and gives further details of the wares. The passage is worth quoting in full, and runs as follows: “In the reign of Yung Lo were made the cups which fit in the palm of the hand,[9] with broad mouth, contracted waist, sandy (_sha_) foot, and polished base. Inside were drawn two lions rolling balls. Inside, too, in seal characters, was written _Ta Ming Yung Lo nien chih_[10] in six characters, or sometimes in four[11] only, as fine as grains of rice. These are the highest class. Those with mandarin ducks, or floral decoration inside, are all second quality. The cups are decorated outside with blue ornaments of a very deep colour, and their shape and make are very refined and beautiful and in a traditional style. Their price, too, is very high. As for the modern imitations, they are coarse in style and make, with foot and base burnt (brown), and though their form has some resemblance (to the old), they are not worthy of admiration.”