58. Large jars (_ta kang_) with Imperial factory (_ch’ang kuan_) glazes. “Dimensions: diameter, at the mouth, 3 ft. 4 or 5 in. to 4 ft.; height, 1 ft. 7 or 8 in. to 2 ft. Glaze colours, (1) eel yellow, (2) cucumber (_kua p’i_) green, and (3) yellow and green mottled (_huang lü tien_).” This last item, which is not included in Bushell’s list, appears to be almost a repetition of No. 9, with slightly different phrasing. _Huang lü tien_, which is used instead of the difficult phrase _huang pan tien_, may perhaps be taken as a gloss on the latter, indicating that the spots in the mottled yellow were green. In this case it would appear that the “spotted yellow” was a sort of tiger skin glaze, consisting of dabs of green and yellow (and perhaps aubergine as well). Bushell interpreted it in this sense. CHAPTER XIII CH’IEN LUNG [chch 2] (1736–1795) The brief reign of Yung Chêng was followed by that of his son, who ruled under the title of Ch’ien Lung for a full cycle of sixty years, at the end of which he abdicated in accordance with his vow that he would not outreign his grandfather, K’ang Hsi. Ch’ien Lung was a devotee of the arts, and they flourished greatly under his long and peaceful sway. He was himself a collector, and the catalogue of the Imperial bronzes compiled under his orders is a classic work; but more than that, he was personally skilful in the art of calligraphy, which ranks in China as high as painting; and he was a voluminous poet. It is no uncommon thing to find his compositions engraved or painted on porcelain and other artistic materials. Bushell[429] quotes an example from a snuff bottle in the Walters Collection; there is a bowl for washing wine cups in the Eumorfopoulos Collection with a descriptive verse engraved underneath, and entitled, “Imperial Poem of Ch’ien Lung”; and a beautiful coral red bowl in the British Museum has a similar effusion pencilled in gold in the interior. His interest in the ceramic art is further proved by the command given in 1743 to T’ang Ying to compose a description of the various processes of manufacture as a commentary on twenty pictures of the industry which belonged to the palace collections; and one of the earliest acts of his reign was to appoint the same celebrated ceramist in 1736 to succeed Nien Hsi-yao in the control of the customs at Huai-an Fu, a post which involved the supreme control of the Imperial porcelain manufacture.