The Ch’êng Hua porcelain shares with that of the Hsüan Tê period the honours of the Ming dynasty, and Chinese writers are divided on the relative merits of the two. Unfortunately, no material remains on which we might base a verdict of our own, but we may safely accept the summing up which the _Po wu yao lan_, the premier authority on early Ming wares, gives as follows[51]: “In my opinion, the blue and white porcelain of the Ch’êng Hua period does not equal that of the Hsüan Tê, while the polychrome of the Hsüan period does not equal that of the 'model[52] emperor’s’ reign. The reason is that the blue of the Hsüan ware was _su-ni-p’o_[53] blue, whereas afterward it was all exhausted, and in the Ch’êng Hua period only the ordinary blue was used. On the other hand, the polychrome (_wu ts’ai_) decoration on the Hsüan ware was deep and thick, heaped and piled, and consequently not very beautiful; while on the polychrome wares of the Ch’êng Hua period the colours used were thin and subdued,[54] and gave the impression of a picture.”[55] Elsewhere we read that the Hsüan Tê porcelain was thick, the Ch’êng Hua thin, and that the blue of the Hsüan blue and white was pale, that of the Ch’êng Hua dark; but on this latter point there are many differences of opinion, and among the wares made at the Imperial factory in the Yung Chêng period we are told that there were “copies of Ch’êng Hua porcelain with designs pencilled in pale blue (_tan ch’ing_).”[56] The only types of Ch’êng Hua porcelain considered worthy of mention by Chinese writers are the polychrome, the blue and white, and the red monochrome, though doubtless the other methods of previous reigns were still used. Stress is laid on the excellence of the designs which were supplied by artists in the palace,[57] and on the fine quality of the colours used, and an interesting list of patterns is given in the _T’ao shuo_,[58] which includes the following: 1. Stem-cups (_pa pei_), with high foot, flattened bowl, and spreading mouth; decorated in colours with a grape-vine pattern. “Among the highest class of Ch’êng Hua porcelain these are unsurpassed, and in workmanship they far excel the Hsüan Tê cups.” Such is the verdict of the _Po wu yao lan_, but they are only known to us by later imitations. A poor illustration of one of these is given in Hsiang’s Album,[59] and we are told in the accompanying text that the glaze is _fên pai_, “white like rice powder,” while the decoration, a band of oblique vine clusters and tendrils, is merely described as _wu ts’ai_ (polychrome), but it is obviously too slight to be executed by any other method than painting with enamels on the glaze. The price paid for this cup is stated as one hundred taels (or ounces) of silver. 2. Chicken cups (_chi kang_), shaped like the flat-bottomed, steep-sided, and wide-mouthed fish bowls (_kang_), and painted in colours with a hen and chickens beneath a flowering plant.