CHIA CHING [chch 2] (1522–1566) AND LUNG CH’ING [chch 2] (1567–1572) The Imperial potteries at Ching-tê Chên were busy in the long reign of Chia Ching, grandson of Ch’êng Hua, under the supervision of one of the prefects of the circuit who took charge in place of the palace eunuch of previous reigns. Chinese accounts of the porcelain of this important period, summarised in the _T’ao shuo_, include passages from the late Ming and therefore almost contemporary works, the _Shih wu kan chu_ and the _Po wu yao lan_. In the former we are told that the Mohammedan blue was largely used, but that the material for the “fresh red” (_hsien hung_)[99] was exhausted, and that the method of producing the red colour was no longer the same as of old, the potters being capable only of making the overglaze iron red called _fan hung_. The _Po wu yao lan_ gives a more intimate description of the ware, and the passage[100]--the last in that work on the subject of porcelain--may be rendered as follows:-- “Chia Ching porcelain includes blue-decorated and polychrome wares of every description; but unfortunately the clay brought to the place from the neighbouring sources in Jao Chou gradually deteriorated, and when we compare these two classes of porcelain with the similar productions of the earlier periods of the dynasty the (Chia Ching) wares do not equal the latter. There are small white bowls (_ou_) inscribed inside with the character _ch’a_ [chch 1] (tea), the character _chiu_ [chch 1] (wine), or the characters _tsao t’ang_ [chch 2] (decoction of dates), or _chiang t’ang_[101] [chch 2] (decoction of ginger); these are the sacrificial altar vessels regularly used by the Emperor Shih Tsung (i.e. Chia Ching), and they are called white altar cups, though in form and material they are far from equalling the Hsüan Tê vessels. The Chia Ching shallow wine cups with rimmed mouth,[102] convex centre,[103] and foot with base rim,[104] decorated outside in three colours with fish design, and the small vermilion boxes, no bigger than a “cash,” are the gems of the period. As for the small boxes beautifully painted with blue ornament, I fear that the Imperial factories of after times will not be able to produce the like. Those who have them prize them as gems.” A few supplementary comments in the _T’ao shuo_ further inform us that the Mohammedan blue of the Chia Ching period was preferred very dark (in contrast with the pale blue of the Hsüan Tê porcelain), that it was very lovely, and that supplies of this blue arrived providentially at the time when the “fresh red” failed[105]; and also that the supplies of earth from Ma-ts’ang were daily diminishing till they were nearly exhausted, and consequently the material of the ware was far from equalling that of the Hsüan Tê period. The _T’ao lu_ adds practically nothing to the above statements.