Dragons, represented as pursuing jewels (_kan chu_); grasping jewels (_k’ung chu_); in clouds; emerging from water; in bamboo foliage and fungus plants; among water chestnut flowers; among scrolls of Indian lotus; emerging from sea waves and holding up the Eight Trigrams (_pa kua_); holding up the characters _fu_ [chch] (happiness) or _shou_ [chch] (longevity), as on Fig. 1 of Plate 66. Dragons of antique form. These are the lizard-like creatures (_ch’ih_) with bifid tail which occur so often in old bronzes and jades. Dragon medallions (_t’uan lung_). Nine dragons and flowers. Dragons and phœnixes moving through flowers. Dragon, and phœnixes with other birds. Phœnixes flying through flowers. A pair of phœnixes. Lions[122] rolling balls of brocade. Flying lions. Hoary[123] lions and dragons. Storks in clouds. Peacocks (_k’ung ch’iao_) and _mu-tan_ peonies. Birds flying in clouds. Fish and water weeds. Four fishes.[124] =Human Motives.= Children (_wa wa_) playing. Three divine beings (_hsien_) compounding the elixir of Immortality. Two or four Immortals. The Eight Immortals (_pa hsien_) crossing the sea; or paying court to the god of Longevity (_p’êng shou_), or congratulating him (_ch’ing shou_). A group of divine beings (_hsien_) paying court to the god of Longevity. Two designs of doubtful meaning may be added here: (1) “Jars decorated with _chiang hsia pa chün_,”[125] a phrase which means “the eight elegant (scholars) of Chiang-hsia (i.e. below the river),” but has been translated by Bushell, using a variant reading,[126] as “the eight horses of Mu Wang.” The latter rendering ignores the presence of _chiang hsia_, and the former, though a correct reading of the original, is not explained in any work of reference to which I have had access. (2) “Bowls with _man ti ch’iao_,” lit. “graceful (designs) filling the ground.” The meaning of _ch’iao_ is the difficulty, and Bushell in one translation[127] has rendered it “graceful sprays of flowers,” which sorts well with rest of the phrase, but in another[128] he has assumed that it means “graceful beauties” in reference to the well-known design of tall, slender girls, which the Dutch collectors named _lange lijsen_ (see Plate 92, Fig. 2). The latter rendering, however, goes badly with _man ti_, “filling the ground,” which is certainly more applicable to some close design, such as floral scroll work. This is, however, a good example of the difficulty of translating the Chinese texts, where so much is left to the imagination, and consequently there is so much room for differences of opinion. [Illustration: Plate 68.--Blue and White Porcelain. Sixteenth Century. Fig. 1.--Perfume Vase, lions and balls of brocade. Height 8¾ inches. _V. & A. Museum._ Fig. 2. Double Gourd Vase, square in the lower part. Eight Immortals paying court to the God of Longevity, panels of children (_wa wa_). Height 21 inches. _Eumorfopoulos Collection._