HSUAN-TE (1425-35).--The short reign of this emperor is connected in the mind of the Chinese with the finest works both of the metal worker and the potter. This period gave its name to the famous pale bronze so admired in later days by the Japanese.[50] The blue of the Hsuan-te period, unsurpassed in later times, we are told, was derived from Arab sources, for the famous _Su-ni-po_ and _Su-ma-li_ blues are first mentioned at this time. The word _Su-ma-li_ has been compared with the low Latin _Smaltum_, the prepared silicate of cobalt used by the mediæval glass-stainers, but from the description of this substance in the Chinese books, it would seem rather to have been of the nature of a native ore. When, however, we read in the same books of the origin of the brilliant red for which this reign was equally famous, how it was prepared from ‘powdered rubies of the West,’ we see how little reliance we can place in their accounts. This red, derived of course from the sub-oxide of copper, was applied either to cover the whole surface, as in the little bowls mentioned on p. 81 (‘painted on the biscuit,’ says Dr. Bushell, but is this necessarily so?), or for the painting of a design in this case both alone and in combination with blue. We hear also of large jars and garden seats of a coarse porcelain, with dark blue and turquoise ground and decoration of ribbed cloisons, which were first made in this reign. Of this class we have spoken at length when treating of the ‘painted glazes.‘[51] Of what nature the decoration in five colours, which is also referred to this reign, may have been, it is difficult to say--we have no specimen so painted that we can assign to so old a period, but in this connection we certainly must not think of enamels painted over the glaze. CHENG-TUNG reigned from 1435 to 1449; he was then captured by the Mongols, and during the five years of his imprisonment his brother Cheng-tai reigned in his stead. When Cheng-tung returned from his captivity he adopted a fresh name.[52] This is the only instance of a double nien-hao in later Chinese history. We hear of Cheng-tai in connection with the introduction of enamels on metal, but for the history of porcelain both reigns are a blank.