Second, certainly, to the blues in importance come the yellows. While yellow has been used freely in Persian rugs, and more so in those of Kurdistan and Asia Minor, the fact of its royal and semi-religious value in China has caused it to be employed in some of the Chinese fabrics with a frankness not equaled elsewhere. Twenty years ago, before popular taste in America had attained its present appreciative attitude toward all Chinese art, the prevalence of yellow in strong values and large areas in the rugs was one of the chief causes of American dislike for them. It is unpleasant to admit this now, when old Chinese rugs in yellow, and some not so old, are sought with an avidity that disregards the question of price. IMPERIAL YELLOW Since Chinese rugs have come into demand we have heard a great deal of “imperial yellow.” Almost any yellow is “imperial” when a sale hangs in the balance. But it should be unnecessary to say that true imperial yellow is quite as rare in Chinese rugs as are imperial persons among the 400,000,000 of Chinese population. Its actual frequency is about equal to that of “inscriptions from the Koran in the modern rugs of Persia.” To describe it would tax the skill of Lafcadio Hearn, who would not have been so rash as to undertake it. Perhaps the most descriptive thing one can say is that it outyellows all the gold that ever shone. [Illustration: INHARMONIOUS DESIGN It is too strong for a small fabric. The sacred mountain and the Foo dogs are combined badly with a border stripe derived from India or Khorassan] The green schedule is very limited and the employment of green even more uncommon than in Moslem countries, where its religious importance restricts its use. When green does occur in Chinese fabrics, it has usually an admixture of yellow which converts it to olive, or else is a frank attempt to reproduce the color of jade. The colorings of old Chinese rugs, in the order of their frequency, are about as follows: 1. Blue and white, with the pattern in two or even three shades of blue, on white background, or occasionally with a splash of some salmon shade to give warmth and accent. 2. Reds and pinks, with design in two blues, yellow, tan, and white. 3. Yellow and blue, yellow ground with design in two shades of blue, with admixture of white and secondary elements in soft shades of tan and brown. 4. Browns and fawns, with patterns in blues, white, red, or yellow. 5. Dark blues, with design in white, or far less frequently in gold tan, relieved by small bits of light blue and white, sometimes one note of rust red for luck. (This seems to be common in all parts of Asia.) 6. Light blues, with pattern in white and the softer shades of yellow, pink, and fawn or brown, and small display of dark blue. 7. Green grounds, usually olive, with pattern in dark and light blue, yellow, and some red.