CHINA
manner this mark was originally made, whether by means of a seal or by a graving tool, tradition does not say. It was the first instance of using marks in this manner, and with three exceptions—the Chün-yao, the Kwang-yao (ware of Canton), and the boccaro of Yi-hsing—the practice does not seem to have been extended to the manufactures of other kilns. At Ching-tê-chên, however, it continued uninterruptedly until the seventeenth century.
It thus appears that at Ching-tê-chên also céladons of the finest quality and wares of the Ting-yao type were potted during the Sung era. In respect of these wares the test of red or iron-brown pâte does not apply, as it does in the case of the Lung-chuan-yao and Ju-yao.
The student comes now to the Yuan dynasty of Mongols. This period of less than a century (1279—1367) was not favourable to the development of art industry. No marked progress took place in keramics. The Mongol sovereigns did not greatly patronise the industry. During the period when Kublai Khan held his Court at Cambaluc, an active demand certainly sprang up for the products of factories celebrated under the previous dynasty. To imitate such pieces successfully was probably the highest aim of most of the skilled potters. One among these, an expert called Pong Chun-pao, is mentioned in the "History of Ching-tê-chên Wares." He had his kiln at Hoshu, in the province of Nanwhei, and there he manufactured pieces which, from their close resemblance to the Ting-yao of the preceding dynasty, were commonly called Shin-tin-ki, or "new Ting ware," but sometimes also Ho-yao, from the place of their manufacture, and sometimes
90
