Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/388

decoration was that indicated by his name, Liang; i.e., millet, the stalks, ears, and leaves of which he moulded with great skill.

Yuan Chang, another great potter of the Wan-li era.

Shi Ming, a contemporary of the above and the father of Shi Ta-pin. He, together with Tung, Chao, and Yuan, are commonly known as the four celebrities of the Wan-li era. Tung's forte was beauty of decoration, and the other three were renowned for the excellence of their pottery.

Shi Ta-pin, surnamed Shao-shan, flourished during the closing years of the Ming dynasty (1620—1640). He was celebrated for his dexterity in combining coloured clays. He took Kung-chun's works as a model and ultimately developed remarkable skill. Among neither his predecessors nor his successors was there any one who could equal him, and he has always been regarded as a potter endowed with more than human ability. A verse of poetry associates his name with those of Li Ta-chun-fang and Shi Ta-yin-chien as the three patters of greatest eminence at Yi-hsing.

Li Chun-fang was a pupil of Shi Ta-pin. He was a dexterous modeller, but the pâte of his early wares was not of the very highest quality, and it is said that on this account his master often found fault with him. One day he brought a vase which he had made, and which was of exceptionally fine quality, to Ta-pin, and said:—"Does this pot meet with your approval, honoured Signior?" It is with reference to this incident that dilettanti acquired the habit of calling Li's best productions Lao-hiung-hu, or "pots of the honoured Signior." Ultimately Li became so skilful that Ta-pin was content to put his own name on pieces manufactured by his pupil. In point of fact, most of the specimens now attributed to Ta-pin were really made by Li Chun-fang. Connoisseurs, knowing this, are wont to refer to such ware as "Li-ta work, Shi-ta-cachet."^[1]

Si Yiu-chüen, surnamed Shi-hang, was not a potter by trade. His father, who was a great admirer of Ta-pin's wares, visited the latter's house one day, in company with