Note 311 — Chapter X · K’ANG HSI POLYCHROME PORCELAINS

Op. cit., section vi. “Il n’y a, dit on, que vingt ans ou environ qu’on a trouvé le secret de peindre avec le tsoui ou en violet et de dorer la porcelaine.” As far as the gilding is concerned, this statement is many centuries wrong. The tsoui is no doubt the ts’ui, which is very vaguely described in section xii. (under the name tsiu) of the same letter. Here it is stated to have been compounded of a kind of stone, but the description of its treatment clearly shows that the material was really a coloured glass, which is, in fact, the basis of the violet blue enamel.