Note 276 — Chapter IX · K’ANG HSI BLUE AND WHITE

Père d’Entrecolles (second letter, section xii.) points out that the glaze used for the blue and white was considerably softer than that of the ordinary ware, and was fired in the more temperate parts of the kiln. The softening ingredient (which consisted chiefly of the ashes of a certain wood and lime burnt together) was added to the glaze material (pai yu) in a proportion of 1 to 7 for the blue and white as against 1 to 13 for the ordinary ware.