Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-04-24
THE PORCELAIN GOD.

i HE PORCELAIN GOU.
Who frst Of men discovered the sscrst q
the Kao ling, Of the Pe-tun-tss, the bones
and the flesh, the skeleton and the skin ol
the bezutsous vase, Who first discovered
the virtue of The curd-whit clayi Who
first prepared tn ice-pure bricks Of tun; the
gathered hoarine9 Of mountains that have
died for age, blanched dus. Of the rocky
bones and the stony flesh Of sun seeking
giants that have ceased to b, Unto whom
was it first given to discover the divine art
of porcelaini
Unto Pu, once . man, now q god, before
whose hoary statues bow the myriad popu-
lations enrolled in the guilds OF the potter
les But the place Of his birth we know
not; perhaps the tradition Of it may have
teen effaced from remembrance by that aw-
full war which in our own day consumed
the live OF 2c.0oo,00 OF tho black haired
race, and obliterated from the face of the
world even the wonderful city of porcelain
it%.f the city Ct King-te-chin, that of old
shone Ike jewel Of fire in the blue noun
| - .iriie OF Feou-liang.
| Score his time indeed the Spirit Ct the
FIR a 9 had being, had issued from the
:: tie Vitllity-had become manifest as
anation Of the Supreme Tao For
1T. nearly 900 years ago, taught
| make good vessels az baked clay !;
i, time all rotters had learned TO
=. Hod Of Oven fires, and turned
: to ;he nu murins Of prayer.
/ had been gathered unto his
Gr.ce 90 years before that
IN destined by tbs Master Of
leone thu Porcelain Col
...-. wine Ghos-. ever lowering above
-, and the toillns Of the pot;eries,
power 70 ths lhou,nt of the
as TO the enius OF { e designer,
:, - the touch of the enauielist.
- heaven-taugLt wisdom was the
o. "a u 81; by his inspiration
r. ..c,o;npiished al the Miracles Of
....'3, u, maker Of the Kia-yu-ki, and all
tie marvels done by those who followed
lf,er him
AID though many u secret of that match
less art that Pu be lueathed unto men may
indeed have been forgotten and lost forever,
the story of the Porcelain God is remem-
bered; an doubt no: tina, any Of the aged
Jeou- yen 40 kong, any one o. the old blind
men OF the great potteries, who sit ali day
grinding ooiors in the sun, could tell you Pu
was once an humble Chinese workman, who
grew TO be a great artist by dint OF tireless
study and patience and by the inspiration Of
heaven So famed he became that some
deemed him an aichemist, who possessed
the secret called White-and- Yellow, by
which stones might be turned into gold and
others thought him n magician, knowing
the CHASTITY power of numbering men with
horror of nightmare, by hiding charmed
effigies Of them under the tiles of their own
roofs; and others, again, averred that
he was an astrologer who had
discovered the mystery of those five Hing
which influence all things-those powers
that move even the currents Il tho star
drift-in the milky Tien-ho, or River Of the
Sky. Thus, at least, the ignorant spoke of
him; hut even those who stood about tho
Son Of Heaven-those whose hearts hal been
strengthened by the acquisition Of wisdom
wildly praised the marvels of his handi
craft, and asked each other il there might
DO any imaginable form Of beauty which
Pu could not evoke from that beauteous
substance so docile to the touch Of his cum
alag hand
And one day it came to pass that Pu sent
. priceless gift to the celestial and august
a vase initiating the sui stance of ore rock,
all afiame with pyritic scinti.lation, u shaps
Of glttering splendor with chameleon
sprawlng over it, chameleons Of porcelain
that shifted color as often as the bcho!,ier
changed his position And the emperor,
wondering exceedingly at the splenior If
the work, questioned the princes an the
mandarins concerning him that made il
And the princes and the mandarins an
swered that he was workman named Pu.
and that he was without equal among pot
tiers, knowing secrets that seemed to have I
been inspired either by gods or by demons
Whereupon the Son OF Heaven sent his off, |
GERS to Pu, with a noble gift, and summoned |
him unto his presence.
So the humble artisan entered before the 1
emperor, and having performed the supreme |
prostration, thrice kneeling and thrice nine |
times touching the ground with his fore
head, awaited tine command OF the august,
And the emperor spake to him saying: |
@Son, thy gracious gift hath found high |
favor in our sight; and for the charm Of |
that Offering We have bestowed upon thee n |
reward Of 5000 silver leang. But thrice |
that sum shall be awarded thee so 1
soon as thou shalt have fulfilled our lehest
Harken, Therefore, % matches artificerl 1t 4
is now our will that thou make for US a /
vase having the tint and the aspect OF Iv- |
ing flesh, but-mark well our desire!-of /
flesh made to creep by the utterance of such |
words as poets utter-fesh horripilated by /
a thought, ney. and answer not, We /
have spoken"
Now Pu was the most cunning OF all the
P'ei-se- kong, the men who marry colcrs t.
gether-o of all the Hoa- yang kong who draw
the shapes Of vase decoration OF all the
Hoei-sse-kong, who paint in enamel-of all
the T'ien thsai-kong, who brighten color -
Of ali the Chao lou-kong, who watch the fur
mace fires and the porcelain ovens but he
went away Borrowing from thu palace Of
the Son OF Heaven notwithstanding the
gift Of 500 silver leang which had been
given to him For he thought to himself
Surely the mystery OF the comeiness OF
flesh and the mystery Of that by which il
II moved, are the secrets OF tie Supreme
Tao How shall man lend tho aspect Of
sentient life to dead clayf-who save the
Father can give souif
Now Pu had discovered those witchcrnfts
Of color, those surprises OF grace, that make
the art Of the ceramist He had found tho
secret of the feng hong the wizard fush Of
the rose,-of the hoa-hong, the delicious
the mountain green called
chnn-lou,-of the pale soft yellow termed
hiao- hoang-yeou, and Of the hoang kin
which is the blazing beauty Of gold Ks
had found those eel tints, those serpent
greens, those pansy violets, those furnace
those carminates and lilacs, subtle
n spiritAame, which our enamelis.s Of tie
Occident long sought without success 20
reproduce. But he tremblei nj the task
assigned him, as he returned 10 the toll Of
his studio, saying: How shall any miserable
man render in clay the quivcring Of flesh 20
an idea the inexplicable horripilstion Of
thought, Shall a man venture % mock the
magic Of that Eternal Moldsr by whose
infinite power . million suns are shapen
more readily than one small jar might be
rounded upon my wheelp
Yet the command Of the celestial and au-
gust might never te disoteyed; and the pa
tent workman strove with all his POWER TO !
fulfill the Son OF Heavens desire Blu.
vainly for days. for weeks, for months, for
season after s-ason did be strise; vainly
also b prayed unto the gods To AID him:
vainly he besough; the Spirit of tbs Furn-
ace, crying: 20 thou Spirit OF Pirs bear
Ne, heed me, help me. bow shall :, rni<~r-
able man, unable 10 brsathe into clay q iiv-
ing soul-bo~ shall / render In this inars-
mate substance the aspect o: fssh made 10
creep by fbs utteranoe Of . word--3ntieat
a. the borripilation Of q thought"
For the Spirit Of thu Furnace male
strange answer to him with whispering Of