EARLY WARES
tē, and the richer but less choice tints of Chia-ching, the delicate yellows of Hung-chih, and the brilliant, jewel-like, enamelled porcelain of Chenghua—all these, accompanied as they were by fine examples of already famous monochromes, should have inspired Japanese keramists with a strong desire to learn something of the processes that gave such varied and admirable results, even though the art spirit in Japan had not been roused to unprecedented activity by the influence of Yoshimasa and the tea-clubs.
The potter who now (1510) visited China in search of information, as Shirozayemon had done nearly three hundred years before, was Gorodayu Goshonzui. He was a native of the province of Ise, but of the incidents of his career prior to this journey no authentic record is preserved. He made his way, first to Foochow, and afterwards to Ching-tê-chên, where a course of five years' instruction and practice rendered him familiar with the methods of the Chinese potters. The history of Chinese keramics shows that, had the workshops of Ching-tê-chên been thrown open to him, he might have acquired the processes of manufacturing not only monochromes and decoration sous couverte, but also enamelled decoration over the glaze. He confined himself, however, to studying the art of painting in blue under the glaze. It is not difficult to guess how this occurred. Each monochromatic glaze was in itself a specialty, and its successful production depended on conditions which a casual student could scarcely hope to master. As for enamelled decoration, it had certainly been carried to a remarkable point of excellence some twenty or thirty years before Shonzui's arrival at Ching-tê-chên. But it was practised to a very limited extent, and the
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