NOTES AND QUERIES
123
group belonging to the K'ai Yuan period of the Tang Dynasty (713-742), and a few other coins from the Tai P'ing period of the Liao Dynasty (Tartars) which date from 1020-1031. A find of T'ang coins in conjunction with Sung coins shows that the former were in circulation in late Sung times.
Unfortunately, as I hinted at the beginning of this note, there is no doubt that the delay in reporting this find has led to the loss of the greater part of both coins and porcelain. To give a known instance, it was reported from Macau, after a newspaper man there had seen the official press release which appeared in the Hong Kong papers, that over 1,000 coins had been bought recently from Hong Kong by a curio merchant. There is little doubt that these coins also came from Shek Pik, since it was reported that the coins were all of the Sung Dynasty and were covered with earth, which showed that they had been recently excavated. Many other coins must also be in the possession of workmen on the site or in the hands of people to whom they have sold them. An attempt has been made to recover these by means of a letter to the Chief Resident Engineer, but there has been no response so far to the appeal, despite his ready assistance.
The same is true of the porcelain, of which there appears to have been some quantity. Not surprisingly, the bulldozers smashed the porcelain to pieces and scattered it over a wide area. Some of the broken pieces are in the hands of persons at Shek Pik; others are still buried under the earth moved by the bulldozers, which extends over several acres of hillside; and about a hundred small fragments were recovered by the Team from Shek Pik. Portions of about twenty pieces of porcelain have been recovered to date; very small for the most part but enough to show by colour and shape that they were part of different pots. These fragments are characterised by their fine colour, good shape and the thickness and brilliance of the glaze.
To which period can the find be attributed? The last reign date recovered so far is of the period 1241-1253, which brings us to within twenty-five years of the fall of the dynasty. In the normal course of events it would, I think, be unlikely for porcelain of this quality to be found on Lantau which, so far as we know, was at this time barely inhabited by a handful of Chinese peasants
NOTES AND QUERIES
123
group belonging to the K'ai Yuan period of the Tang Dynasty (713-742), and a few other coins from the Tai P'ing period of the Liao Dynasty (Tartars) which date from 1020-1031. A find of T'ang coins in conjunction with Sung coins shows that the former were in circulation in late Sung times.
Unfortunately, as I hinted at the beginning of this note, there is no doubt that the delay in reporting this find has led to the loss of the greater part of both coins and porcelain. To give a known instance, it was reported from Macau, after a newspaper man there had seen the official press release which appeared in the Hong Kong papers, that over 1,000 coins had been bought recently from Hong Kong by a curio merchant. There is little doubt that these coins also came from Shek Pik, since it was reported that the coins were all of the Sung Dynasty and were covered with earth, which showed that they had been recently excavated. Many other coins must also be in the possession of workmen on the site or in the hands of people to whom they have sold them. An attempt has been made to recover these by means of a letter to the Chief Resident Engineer, but there has been no response so far to the appeal, despite his ready assistance.
The same is true of the porcelain, of which there appears to have been some quantity. Not surprisingly, the bulldozers smashed the porcelain to pieces and scattered it over a wide area. Some of the broken pieces are in the hands of persons at Shek Pik; others are still buried under the earth moved by the bulldozers, which extends over several acres of hillside; and about a hundred small fragments were recovered by the Team from Shek Pik. Portions of about twenty pieces of porcelain have been recovered to date; very small for the most part but enough to show by colour and shape that they were part of different pots. These fragments are characterised by their fine colour, good shape and the thickness and brilliance of the glaze.
To which period can the find be attributed? The last reign date recovered so far is of the period 1241-1253, which brings us to within twenty-five years of the fall of the dynasty. In the normal course of events it would, I think, be unlikely for porcelain of this quality to be found on Lantau which, so far as we know, was at this time barely inhabited by a handful of Chinese peasants
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