hat is among the most artistically perfect in
the world was fired in them. Among the new colours were especially green
shades (one group is known as _famille verte_) and also black and yellow
compositions. Monochrome porcelain also developed further, including
very fine dark blue, brilliant red (called "ox-blood"), and white. In
the eighteenth century, however, there began an unmistakable decline,
which has continued to this day, although there are still a few
craftsmen and a few kilns that produce outstanding work (usually
attempts to imitate old models), often in small factories.

In painting, European influence soon shows itself. The best-known
example of this is Lang Shih-ning, an Italian missionary whose original
name was Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766); he began to work in China in
1715. He learned the Chinese method of painting, but introduced a number
of technical tricks of European painters, which were adopted in general
practice in China, especially by the official court painters: the
painting of the scholars who lived in seclusion remained uninfluenced.
Dutch flower-painting also had some influence in China as early as the
eighteenth century.

The missionaries played an important part at court. The first Manchu
emperors were as generous in this matter as the Mongols had been, and
allowed the foreigners to work in peace. They showed special interest in
the European science introduced by the missionaries; they had less
sympathy for their religious message. The missionaries, for their part,
sent to Europe enthusiastic accounts of the wonderful conditions in
China, and so helped to popularize the idea that was being formed in
Europe of an "enlightened", a constitutional, monarchy. The leaders of
the Enlightenment read these reports with enthusiasm, with the result
that they had an influence on the French Revolution. Confucius was found
particularly attractive, and was regarded as a forerunner of the
Enlightenment. The "Monadism" of the philosopher Leibniz was influenced
by these reports.

The missionaries gained a reputation at court as "scientists", and in
this they were of service both to China and to Europe. The behaviour of
the European merchants who followed the missions, spreading gradually in
growing numbers along the coasts of China, was not by any means so
irreproachable. The Chinese were certainly justified when they declared
that European ships often made landings on the coast and simply looted,
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