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Looking at the cup again, I can see that around the oval base runs a thin band with 67 Chinese characters on it.Now in Europe you might expect this kind of band to be a motto or a dedication, or something like that, but in fact here the characters list six craftsmen involved in the different processes involved in manufacturing the cup-making the wooden core, undercoat lacquering, top-coat lacquering, gilding the ear handles, painting, and then final polishing-the name of every one of the craftsmen.And then-and this could surely happen only in China-it goes on to list the seven product inspectors, whose responsibility was to guarantee quality.Six craftsmen, seven supervisors-this is the stuff of real bureaucracy.The list reads:
在耳杯的椭圆形底部有一圈共六十七个汉字。在欧洲，这里通常会是一句箴言或一条献词。但实际这里写的却是负责生产的六位不同种类的工匠的名字。制作木胎的，刷底层漆的，刷表层漆的，为把手镀金的，描画图案的和最后打磨的。接下来列出了七位质量监督员的名字：这种情况恐怕只有在中国才会出现。六位工匠，七位监督人员，是官方组织运作的明证。这些字是：
"The wooden core by Yi, lacquering by Li, top-coat lacquering by Dang, gilding of the ear- handles by Gu, painting by Ding, final polishing by Feng, product inspection by Ping, supervisor-foreman Zong.In charge were Government Head Supervisor Zhang, Chief Administrator Liang, his deputy Feng, their subordinate Executive Officer Long, and Chief Clerk Bao."
素工矣、髹工立、上工当、铜耳黄涂工古、画工定、玥工丰, 清工平、造工宗造，护工卒史章、长良、丞凤、椽隆、令史褒主。
What I find fascinating about this cup, is that it is such a powerful document of the link between craft production and state administration; bureaucracy as a guarantee of beauty.It's not something that's familiar to the modern European, but for the journalist and China expert Isabel Hilton, it's a continuing tradition in Chinese history:
漆杯是工匠生产与官府管理相结合的产物。官僚系统保证了产品的品质。现代欧洲人也许对此并不熟悉，但作家兼中国专家伊莎贝尔希尔顿则认出这是中国的传统：
"Well in Han times, the government had a major role in industry, partly to deal with its military expenditure in order to finance the kind of expeditions that it required against the aggressive peoples of the north and the west, again echoes of today.
汉朝时，朝廷大量参与工业制作，目的之一便是筹措军费，征讨西方与北方的蛮夷。
