Figures in Blue and White
By admin on 2015-01-08

Blue-and-white porcelain is a unique kind of porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) famous for its bright, colorful hue and vivid painting, among which those with patterns of characters and stories are considered the most precious.

The Yuan Dynasty was also a flourishing period for Zaju (the Yuan Drama), and a string of famous plays written by Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu and Ma Zhiyuan, such as The Injustice to Dou E and The Romance of West Chamber, could be seen on every stage. The stories of these dramas had become deeply rooted in people’s hearts, as can still be seen today from the characters and stories engraved in these haunting and beautiful blue-and-white porcelains.

Up to now, only a few dozen blue-and-white porcelains with characters and stories have been found, and a large number of them are lost overseas.

This prunus vase is now in the Nanjing Municipal Museum, Jiangsu Province. It was unearthed from Muying Tomb at Niushou Mountain in Jiangning County. Pictures depicting the story of Xiao He and Han Xin are painted on the belly of the vase, with passion flowers, lotus flowers and other decorative patterns above and below the foreground.

The main character, Xiao He, wearing a putou (a separate set of hats for officials and academics in ancient China) and light armor, is on a galloping horse. On the other side of the vase, Xiao He, wearing a robe, is taking a horse to water by its bridle. Between them, the vase is painted with pines, plums, bamboo and rocks.

The story of Xiao He’s chase after Han Xin in the moonlight is recorded in both Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) and Hanshu (Book of Han). During the Chu-Han War at the end of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), Han Xin worked under Liu Bang in 206 BC, but was despite his great military talents, was not trusted or promoted by Liu, so he decided to leave Liu’s force. Hearing that, Liu’s chief advisor Xiao He, who was very impressed with Han Xin, chased after Han Xin and persuaded him to come back, and then recommended him to Liu. Later, this famous event was remembered as “Xiao He Chasing After Han Xin in the Moonlight,” and was adapted to dramatic form in the Yuan Dynasty.