kangxi blue and white porcelain plate

Kangxi, Chinese 18th century porcelain blue and white plate painted with a scene from the Romance of the Western chamber. Excellent colour and potting with very fine detail in the painting. Six character Cheng Hua mark to the back.

The Romance of the Western Chamber is one of the most famous plays / poems written in Chinese and tells the story of 2 star crossed lovers. it was written in the Yuan Dynasty and tells a story based in the earlier Tang Dynasty. it tells the story of a young scholar who fell in love with the daughter of the chief Minister of the Tang Court.

They met at a Buddhist monastery where he was studying and she had stopped for the night with her mother. After much trial and tribulations and with help from the girls maid they do eventually marry. it actually is really worth reading as a short synopsis as there is much that is similar to Romeo and Juliett only the Chinese young couple do live happily ever after.