This is a republication of Dr Yibin Ni’s article written in Chinese “明末清初瓷器上张生的‘凝视’和莺莺的挑战”(Gaze from Scholar Zhang and the response from Lady Cui Yingying: a discussion of figural depiction on porcelains from Late Ming to Early Qing dynasty)...

European descriptions of porcelain paintings that have story scenes tend to describe ‘figures and surroundings’, rather than identifying them. Thus, a large part of those beautiful stories intended by pot painters was lost in the description. Here...

The Chinese classic drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记) depicts a romantic story of a young couple in the Tang dynasty. The name of the play has also been translated into The Story of the Western Wing, The West Chamber, and Romance of the Western Bower, etc. It stands as one of ...

This is Scene Two of Act Two of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (1250–1336).

Sun Feihu 孙飞虎, a local bandit, was attracted to Miss Cui Yingying (崔莺莺)’s beauty and wanted to abduct her from the Buddhist monastery wh...

This is from Scene Three of Act Three of the Chinese classic drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by playwright Wang Shifu 王实甫 (1250–1336) in Yuan dynasty. The episode is commonly called Repudiation of the Billet-Doux (赖简).

Zhang Junrui (张君瑞, also called Scholar...

This is from Scene Three of Act One of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shi...

This is Scene Two of Act One of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (1250–1336).

After Zhang Gong 张珙 (styled Junrui 君瑞) glimpsed Cui Yingying 崔莺莺 outside the Buddha Hall in the Monastery of Universal Salvation, he wen...

This scene is from one of the most famous Chinese dramatic works, Romance of the Western Chamber 西厢记, which was written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (王实甫 1260–1336). The play tells the story of a secret love affair between Zhang Gong (张珙, also called Scholar Zhang 张生) and Cui Yingying 崔莺莺, the daughter of f...

This is Scene Four of Act Two of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (1250–1336).

Madame Cui and her daughter Cui Yingying 崔莺莺 were residing temporarily in the monastery where Zhang Junrui’s (张君瑞, also called Scholar ...

Young scholar Zhang Junrui (张君瑞, also called Zhang Sheng 张生) is the male protagonist in the famous ancient Chinese play, Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang j...