<div id="fb-root"></div>
‘True love conquers all’ is the theme of the <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/peony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peony </a>Pavilion (牡丹亭 Mudan Ting), a musical play of fifty-five scenes written by Tang Xianzu (汤显祖, 1550–1616) in Ming dynasty. Also known as The Romance of Return of Soul (还魂记 Huanhun Ji), the play contains a supernatural love story between Du Liniang (杜丽娘), the only daughter of the Nan’an prefect (南安太守) Mr. Du, and Liu Mengmei (柳梦梅), a civil-service examination candidate. At the beginning of the play, there was a passionate rendezvous of the two in the form of Liniang’s dream in the back garden with vigorously budding bushes during a warm spring afternoon. The encounter was so indelible to the adolescent girl that she eventually died of longing for her ‘dream’ lover. The play narrates how the couple overcome all the obstacles along the way to their union. Their experiences transcend not only time and space but also life and death.
The story scene depicted in the centre of the Shunzhi bowl in the Sir Michael Butler collection and the Kangxi dish in the collection of the V&amp;A Museum was first unveiled by Dr <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/dr-yibin-ni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yibin Ni</a>. His research article with pictorial and literary evidence is available for view <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/blogs/commonly-misunderstood-images/who-is-the-figure-on-the-cloud-in-the-dream-scene-of-the-peony-pavilion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a>
References:
<ol>
<li>倪亦斌:《明末时尚女子的情色告白》,《艺术世界》, 上海: 上海文艺出版社, 2004-03, pp.72–73.</li>
<li>倪亦斌:《明末时尚女子的情色告白》,《看图说瓷》, 北京: 中华书局, 2008, pp.1–10.</li>
</ol>

A Startled Romantic Dream in the Back Garden

<div id="fb-root"></div>
The primary symbolic meaning of the hollyhock (shu kui 蜀葵) is the good wish for longevity. The secondary implication is based on the perennially sun-facing nature of the hollyhock. In the old days, people compared their emperor or statesman to the sun and themselves to the hollyhock, implying that they would always be loyal to the authority.
Further meaning of the motif combination of the hollyhock and the <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/butterfly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">butterfly </a>is worth discussing, as some researchers suggest that the hollyhock and the butterfly are used as a metaphor for romantic relationships.

Hollyhocks and butterflies

romance

chrysanthemum Qianlong porcelain bowl Tutuhaoyi

The ‘Double Yang Day’ in Chinese Traditional Festivals

Pictorial Presentations of the Story of Cowherd and the Weaving Maid on Chinese Antiques

Amitabha Pure Land Buddhism three Saints from West

Pictorial Presentation of Amitabha and the Two Assistant Bodhisattva

Hongwu porcelain ewer underglaze red Tutuhaoyi

Hongwu Porcelain – The Treasure in Ming Dynasty Founded by Zhu Yuanzhang

Guo Ziyi deterring enemy army without fighting Tutuhaoyi

Newsletter

Quick Links

CHINESE ICONOGRAPHY

KNOW US MORE

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA