Cup and Saucer: 1915.128AB

By Viola Mazza, Work Placement

In Chinese culture butterflies have many meanings, particularly related to joy, summer and conjugal felicity. They are also often used to wish longevity and therefore decorate birthday gifts or lanterns during the Autumn Moon Festival. Very often it is possible to find butterflies on pieces of pottery - they can be very colourful or simply stylized with a line and two small points for the wings.

On this blue and white cup and saucer we can see many butterflies of different sizes, flying together in pairs, alternated to a figure who looks miserable and wistful, maybe waiting for someone missing. As I looked at it, I thought about a legend which is based on a Chinese folktale and is considered to be the Oriental 'Romeo and Juliet' which goes this way:

The Butterfly Lovers

The story is set in the Eastern Jin Distany (AD 317-420) and the main characters are a couple of lovers whose names form the title of the story - Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

Zhu Yingtai is a wonderful and clever girl from the noble Zhu family of Shangyu who succeeds to convince her father to let her study despite opposing traditions. In order to attend classes to Hangzhou she disguises herself as a man and during the journey she meets Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji (now Shaoxing). From the first moment they get on really well and for the following four years they share the same room at school. Slowly Zhu Yingtai falls in love with her friend who is too focused on his studies to notice the feminine characteristics of his classmate.

One day Zhu Yingtai receives a letter from her father who wants her to go back home immediately. As she can’t refuse she decides to reveal her truth to the headmaster’s wife and asks her to give Liang Shanbo a jade pendant as an engagement gift. The young man goes with Zhu Yingtai to see her off and, although she hints, he still doesn’t realise her true identity. Before they part she asks him to visit her later, so he can propose to marry her 'sister', as she pretends to act as a matchmaker.

After many months Liang Shanbo visits her and finally finds out that Zhu Yingtai is a woman. They instantly make a vow of 'til death do us part', but unfortunately her parents have already arranged for her to marry a rich man. Liang Shanbo can’t stand this news, gets critically ill and finally dies. On the day of Zhu Yingtai’s wedding mysterious whirlwinds prevent the procession from escorting her beyond Liang Shanbo’s grave where the young woman begs for the grave to open up. Suddenly, the grave opens with a clap of thunder and Zhu Yingtai throws herself into it to join her lover. Their spirits turn into a pair of beautiful butterflies and emerge from the grave. Together after all they fly away and will never separate again.

This legend is very poetic and dramatic at the same time and shows how butterflies are important in Chinese culture.

This plate was made during the K’ang Hsi era (1662 to 1722) and I am not sure if the potter who created it was thinking about the 'Butterfly Lovers', but in my opinion artists often appreciate when people find new meanings in their works especially relating them to other important masterpieces. When we enter a museum we would like to learn and have fun, so I think it is important to remember to always use our imagination too.