The Memory for Blue and White Porcelain - Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Blue and White Porcelain Culture Exhibition is currently being held at the Capital Museum and will run till June 21.

The blue-and-white porcelains of the Yuan Dynasty are valued as much for their aesthetic quality as for their rarity. It is estimated that there are no more than 500 pieces of Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelains still existing in the world.

73 pieces contributed by 25 domestic and overseas museums and institutes are displayed. The exhibits are structured into three parts.

The Influence of the Hans: Continuity in Traditional Aesthetics of Central China

The first features traditional designs, representing the extension of Han nationality aesthetics through the Yuan Dynasty. Among the items on display are the plum vases, the double-eared bottles, and bowls and stationery objects, with patterns of dragons, pines, plums, bamboos, chrysanthemums and literary figures. The following two utensils typically represent this genre.

The blue-and-white porcelain vase with four scholars and their cherished floras

The vase is held in Wuhan Museum, Hubei. There are four pictures painted on the belly of the vase, featuring four well-known ancient scholars and their cherished floras. The four scholars include Wang Xizhi, an elite Chinese calligrapher from the 4th century, and his beloved orchid, Zhou Maoshu, a Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher in the 11th century, and his beloved lotus, the Chinese recluse poet Tao Yuanming (365-427) and his beloved chrysanthemum, and Lin Hejing, another recluse poet from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and his beloved plum and crane.

This vase was unearthed in 2006 from the Jingwang Tomb, Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province. It is believed to be a burial article of the wife of Zhu Dong, the 24th son of the First Ming (1368-1644) Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Blue-and-white porcelain vase with the pattern of General Meng Tian

Unearthed in 1956 in Changde, Hunan, the vase is held at Hunan Museum. It’s among the best of blue-and-white porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty.

The vase has a bell-shaped mouth, a long slender neck, a round swelling body and a ringed foot, with blue and white designs. The belly is painted with General Meng Tian, as indicted by the Chinese characters on the banner held by a subordinate standing behind him. Meng Tian was a military commander in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), who was also known as the inventor of the Chinese brush. In front of Meng Tian are another two subordinates. One is holding a kneeling captive while the other seems to be making a report. Dotted among these historical characters are rockeries, fences, plantain, bamboo leaves, flowers and grass. Though with so many different contents, the picture shows nothing disorderly.