Vintage Imperial Jingdezhen Porcelain Beauties of the Red Mansion-Li-Wan Plate

Vintage 1988 plate "Li-Wan", eigth issue in the series "Beauties of the Red Mansion" by master artisan Zhao Huimin. "A Dream of Red Mansions" is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. The novel is known for the complex portraits of its many women characters The novel portrays Li Wan (white silk), a young widow in her late twenties, as a mild-mannered woman with no wants or desires, the perfect Confucian ideal of a proper mourning widow. Li-Wan's primary task is to bring up her son Lan and watch over her female cousins. She eventually attains high social status due to the success of her son at the Imperial Exams, but the novel sees her as a tragic figure because she wasted her youth upholding the strict standards of behavior. Jingdezhen (Ching-te-Chen) porcelain is considered as the greatest pottery center in the world and in China called the "Capital of Porcelain". From the Ming period onwards, official kilns in Jingdezhen were controlled by the emperor, making imperial porcelain in large quantity for the court and the emperor to give as gifts. The information on the plate backstamp is in Chinese. Approximate size: Diameter 8 1/2" Approximate weight: 1 lb 0.8 oz Excellent condition, no chip, no crack. Offers are welcomed.