The play Polishing the Dust-covered Mirror (磨尘鉴 Mo Chen Jian) was compiled in 1619 by an obscure playwright Niu Ge (钮格), according to some twentieth-century researchers, including the eminent scholar of the field Zheng Zhenduo (郑振铎 1898–1958). The play portrays some colourful historical figures of the Tang dynasty (618–907) such as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (name: 李隆基 Li Longji 685–762) and his famous consort Lady Yang Yuhuan (杨玉环 719–56), one of the Four Great Classic Beauties in Ancient China.

In Act 12, entitled ‘The Tipsy Consort (醉妃 Zui Fei)’, Lady Yang is drowning her disappointment in alcohol when the emperor fails to turn up at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion (百花亭), where they are supposed to meet that evening. Lady Yang spends her lonely night by abusing her attendant eunuchs and losing herself in intoxication. Eventually, Lady Yang staggers back to her own quarters swaying back and forth with her maids’ support.

Later, the plot was refined to become ‘Imperial Consort Yang Getting Drunk (贵妃醉酒 Guifei Zuijiu)’, one of the best-known classic Peking opera episodes.

image identification and literature research by Dr Yibin Ni

• Fig 1-2: porcelain dish with overglaze enamelled decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of The Trustees of the British Museum

  Fig 3-4: porcelain dish with overglaze enamelled decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

  Fig 5: porcelain vase with underglaze blue and overglaze enamelled decoration, Kangxi period (1662–83), Qing dynasty, courtesy of The Royal Ontario Museum, Canada, Object number: 909.8.21

  Fig 6: lidded porcelain jar with underglaze blue and overglaze enamelled decoration, mid-17^th century, courtesy of Christie’s Auction House, 16 March 2015, Lot 3539

  Fig 7: porcelain dish with overglaze enamelled decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Fitzwilliam Museum, the University of Cambridge

  Fig 8: lidded porcelain jar with underglaze blue and overglaze enamelled decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Guest & Gray Antique Dealer, London, archive item ref: X679

  Fig 9: porcelain dish with underglaze blue decoration, 1725–1750, Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

  Fig 10: porcelain dish with overglaze enamelled decoration, Yongzheng period (1723–35), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Mr Wu Pei’s collection

  Fig 11: porcelain dish with overglaze enamelled decoration, c. 1750 – c. 1799, Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

  Fig 12: colour print, Qianlong period (1736–95), Qing dynasty, Taohuawu (桃花坞), courtesy of a private collection