This is Scene One of Act Two of the Chinese classic popular drama Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记 Xixiang Ji), written by the Yuan playwright Wang Shifu (1250–1336).

Sun Feihu 孙飞虎, nicknamed ‘Sun the Flying Tiger’, is a local bandit who is stationed near a Buddhist monastery where Miss Cui Yingying 崔莺莺 is residing temporarily with her family. Sun Feihu hears about Yingying’s beauty and wants to abduct her to be his bride. He leads his army besieging the temple, and shouts that if Yingying is not sent out to him within three days, he will burn down the whole temple and kill all the monks inside. This leads to the next episode of Scholar Zhang asking monk Huiming to deliver a letter for help from General Du Que.

story scene description by Rachel Ma

Other episodes in the Romance of the Western Chamber:

Scholar Zhang renting a room in the monastery 僧房假寓

Scholar Zhang getting drunk due to Madame Cui’s broken promise 张生醉酒 (崔母悔婚)

Yingying listening to the qin zither playing 莺莺听琴 (琴心写恨)

Scholar Zhang’s startled dream at Caoqiao Inn 草桥惊梦

• Fig 1-2: rouleau vase with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Photograph by JP Kim

  Fig 3-4: famille verte rouleau vase, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of The Guimet Museum, Paris; Photograph by JP Kim

  Fig 5: famille verte dish, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy; Photograph by Santi Quer

  Fig 6: famille verte bowl, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, formerly in the Robert McPherson collection

  Fig 7: famille verte bowl, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Jie Rui Tang Collection

  Fig 8: famille verte bowl of a set, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands

  Fig 9: porcelain vase with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

  Fig 10: porcelain bowl with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Sotheby’s auction house, New York, 15 September 2018, Lot 1054

  Fig 11: famille rose plate, Tongzhi period (1862–74), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

  Fig 12: gilded wooden food container, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), courtesy of Guangzhou Art Academy Gallery, China