A Chinese famille verte 'Meeting King Wen' dish

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

Fitted box, 36.7cm diameter.

清康熙 五彩繪文王卦序紋盤

cf. The present dish illustrates the famous story of the meeting between the future Emperor Wen of Zhou and his most trusted dvisor, Jiang Ziya, also known as Lu Shang, and later Taigongwang.

According to historiography, King Zhou of Shang was cruel and corrupt; his illustrious adviser Jiang Ziyi, disillusioned and disgusted by the ruler's wicked behaviour, feigned madness in order to retire and spend his time fishing by the river Wei, awaiting for a new moral ruler to advise. It is his said he did not use a hook as he was convinced that the fish would come to him.

King Wen of Zhou, wishing to overthrow the Shang dynasty, was in search of talented advisors; following a prophecy received in dreams by his grandfather and confirmed by further divination, he went to the river Wei to find a great catch, not in the form of prey but rather in the form of a duke or marquis who would become his teacher and allow him and the next three generations of Kings of Zhou to thrive. As soon as he met Lu Shang and started conversing with him, King Wen recognised him as the figure of the prophecy; he brought him back to court and gave him the title of Duke, leading him to be later known as 'Taigongwang'.

This meeting was first recorded in the book 'The Six Secret Teachings', attributed to Lu Shang, which is though to record the teachings of Jiang Ziya to King Wen of Zhou. The scene also became a popular subject in visual arts, both in China and Japan, see for example Dai Jin's painting 'Dropping a fishing line in the Wei River' (1388-1462), in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,  accession no. 故畫000406N000000000; or the Momoyama period screen attributed to Kano Takanobu in the Met Museum collection, New York, no. 2006.42.1, .2.

The use of literary scenes as decorative motifs on porcelain, often taken from woodblock prints, was popularised in the 17th century and became particularly widespread during the Kangxi period. This particular scene, moreover, would have particularly resonated with the sensibilities of the literati class in the tumultuous period between the Ming and the Qing dynasty; it would have also supported the Qing dynasty's wish to present itself as the new moral ruler and legitimate heir of the Mandate of Heaven.