Bowl on footring, spreading sides. Decorated in underglaze with a long text in kaishu (Chinese standard script) and a river scene with three scholars on the bank. Around the inside of the rim a band with eleven motifs, namely millet, a water plant, the shou character, the moon (with a hare pounding the Elixir of Life), two ceremonial vessels, fire, an axe, a constellation of seven stars, mountains, the sun (with a bird), and a pheasant. Inside on the base a square motif surrounded by eight other shapes. On the base the six-character mark Qiyu baoding zhi zhen (a gem of a precious vessel made of rare jade). The Chinese text on the outside is the ‘Second Poem of the Red Cliff’, a prose poem by Su Shi (Su Dongpo, 1036–1101), which describes how, on a moonlit November night in 1082, he and two of his guests climbed, for the second time, the Red Cliff situated at the river close to his residence. On reaching the top alone, the poet let out a cry in awe, believing he could see the palace of the River God in the depths. While returning home, a crane swooped low over their boat. That night Su Shi dreamt of a Daoist priest, recognising him as the crane (a traditional symbol of immorta...