Dish with three heroes from Water Margin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cartouches at these figures’ hips name them as heroes from the classic novel Water Margin (Shuihu Zhuan), which recounts the resistance of a gang of outlaws to the corrupt Song government in the early twelfth century. First published in the mid-sixteenth century, the novel was popular and remained so through the modern period. Figures and scenes from the novel became important sources in the art of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art