This painting depicts a scene from the famous Beijing opera Chun Cao Outwits the Magistrate. In this story, the maidservant Chun Cao, after learning that a good man is to be sentenced to death, persuades the magistrate that he is betrothed to her mistress, the prime minister’s daughter, in order to save him. The two eventually marry. Like the Romance of the Western Chamber, the maidservant plays a key role in her mistress’ love story.
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 25 on p. 30, illus. p. 30 fig. 25
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