Vase illustrating the poem “The Red Cliff”

The scene painted on this vase was based on a Ming-dynasty literary drama, Touring Red Cliff, by Xu Chao (active 1535–1550), which dramatized a historical event involving the poet Su Shi (1037–1101), who once invited fellow poet Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) and a Zen monk to boat near the famous Red Cliff in Hubei.