Ancient illustrations aid the imagination

Later, a young scholar named Liu Meng-mei (柳夢梅) stops by Wintersweet Garden, where he chances upon a self-portrait of Li-niang and is immediately filled with admiration for the beautiful girl in the portrait. However, knowing nothing about who she might be or where she is, he feels helpless.

That night, Li-niang comes into Liu's dreams and tells him to open her grave. He does so and Li-niang rises to spend her new life with Meng-mei.

The illustrations show a comic quality despite of the many tragic turns in the plot. The interesting scene in which Li-niang dreams of the rendezvous is presented in lively details: The petite Li-niang, a joyous smile on her sleeping face, leans on the table in a sumptuous garden. In a dreamscape balloon next to her is a garden less decorated but more leafy and exuberant. She is led, arm in arm, by an amiable young man. Li-niang seems a little shy but anticipating in her dream, an appropriate depiction considering the character's background.

An illustration of when Meng-mei sees Li-niang's portrait is an atmospheric rendition of love at first sight. The dream scene where Meng-mei meets Li-niang's ghost is given a sadness but at the same such sweetness that readers expect a happy twist in the story will soon follow.

Adventures of the Deities (仙佛奇蹤), edited by Hung Ying-ming (洪應明) during the Ming dynasty is a book of legends about supernatural beings. The "Pei Tu Monk," (杯渡和尚) or "the monk who crosses rivers in a cup," is an eccentric who indulges freely in meat and wine. As the legend goes, the monk was once put up overnight at a house, but instead of returning the hospitality he receives, he steals a golden statue from the house when he leaves. The host goes after him on horseback. When he is about to catch up with the monk, they reach the Mengchin River. Here the monk takes out a wooden cup, steps into it with one foot, and swiftly crosses the river beyond reach.

Although the scene of river crossing is depicted rather delicately, it presents the character with shocking precision, the monk's ominous yet expressionless face suggest a bad temper. In loose garments, the squat figure tightly holds the golden statue. So convincing is the depiction of his vicious power that viewers are led to believe not even water can stand in his way.

In other parts of the exhibition, viewers can get to know the then popular Wu-hsien illustration style through the scenes from Tale of the Pipa (琵琶記) in many exhibits. These illustrations emphasize the lyrical quality of the scenes and a balanced composition, sometimes at the expense of the relevance between the illustration and the plot.

As ancient Chinese illustration is not paid as much attention as ink paintings and artifacts, the comprehensive exhibition is a rare opportunity for book lovers to find out how ancient Chinese themselves imagined these intriguing characters.