Two birds flying high,
A Chinese vessel, sailing by.
A bridge with three men, sometimes four,
A willow tree, hanging o’er.
A Chinese temple, there it stands,
Built upon the river sands.
An apple tree, with apples on,
A crooked fence to end my song.¹
This is a story within a story, within a story.
When I was in fourth or fifth grade, we had a book sale at school, and I bought a few books, including Doris Gates’ Blue Willow, first published in 1940. I took it home and read it completely in a day or two. It captivated me.
First, it touched me, because it validated and amplified my parents’ stories of the Depression (a time that seemed quite far away and foreign to me) through the eyes of Janey, a girl my age. I tried to imagine myself as the child of a migrant worker, having lost my mother, longing for a home of my own…. it was all so far from my own life.
But the book fascinated me on another level as well. At the heart of the story is a blue willow patterned plate Janey inherited from her great-grandmother, through her own mother. To Janey, the design portrayed the beautiful home she longed for. For me, the story behind the plate’s design was both romantic and sad, and the foreign artwork was exotic and beautiful.
The pattern tells the tale of star-crossed lovers, the daughter of a wealthy Mandarin and a man beneath her station. They escape together across a bridge, but are eventually captured and killed, then turned into birds. Legend has it the broken-hearted father created the pattern as a lesson to other parents, that they should listen to their children.
Many years later when I traveled to China, I found that everything was foreign – the language, the written characters representing concepts rather than letters, the lifestyle, the history.
We visited a number of beautiful sites around Beijing, and one of our favorites was the Summer Palace. There, I could imagine the ivory tower life of the Mandarin’s daughter, the escape across a footbridge, the willow tree setting.
The photos I took there in my own story reminded me of the story of the blue willow china pattern, and of the place a single blue willow plate held in the story of the little girl who found her happy ending.
Suddenly, it didn’t all feel so foreign.
___________________________________________________
Click on photos to enlarge them.
This post was written in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge on WordPress.com’s Daily Post. This week’s challenge topic is Foreign. To learn more about the challenge and to see the alien images posted by other bloggers, click here.
¹Blue willow verse and plate photo plate from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_pattern
The Retiring Sort 
Pingback: Weekly photo Challenge: “Foreign” In a different way! « Just another wake-up call
There was a time when I was fascinated with collecting crockery and Blue Willows were on my top list. Your story made this design more interesting and wonderful to me. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
LikeLike
You’re so welcome – glad you enjoyed the story! 🙂
LikeLike
My mother has a few pieces of blue willow in the china cabinet and I have always been fascinated by the story!
LikeLike
Isn’t it romantic? 🙂
LikeLike
Very, and the china pattern does it justice
LikeLike
Wonderful story and great shots!
LikeLike
Many thanks! 😉
Sent from my HTC Touch Pro2 on the Now Network from Sprint®.
LikeLike
what a wonderful story – you had me all choked up
LikeLike
Thanks, Jo – so glad you enjoyed it!
LikeLike
I did…I really did.
LikeLike
Lovely photos and story. I have a few pieces of blue willow china. I love them. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, AD – Lucky you to have some of these pieces! 🙂
LikeLike
Beautifully writing, TRS. Love how you connect your own travel with the story, very moving… Thank you!
LikeLike
Thanks, Amy, for this lovely response!
LikeLike
I love your interpretation…very special.
LikeLike
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it, and that you stopped by TRS today! 😉
LikeLike
Lovely post TRS. Brought back memories of my small collection of willow pattern plates bought from flea markets in Goa! Gave them all away when I moved into this apartment!! Regretting it a bit now 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks! The plates are everywhere – I see them at flea markets and antique stores, and they always make me think of the story! 😉
LikeLike
Lovely collection @TRS, fantastic! 😀
LikeLike
Thanks, my friend! 😉
LikeLike
Beautiful. The story and the plate. Thanks, RS.
LikeLike
Thanks, Gemma – Isn’t it funny how some things just stay with you? 😉
LikeLike
Happy endings always make me feel a little less foreign. Thanks for touching my heart with this lovely story within a story. 🙂
LikeLike
I’m so glad you enjoyed these stories! Thanks for your visit and lovely comment. 😉
LikeLike
This is brilliant… I love the poetry tied with the precious foreign items… Love this.. 😉
LikeLike
Someone, I think in England, wrote the poem to go with the pottery many years ago… I’ve just always loved these stories!
LikeLike
For me, blue willow-patterned plates always evoke childhood memories, but what a lovely book for you to read, and now re-read with your grandchildren.
One such book for me was Gerald Durrell´s “My Family and Other Animals”. Absolutely charming 🙂
LikeLike
All of my grandkids love books, and that just thrills me. Sharing the stories we loved as children with our own kids and grandkids is a real joy. My granddaughter just read the Little Princess and loved it! 🙂
LikeLike
I have 2 thanks for this
LikeLike
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
LikeLike
Wonderful written story within a story. I like the romantic interpretation of the blue plate and the star cross lovers. Thanks for sharing.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
LikeLike
So glad you enjoyed the story!
LikeLike
Lovely story to go along with your photos. It is astounding the way books can make an impression on us at a young age without the realization of that meaning until many years later. Very touching ….
LikeLike
Isn’t it amazing? There are a few books from my childhood that really grabbed me and stayed with me – I’m enjoying sharing them with my grandchildren now!
LikeLike
Your photos and story work well together in this post. Thanks for sharing your childhood memory and adult adventure.
LikeLike
Thanks, Allan – I did love that book, and thought of it when I was at the palace… funny how things come back to us!
LikeLike