Full title: A Chinese blue, white and copper red powder blue-ground dish, Kangxi Description: Dia.: 26,5 cm Ref.:- Rijskmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Object number AK-RBK-15847, for a closely related example. (link available on our website) This example is published in Jörg and van Campen, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, London 1997, p. 128, where the authors suggest that the figure on this dish is Monk Hua, one of the ‘fighting monks’ from the well-known novel Shuihu zhuan, who was a master of ‘single-stick’ fighting. - van Oort, Chinese Kunst, Baarn 1980, p. 63-64, where the author states: 'The figure depicted on this striking dish is probably the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (603-664), who made a seventeen-year journey to bring Buddhist teachings from India to China. As a scholar, he played a very important role in the translation of these works.' Xuanzang is often depicted carrying a fly whisk and a large bundle on his back containing heaps of Buddhist scriptures after returning to China from his journey to India, as can be seen on a Nepalese woodblock print published by H.A. van Oort. - A third suggestion is that the figure depicted is Lu Zhishen. Lu Zhishen is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the four great classical novels in Chinese literature. He is the main character in the first segment of the novel, which spans about six chapters. Nicknamed "Flowery Monk", he ranks 13th among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny.