Dish with Dragon and Phoenix

In the center of this ornately decorated dish, a dragon and a magnificent bird are depicted in dynamic confrontation. The bird, often labeled a "phoenix" in Western sources is more accurately a fenghuang, a mythological creature from Chinese tradition.

In Chinese symbolism, the fenghuang represents the female, yin, and the empress, while the dragon stands for the male, yang, and the emperor. This pairing on the dish is therefore not just decorative but deeply meaningful: it evokes imperial harmony and balanced power.

This fenghuang's tail, made up of five serrated feathers, signals its connection to yang. In Chinese numerology, odd numbers carry masculine force, so the choice to depict the bird with five feathers underscores its symbolic alignment. Another distinction when paired with another bird is a backward-turning head and overlapping crest.

The dish exemplifies how Ming ceramic artists merged powerful mythological motifs with refined porcelain craftsmanship. Its use of cobalt blue underglaze, vibrant enamel overpainting, and balanced composition all reflect the height of Jingdezhen technical and artistic achievement. At the same time, its imagery carries a loaded symbolic message - together, the dragon and fenghuang suggest authority, unity, and the idealized relationship between emperor and empress.