VERSION IN RHYME

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21178, 30 July 1940, Page 3

VERSION IN RHYME

WILLOW PATTERN CHINA Here is one version of the rhyme explaining the story of the willow pattern:— Two pigeons flying high, • Chinese vessel sailing fcy, Weeping willow hanging o’er. Bridge, with three men, if not four, Chinese temple, here it stands, Seems to cover all the land, Apple tree with apples on, A pretty face to end my song. The willow pattern was introduced i into England by Thomas Turner, of 1 Caughley, in about 1780, when the craze for anything Chinese was at its height. It is an imitation of the j Chinese style of decoration, but it does not apparently illustrate any j Chinese legend. The following story has been built around the pattern:— j Li-Chi, only daughter of a wealthy j mandarin, fell in love with Chang, j his secretary. The father overheard j them making vows of love under the j orange tree, and forbade the match. : But Li-Chi and Chang hid for a while in the gardener’s cottage, and escaped to the island in a boat. The enraged mandarin pursued them and would have beaten them to death if the gods had not regarded their | fidelity by changing them into doves.;