After dinner, the dishes were gone?

Question

1440, it was time of the Ming dynasty ruling china, and the Temple Name of the emperor was Yingzong. One day, the emperor of Yingzong was inviting the ambassadors to dinner who were from all over west nations such as British, France, Germany and so on. After dinner, the servants found that all of the dishes were gone. The incident had scared all the servants because all of the dishes which used on the dinner were very beautiful and valuable. If some of them were lost or damage, maybe all the servants who involved in the incident would be killed by the rules. After investigation, the servants found out that the disappeared dishes had been stolen by the guests (ambassadors), they had hiden the dishes inside their clothes after eating the foods. In that time, Chinese porcelain were very valuable in the world, all west person who came from the patrician family would like to collect Chinese porcelain which was only for Chinese King using would be more valuable.
You may not laugh at this story, but it's a true story.

Answer 1

This is NOT a true story for the simple reason that in 1440 there were no French, German or British ambassadors to China. (Britain as an entity did not exist - it consisted of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland and neither did Germany - what we now call Germany consisted of numerous small principalities, many of which were considered part of the Holy Roman Empire)

Few Europeans had visited China at that time and most of those who did were merchants, primarily from the Italian city states, e.g. Marco Polo. And it was through trade that Ming porcelain became available in the west.

I don't know where you heard this story but you should forget it. It is purely fiction, obviously written by someone who doesn't know their history!

Answer 2

Excellent story! Did you know that the White House had a similar problem in the time of Ronald Reagan? Nancy Reagan got in big trouble with the press because she bought new china for the White House to use when entertaining foreign dignitaries. People said that she was just a big spender who liked to waste the people's money. In fact, before she bought new dishes, the state china was a hodge-podge of three old and chipped sets. It was rather shabby and embarrassing. The official White House china clearly says what it is and is highly valued by collectors. Guests at the White House like to steal the smaller dishes as souvenirs. Special extra-large saucers were ordered so that they would be harder to stick in a pocket or purse. Can you believe that such crazy things happen at the nation's capital?

Answer 3

This is total rubbish. Britain and France did not have ambassadors in China in 1440 and Germany did not form into a state until 1871.

Answer 4

I do not know what you want me to say.
Are you asking for our opinion of the story?
How long ago did the Chinese first start making porcelain?
The story is interesting; I've never heard of a temple named Yingzong.

Answer 5

i think of biscuits and gravy are part dishes. Do you consume meat? some good fried rooster or some roast beef could be good with biscuits and gravy and probably some buttered corn and a eco-friendly salad. I many times plan my part dishes around the beef i'm serving.

Answer 6

thiswebsiteispointless:
he meant that the emperor's name is yingzong.

i duno whether tis is true but it sure is interesting and amusing to noe how cheapskate ppl can be.

Answer 7

Is there a question here?