Over 600 years ago during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), a blue-and-white stem cup was crafted, featuring an inscribed verse. This verse playfully claims, "Drunk and laughing, I'll drink with you for 36,000 times."

Chinese Collector Ma Weidu once elaborated this "Yuan Dynasty Blue-and-White Stem Cup With Poem and Flower Paint" on the show National Treasure 100. He said that while there are numerous stem cups, this one stands out due to its extremely rare poem decoration.

Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white stem cups unearthed in Gao'an.

Gao'an means "high and secure," aptly named for its terrain. Located in east China's Jiangxi Province, it was established as a county during the early Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 BC). Among the ordinary alleys and lanes of the city lies a hidden museum, the world's first museum named after the unique and rare blue-and-white china of the Yuan Dynasty, the Gao'an Museum, also called the Gao'an Museum of Blue-and-White Porcelains of Yuan Dynasty.

This Yuan Dynasty Blue-and-White Stem Cup With Poem and Flower Paint rests quietly in the Gao'an Museum.

Discovery

On the afternoon of November 29, 1980, in the then Gao'an County Second Electrical Machinery Plant, eight workers were digging pile foundations to expand workshops.

During their excavation, they stumbled upon many porcelain bottles and pots. Zhou Zesheng, head of the plant, made a call upon hearing the news.