Beautiful Collectible various colors Willow ware Dinnerware by Royal China from the Fifties. From the common to the rarieties. All items are free of chips, nicks, cracks, crazing and discoloration unless otherwise noted. The Legend of the Willow. Through the centuries the traditional and authentic pattern of Willow Ware has told the tender, yet bittersweet and tragic, love story of a young couple in ancient China. Koong Shee, winsome daughter of a mandarin, loved Chang - her father's secretary. The stern parent forbade the marriage and imprisoned his daughter. Chang rescued her and they fled to a lakeside retreat. The lovers lived in happiness until a vengeful suitor to whom she had been promised discovered them. He burned the cottage and the lovers died. Their love and spirit, however, lived on - transformed into a pair of doves.