Page 476 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

300 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain

peculiarly suited for punixing allusions, one sound having to do

duty for many characters ; but it is obvious that a fair knowledge

of the characters is required for reading these rebus designs. There

is, however, a certain number of stock allusions with which the
collector can easily make himself familiar. The commonest of these

is perhaps the bat (fu) which symbolises happiness (also pronounced
fa in Chinese). The Five Blessings {wufu), which consist of longevity,

riches, peacefulness and serenity, love of virtue and an end crowning

the life, are suggested by five bats ; and a further rebus is formed
of red bats among cloud scrolls, reading hung fu chH fien, "great
happiness equally heaven" (t'ien) ; hung being the sound of the
character for " great, vast," as well as for red, and red being, so to

speak, the colour of happiness in Chinese eyes.

Other common rebus designs are suggested by such words as

lu (deer), lu (preferment) yii (fish), yii (abundance) ; ch'ing (sounding
;

stone), ch'ing (good luck) ; cKang (the intestinal knot), ch'ang (long)
;

and the composition of the rebus phrase often includes such ideas

as lien (lotus), lien (connect, combine) ; tieh (butterfly), tieh (to double).
But almost every sound in the Chinese spoken language represents

a considerable number of characters, and it would be possible with

a little ingenuity to extract several rebus sentences out of any

complicated decoration. It is well to remember, however, that

most of the ordinary allusions have reference to some good wish or

felicitous phrase bearing on the five blessings, on the three abund-

ances or on literary success.

To quote a few further instances : the design of nine {chiu) lions

{shih) sporting with balls {chil) of brocade has been read ^ chiu shih

fung chil, " a family of nine sons living together." An elephant

(hsiang) carrying a vase (pHng) on its back (pei) is read ^ hsiang pei

Atai p'ing, "Peace (p'ing) rules in the north (pei)" tub full of green

wheat is read ^ i Vung ta chHng, "the whole empire (owns) the great

Ch'ing dynasty." Three crabs holding reeds is read * san p'ang

hsieh ch'uan lu, "three generations gaining the first class at the

metropolitan examinations." Two pigeons perched on a willow tree

is read ^ erh pa (k^o) feng fe, " at eighteen to be successful in

examinations."

1 Bushell, O. C. A., p. 521.

- See Hippisley, Catalogue No. 381.

=» Ibid. * Ibid., No. 388. * Ibid.