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Blessings Descend upon a Land of Benevolence; Wealth Arrives at the House of Virtue

Tags: blessing | print

Framed with auspicious patterns, this double-sided decorative painting presents in the middle of each side a noble child sitting astride a deer, with an attendant child following him. The noble child on the right side holds an official seal, and the one on the left holds a ceremonial cap. This combinations implies jia guan jin lu (rank promoted and salary increased), where the Chinese word for “cap” is a homonym with the Chinese word for official rank, guan. Each side bears four Chinese characters in its upper portion: the right side shows fu lai shan di (blessings descending upon a land of benevolence), while the left side mistakenly displays de dao cai men (virtue arriving at the house of wealth), which in fact should be cai dao de men (wealth arriving at the house of virtue), a detail that perhaps points to the carelessness of the artisan. cai dao de men encourages people to do good so that the God of Wealth may bestow wealth upon them.

Printmaking
37 x53 cm

National Museum of History