Everything Will Happen Just as You Wish (Shi Shi Ru Yi)

Tags: blessing | print

The painting exhibits three children. The tallest one stands in the middle grasping a ruyi (traditional decorative ornament that symbolizes good fortune), from which hangs a pair of persimmons (homonymous with the word for thing, shi), symbolizing shi shi ru yi (everything will happen just as you wish). In Chinese patterns of auspiciousness, concrete things are used to symbolize abstract ideas. The child standing on the right side is carrying a vase, which contains sweet osmanthus flowers and a peony, representing official rank and prosperity, respectively. The child on the left is holding a “sun-moon palm fan” which is placed behind the middle child. The backdrop of the picture, which symbolizes “endless generations of offspring” and “abundant blessings,” consists of sprawling gourds in clusters, resembling the vast multiplication of offspring. The Chinese character for bats, fu, is homonymous with the fu for “blessings and good fortune,” while long-living cranes represent longevity. This decorative painting is used on doors.

 

Printmaking
49 x32 cm

National Museum of History