Touched by Indigo - Royal Ontario Museum

Other motifs that deserve attention here are the small stones,
the endless knots decorating an embroidery with scallop edges
placed on the shoulder of the vase in the middle, and the two landscapes.
They all signify long life, the stones being ageless and the
endless knots showing neither the beginning nor the ending. The
landscapes seen both on the brush pot and the handscroll are composed
of high mountains and long river courses. They are relied on
to bring forth a phrase, shan gao shui chang, which conveys the hope
that one's life span may be as long as the existence of these natural
formations. As for the jade (yu) pendant and the magnolia (yulan),
they summon to mind another phrase, yutang fugui (a magnificent
hall filled with riches), when they are viewed together with the stem
of peony in the brush pot.
THE FIVE MEDALLIONS arranged side by side are accompanied
by a row of insects at the top and another row of plants at the
bottom as space fillers. They themselves are decorated with many
auspicious insects, birds, plants, and objects. Three of them are
medallions look almost like blue-and-white porcelain plates.
The butterflies (die) decorating the medallion on the extreme
right may signify longevity or joyful events.48 These beautiful insects
and the great variety of other less likable bugs dispersed throughout
the valance may also serve as symbols of fertility since they multiply in
great numbers. Viewed together with the insects (chong) depicted on the
border, they may even be implicit with the idea of chongchong diedie
which means many folds. To its left, the medallion without borders
is made up of the images of a phoenix, a qllin, the chrysanthemum,
a ruyi in combination with a rhinoceros horn, a pair of coins, and a
double gourd together with a crutch. The rhinoceros horn is one of
the objects included in the so-called zabao (miscellaneous treasures)
motif. The double coins have been dealt with previously.49 The
double gourd and crutch are the attributes of Li Tieguai, one of the
Eight Immortals.
In the middle medallion the lotus and the duck constitute a
fertility symbol popularly known as baoya chuan lian (literally, a
duck passing through lotuses). The hibiscus (furonghua) puns with
the term ronghua (wealth and social distinction). The
paradise flycatcher (shoudai) perched on its branch is
implicit with the idea of longevity (5/100). In the next
medallion a large long-tailed butterfly is about to alight
on a peony. Since its visit will help the plant's crossfertilization,
its act is perceived to symbolize a desire
for offspring. In the last medallion a pair of phoenixes
depicted beside a stem of hibiscus represent a married
couple living in opulence.
enclosed by a border with smaller designs of insects, plants, and
objects belonging to a composite motif commonly called babao
(eight precious things). Because of the delicate representation of the
subject matter and the blue-on-white colour scheme, these bordered
49. BED VALANCE, Cotton, Qing dynasty, 1875-1900, Chengdu, Sichuan province,
980.287.17, L 186 cm x W. 37 cm
6.S