Image size: 62.4 x 99.3 cm
The print depicts the Chinese folklore, ‘Five children competing for a lotus’. Woodblock prints produced in Yangliuqing village in Tianjin, China can be found as early as the Ming Dynasty. They were used as items of tribute to the emperor in the Qing Dynasty. The motif of the five boys in the picture represents the five sons of Dou Yujun (窦禹钧), who lived in China during the Five Dynasties period. All of Dou’s sons topped the imperial examinations and became high ranking officials. The lotus is a homophone of the Chinese word, ‘he’ (和), which means harmony; while the lotus seed, otherwise known as ‘lian-zi’ (莲子), is a pun on the Chinese phrase, ‘successive births of sons’ (连生贵子). As a whole, this picture depicts a blissful and harmonious marriage
