Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 11. (Budapest, 1991)
FERENCZY Mária: A modernizáció megjelenése a századeleji kínai ábrázolásokon
the water; three chubby boys punt toward the bank sitting in a large tub. A boy standing in front, with a kind of a short waistcoat on, holds a fish in his outstretched left hand; a naked boy crouching in the tub picks a lotus fruit from the water, a third one dressed in a pinafore punts the boat forward. The hair of the children is close cropped, without tufts. Explanation: By the three chubby boys and the lotus fruit with many seeds, a great number of male offspring is promised, the fish (and the ornate attire of the lady) promise wealth, and the willows — also the symbol of spring — a long life. This good omen expressed pictorially and through puns is further reinforced by the image of the lotus flower (lotus = lien, homonymous with a word meaning 'uninterrupted', 'continuous'). (Cf. EBERHARD: pp.183-184.; WILLIAMS: pp.255-258.). Parallel cases (variants of the theme and the puns): CHPP 1988: no.43.; UNTERRIEDER: p.58. 10. SCENE FROM A TALE WITH NINE PERSONS Inventory no.: 89.45.1 Size: 61 x 105 cm Title: Flood over Chungkuan (Shui yen Chung-kuari) Signature: none. Technique: block-printing with black, grey, dark green, yellow and orange colours; hand-coloured with light green, dark green, greyish green, pink, red, pale blue, deep blue, lilac, white colours and Chinese ink. The faces are delicately painted; the large water surface and the sky are delicately shaded. Some large patches of colour are, however, carelessly done; the crests of the waves have been also roughly executed. Condition: Its thin, yellowish paper is crumpled; rims are frazzled. Subject: A large expanse of water is in the foreground and in the middle. From the water a grey wall emerges on the right. This has a crenellated battlements and a yellow-green gate in the middle studded with nails and two monster-headed knockers. Above is an inscription: Chung-kuanch'eng. From behind the wall the three defenders are visible in half length: a bearded and moustached male (Huang Tsung-ping) raising his right arm over his head; at his right side a lady (Nien Yiieh-fan/?/) with a pheasant-plumed headgear, at his left a youth (Wei Pao-t'ung) with hair let down. Beneath them is a pavilion with a double roof, painted in many colours, out of proportion with both the persons and the wall. In the foreground, water-people rally on the rippling water (from left to right): a young crab-warrior with a spiked mace; beside him a lady (Huang Chiao-niang), with a pheasant-plumed headgear holding a pair of narrow-bladed swords, riding a ch'i-lin A1 painted in lilac; in the middle another lady (Li Hsien-niang) with pheasant-plumed headgear wielding a broadsword and riding a ch'i-lin painted in red-and-blue; beside her a third lady (Ch'ing Yüan-hsien) with pheasant plumes, riding a huge fish with long barbels, in her right hand a weapon with a long shaft pointed downwards, the left hand raised as in dancing, grasping one of the pheasant feathers. Beside her is a pearl-shell woman warrior, with a sword in her right hand. Before the closed gate a huge snail shell, with a huge lobster to the right. On the far side of the water, hills are visible with houses; a tower, a bamboo grove, trees, many storied pavilions, willows are to be seen in the foreground; on the left a fairy (Chin tao sheng mu)
