Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 11. (Budapest, 1991)

FERENCZY Mária: A modernizáció megjelenése a századeleji kínai ábrázolásokon

(inscribed with the character of 'good luck') is homonymous with the word chi 'grade', meaning 'obtaining a grade sucessfully'; the five red bats flying out of the vase promise complete happiness (cf. ALEKSEIEV: p. 239.; EBERHARD: pp.129., 88.). The central figure with the coin and the three-legged toad recalls the figure of Liu Hai wishing good luck and prosperity. The coins in the cloud (spewn by the toad) ornated with good luck tassels and transfixed by arrows strengthen the original felicitation, besides wishing prosperity, being the targets of the bow and arrows in the hands of the boys.

34 The good luck sceptre (ju-yi) in the hands of the boy in the lower right corner expresses the wish 'May it happen according to your wishes'. (Cf. CHAVANNES: pp. 19-2.,103-10.; EBERHARD: pp. 238-239.) Parallel cases in this composite form to me as yet unknown. For variations on the same theme cf. ALEKSEIEV 1966: p.124.; A YING: p.62.; UNTERRIEDER: p.41. 8. MAGIC PICTURE PROMISING THE RISE OF A FAMILY (l),(2f Inventory no.: (1) 89.38.1, (2) 89.46.1 Size: 60 x 104 cm Title: Great Success in No Time! (Chili jilt kao sheng) Signature: none. Technique: block-printed with black, grey, green, yellow and pale orange colours. Hand colouring with pink, heliotrope, lilac (only 2), orange-red (only 1), red (only 2), deep red, claret, light blue, greyish blue, green, greyish green, whitish colours and Chinese ink (grey, black).

36 Condition: (1) The thin, yellowish paper is crumpled, the left rim is frazzled; (2) the thin, yellowish paper is crumpled, in the middle it is brittle. Subject: The scene with nine persons represents a large family on an open terrace in front of a house; in the garden (in the left corner garden rocks are visible with sycees, branches of coral and magic mushrooms on them). In the middle a youth dancer in traditional costume, elevating a dish over his head with his hands. On the dish a sun-disk is visible among peony branches and flowers, with the character of the sun on it. Towards the left a man (in traditional clothes, with a European hat) raises his arms holding a brush in his right hand with a theatrical gesture (as if the character had been written by him). Left of him a boy in European clothes, with a hat (in a modern schoolboys' uniform of the 1910s, looking rather like a small adult) holds a writing slate under his arm. Further left a man in European clothes who is wearing a hat and holding a medical bag looks at the dancers. Beside him another man stands in plain clothes, also with a slate under his arm. To the right of the dancing boy, in the middle of the foreground, another little adult dancer with a branch of coral in his hand. The majority of the persons are looking at him (he, in turn, looks outwards to the right, the boy holding the sun-disk looks to the left). In the right-hand third of the picture a man with a moustache (the head of the family) sits beside a table covered with an ornate tablecloth. He wears traditional clothes with a European hat. Before the table stands a woman in traditional clothes, holding a flowery kerchief in her hands. Another woman standing behind the table paints with a brush on a long slip of paper the end of it lifted by her while painting. Above the table is an ornately bordered square canopy, from the edge of which a single tassel hangs down with a lucky knot. In the right side of the foreground a big flower-stand with a lotus-flower has been placed on a folding rack. In the background