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In this scene, there are several Chinese <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/longevity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">longevity</a> symbols such as the <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/crane/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crane</a>, the generic immortal, the pine tree, and the <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/deer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deer</a>, etc. However, the proper meaning of this particular scene is <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/blogs/commonly-misunderstood-images/more-than-a-simple-assemblage-of-individual-symbols-of-longevity-discussion-on-a-chinese-pictorial-narrative-scene-of-hai-wu-tian-chou/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not a simple assemblage of individual symbols</a>. It is a snapshot of a coherent narrative that has been well-loved and widely consumed in the visual oeuvre that represents the Chinese longevity ideal.
The literary origin of the scene can be traced back to an anecdote collected in Notes by Dongpo (东坡志林), compiled by a prominent man of letters of the Song dynasty, Su Shi (苏轼, 1037-1101). During one chance meeting of three geriatric men, the topic of age was broached. Each one of them tried their best to exaggerate his own great age. The second speaker famously boasted, ‘After every cycle of the sea drying up and becoming mulberry fields, I put a strip of <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/bamboo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bamboo </a>in my house as a counter and now the strips have already filled ten of the rooms.’ Later, this dramatic detail evolved into a classic allusion to longevity, a popular dream cherished by all people in China. Pictorial representations of this dramatic moment were invented and elaborated into different versions to adorn birthday presents of all kinds.
Initially, the title of the scene is, literally: ‘A bamboo counter is being added to the house in the sea (海屋添筹 hai wu tian chou)’. The first two characters of the phrase resulted from compressing the paragraph spoken by the second speaker in the story into an abbreviation consisting of the first and the last characters 海屋 hai wu (‘海水变桑田时, 吾辄下一筹, 尔来吾筹已满十间屋’). The coined two-character phrase ‘海屋 hai wu’ now means a ‘pavilion at sea’, serving as the first two characters in the set phrase. The rest two characters of the phrase ‘添筹 tianchou’ denotes the action (of a crane) adding a bamboo strip as a counter’. Thus, the four-character phrase alludes to the second speaker’s words in the original story.
During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), pun rebus designs became more and more popular in folk decorative arts. The last character of the phrase ‘筹 chou’ for ‘bamboo strip counter’, acquired a pun on ‘寿 shou’, the Chinese character for ‘longevity’. Then, the phrase virtually conveys the meaning of a birthday wish: ‘May the length of your life be eternally prolonged (海屋添寿 hai wu tian shou)’. One of the earliest mentions of this pun phrase in literature can be found in Section 22 in the second part of the book Tao Ya (匋雅), or ‘Notes of Chinese Best Pottery and Porcelain’, compiled by Chen Liu (陈浏) and published in 1910.
This research article is written by Dr <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/dr-yibin-ni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yibin Ni</a>.
Literature: 
<ol>
<li>Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection: Jieruitang Publishing, Bruges, 2017, p. 84-85.</li>
<li>倪亦斌：《仙鹤寿桃祝寿碗 暗藏海屋添筹图》，《读者欣赏》，兰州：读者出版传媒股份有限公司，2018-01，110-117 页</li>
</ol>

May the length of your life be eternally prolonged!

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One egret (鹭鸶, similar shape as heron), which can be referred to in Chinese as ‘一鹭 yi lu’, makes a pun (i.e. a homophone) on the phrase ‘一路 yi lu’, for ‘all the way’. The <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/lotus-lian-hua/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lotus</a> pod ‘莲窠 lian ke’, is a pun on ‘连科 lian ke’, which means ‘to pass examinations successively’. Thus, the combination of an egret and lotus pods can be created to represent the auspicious saying ‘May you come out first in the three-level civil-service examinations’!
The same picture may be referred to as <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/pun-pictures/you-are-an-honest-and-uncorrupted-official-in-your-entire-career/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘yi lu qing lian 一路清廉’</a>.
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Related Pun Picture: 
<a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/you-may-become-rich-by-receiving-good-education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You may become rich by receiving good education 读书出富贵</a>

May you pass examinations all the way

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An egret and <a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/lotus-lian-hua/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lotus flowers</a> (莲花) are pictured in combination to infer ‘Yi Lu Qing Lian’, which means ‘You are an honest and uncorrupted official in your entire career’.
‘Yi lu 一鹭’ for ‘one egret’ puns on ‘yi lu 一路’ for ‘all the way’; ‘qing lian 青莲’ for ‘green lotus’ makes pun on ‘qing lian 清廉’ for ‘honest and fair in government matters’. Hence the whole image is intended to describe somebody who has the integrity and has never been corrupted during the official career.
The same picture may be referred to as ‘<a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/pun-pictures/may-you-pass-examinations-all-the-way/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yi Lu Lian Ke 一路连科</a>’.
Related Pun Picture: 
<a data-internal-link="true" href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/pun-pictures/may-you-couple-live-a-harmonious-life-and-enjoy-prestige/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May you couple live a harmonious life and enjoy prestige</a> 并蒂双贵
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