May your five sons come out first in civil examinations
五子夺魁
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Pun Design ：
Five + Boy + Fighting over + Helmet
Punning Details：
– The action of five (more or fewer) boys fighting over something refers to ‘夺 duo’. ‘Five’ is a function word.
– ‘kui 盔 helmet’, is a pun on ‘kui 魁’, the name for the first successful candidate in the imperial examinations since the Song dynasty (960–1279).
The above two elements are combined to convey the meaning of ‘winning the number one position in the imperial examinations’.
Related Figure and Story:
Related Pun Picture:
You will certainly come out first in the imperial examinations 必定夺魁
Fig 1: porcelain ovoid jar with underglaze blue decoration, Chongzhen period (1628–44), Ming dynasty, courtesy of Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Accession no. EA1978.2024
Fig 2: double-gourd form porcelain vase with underglaze blue decoration, Chongzhen period (1628–44), Ming dynasty, courtesy of Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Accession no. EA1978.2062
Fig 3-4: famille verte porcelain vase, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Fig 5: porcelain lobed bowl with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, previous collection from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, courtesy of the Christie’s Auction House, 15 Sep 2016, Lot 853
Fig 6: porcelain bowl with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, photograph by Mr Tom Tiberio
Fig 7-8: beaker vase with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
Fig 9-10: famille verte porcelain ovoid vase, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Christie’s Auction House, 27 Jan 2014, Lot 343
Fig 11-12: famille verte porcelain bowl, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection, Dresden State Art Collections, Germany
Fig 13-14: porcelain bowl with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Bertrand de Lavergne collection