You will certainly come out first in the imperial examinations
必定夺魁
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Pun Design ：
Writing brush + Ingot + Kui Xing
Punning Details：
-Writing brush 笔 bi is a pun on 必 bi meaning ‘certainly’ or ‘necessarily’;
-Ingot 锭ding is homophonous with 定 ding meaning ‘surely’ or ‘inevitably’;
– ‘kui’ refers to Kui Xing 魁星 who is believed to be the God of Literature. Kui Xing has been legendary for writing the names for the first successful candidates in the imperial examinations since the Song dynasty.
Therefore, the image of the God of Literature holding a writing brush in one hand and a gold or silver ingot in the other conveys a good wish for the examination sitters to be successful and achieving top marks.
Related Symbol:
May you be the only one who can stand on the head of a dragon-carp 独占鳌头
Related Figural Scene:
Fig 1: blue-and-white brushpot, Chongzhen period (1628–44), Ming dynasty, courtesy of the Sotheby’s Auction House, 9 October 2012, Lot 3086.
Fig 2: blue-and-white vessel, 1654, Shunzhi period, Qing dynasty, courtesy of Bonhams Auction House, London, 3 November 2022, previously from the Marsh Collection
Fig 3: famille verte brushpot, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands
Fig 4: famille verte brushpot, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of Palace Museum, Beijing
Fig 5: famille verte brushpot, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Sotheby’s Auction House, New York, 20 March 2018, Lot 371, previously from the Jie Rui Tang Collection
Fig 6: rouleau vase, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Sotheby’s Auction House, 20 March 2013, Lot 139.
Fig 7: famille verte brushpot, 17th century, courtesy of the Sotheby’s Auction House, New York, 19 March 2019, Lot 357, previously from the Jie Rui Tang collection
Fig 8: famille verte brushpot, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Sotheby’s Auction House, New York, 23 Mar 2010
Fig 9: famille verte brushpot, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of The British Antique Dealers’ Association, Stock number: JC26