<div id="fb-root"></div>
The Hundred Children motif (百子图) represents the most elaborate and auspicious extension of the broader <a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/children-at-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Children at Play</a> theme in traditional Chinese art. While both motifs depict scenes of children engaged in lively and joyful activities—such as kite-flying, lion dancing, and mimicking adult roles—the defining feature of the Hundred Children composition is its scale, narrative structure, and symbolic intensity.
Unlike smaller portrayals of a few children at play, Hundred Children scenes typically feature dozens of children—sometimes literally a hundred—engaged in coordinated yet playful acts, often within palace gardens or festive settings. These grand compositions became especially prominent in decorative arts of the Ming and Qing dynasties, appearing on porcelain, lacquerware, silk tapestries, and marriage furnishings.
The motif draws inspiration from a legendary tale recorded in Liexian Zhuan (列仙传), a Han dynasty compilation of biographies of immortals, which states: ‘King Wen of Zhou had a hundred sons, all of whom attained immortality’ (周文王有百子，皆得仙道). This idea was echoed in later encyclopaedic works such as the Taiping Yulan (太平御览), which further emphasised the symbolic connection between King Wen’s lineage and idealised prosperity: ‘Seventy of them served as ministers’ (七十子受命为卿士). Though not historically factual, this legend became a powerful emblem of dynastic flourishing and ancestral abundance.
In this context, the Hundred Children motif came to embody not merely the charm of childhood, but the Confucian aspiration for a thriving lineage, continuity of family virtues, and multigenerational harmony.
&nbsp;
scene description by <a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/rachel-ma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rachel Ma</a>
&nbsp;
Related Motifs &amp; Symbols
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/grape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grape</a> 葡萄
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/may-the-male-line-in-your-family-clan-continue-and-flourish-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May the male line in your family clan continue and flourish (pictorial allusion)</a> 瓜瓞绵绵
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/pun-pictures/may-you-have-as-many-male-offspring-as-a-pomegranate-has-seeds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May you have as many male offspring as a pomegranate has seeds</a> 榴开百子

Hundred Children

<div id="fb-root"></div>
Children at Play is a classical motif in traditional Chinese art, portraying lively scenes of children engaged in games and daily amusements. These depictions often feature children flying kites, kicking balls, turning somersaults, enjoying lanterns, performing lion or dragon dances, tending flowers, playing with birds and animals, or mimicking adult roles such as scholars, officials, or ceremonial attendants.
This motif can be traced back to the Warring States period and gained prominence during the Song dynasty. It reached a refined artistic height under painters like Su Hanchen—his celebrated work Children Playing in an Autumn Garden exemplifies the genre. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the theme flourished in decorative arts such as porcelain, lacquerware, and embroidery, especially for festive occasions like weddings, birthdays, and Lunar New Year celebrations.
Beyond its charming portrayal of childhood, this motif also conveys auspicious meanings. One of the most iconic is the <a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/hundred-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hundred Children</a> composition, symbolising Confucian ideals of a flourishing lineage and family prosperity. Many works also incorporate puns and visual metaphors, conveying blessings such as May you have continuous noble offspring (连生贵子), May you get promotion step by step (步步高升), and May everything goes as you planned (必定如意). These pun-based images will be explored further in dedicated entries on Tutuhaoyi.
&nbsp;
summarised by <a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/rachel-ma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rachel Ma</a>
&nbsp;
Related Motifs &amp; Symbols:
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/pun-pictures/may-you-have-three-successive-promotions-unexpectedly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May you have three successive promotions unexpectedly!</a> 平升三级
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/motifs-symbols/teaching-the-child/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Teaching the child</a> 课子图

Children at Play

<div id="fb-root"></div>
According to the ‘Account of Zhao Yun’ (赵云传) in ‘The Records of the Three Kingdoms’ (三国志), Zhao Yun (styled Zilong, 子龙) was a distinguished general serving under his warlord, Liu Bei 刘备. It is said that Zhao was not only handsome and sturdy-built, but also brave and skilled in battle. In Chapters 41 to 42 of ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ (三国演义 Sanguo Yanyi), it is recorded that in 208 CE during the Eastern Han dynasty, Liu Bei lost a battle to his opponent Cao Cao 曹操 at Changbanpo 长坂坡. Liu Bei fled south with his troops, leaving behind his wife Lady Mi and infant son Liu Shan (刘禅, nickname A’Dou 阿斗). The brave Zhao Yun went back to the battlefield seven times to search for Liu’s lost family and eventually found Lady Mi holding A’Dou and crying beside a well. Lady Mi thanked Zhao for saving her son’s life but then turned and jumped into the well so as not to burden Zhao on his way out. Zhao tied the infant A’Dou onto his trunk and fought fiercely against Cao’s army. It is said that he fought off more than fifty warriors before finally reuniting with his warlord Liu Bei.
&nbsp;
story scene description by <a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/about-us/rachel-ma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rachel Ma</a>
&nbsp;
Related Figures and Stories:
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/figures-stories/liu-bei-and-sun-quan-chopping-stone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liu Bei and Sun Quan chopping stone</a> 刘备孙权砍石问天(孙刘试剑)
<a href="https://tutuhaoyi.com/figures-stories/general-zhou-yu-flogging-huang-gai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">General Zhou Yu Flogging Huang Gai</a> 周瑜打黄盖 (苦肉计)

Zhao Zilong’s solo rescue of Liu Bei’s infant son

baby

chrysanthemum Qianlong porcelain bowl Tutuhaoyi

The ‘Double Yang Day’ in Chinese Traditional Festivals

Pictorial Presentations of the Story of Cowherd and the Weaving Maid on Chinese Antiques

Amitabha Pure Land Buddhism three Saints from West

Pictorial Presentation of Amitabha and the Two Assistant Bodhisattva

Hongwu porcelain ewer underglaze red Tutuhaoyi

Hongwu Porcelain – The Treasure in Ming Dynasty Founded by Zhu Yuanzhang

Guo Ziyi deterring enemy army without fighting Tutuhaoyi

Newsletter

Quick Links

CHINESE ICONOGRAPHY

KNOW US MORE

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA