<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>

Hundred Children

lineage

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