The action of ‘pointing to the sun’ is termed in Chinese as ‘指日 zhi ri’, which sounds and looks exactly the same as (both homophone and homograph of) the phrase ‘指日 zhi ri’ meaning ‘in a few days’ time’. The …
Continue reading “May your chance of promotion be just round the corner”
The Chinese character ‘an 鹌’ in ‘anchun 鹌鹑’ for ‘quail’ makes a pun on ‘an 安’ for ‘peace’. The character ‘zhu 竹’ for ‘bamboo’ is a pun on ‘zhu 祝’ for the verb ‘to wish’ and thus is used here …
The phrase ‘gua die mian mian 瓜瓞绵绵’ is a variation of a line from a poem in the Classic of Poetry, Shijing 诗经, compiled in China during the period between the 11th to 7th centuries BCE, used as a metaphor …
Continue reading “May the male line in your family clan continue and flourish (pun picture)”
The main figure in the scene is a dignitary, often gripping a hu (笏) tablet in his hands, which an official uses to take notes when he has audience with the emperor in court. He is usually sheltered by page …
Continue reading “May you have three successive promotions unexpectedly!”
The Chinese character ‘橘 ju’ for ‘tangerine’ puns on the Chinese word ‘吉 ji’ for ‘good luck’. A green tangerine can be described in Chinese as ‘青橘 qing ju’, which makes a pun on the phrase ‘青吉 qing ji’, meaning …
Continue reading “May we enjoy universal peace and good fortune”
Pun Design ： Official Hat + Wine Vessel Punning Details： The combination of ‘jia 加 putting on’ and ‘guan 冠 hat’ – ‘jia guan 加冠’ is a pun on ‘jia guan 加官’, meaning ‘receiving an official title’. The action of …
Continue reading “May promotion be yours; May you advance in official rank”
Pun Design: Chinese bulbul + Peony Punning Details： – ‘bai tou 白头 white-headed’, of ‘bai tou weng 白头翁 Chinese bulbul’ (the white-headed-old-chap bird) can imply a ripe old age; – ‘fu gui 富贵’ in ‘fu gui hua 富贵花 peony’ literally, …
Continue reading “May you enjoy wealth and prestige to a ripe old age”
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 …
Continue reading “You will certainly come out first in the imperial examinations”
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 …
Continue reading “May your five sons come out first in civil examinations”
Pun Design ： Pomegranate Punning Details： – Artist may repeat one particular visual element many times for conveying the numeral ‘bai 百 hundred’. – A cracked pomegranate showing numerous seeds (bai zi 百籽), in which ‘zi 籽 seed’ is a …
Continue reading “May you have as many male offspring as a pomegranate has seeds”