‘San gong 三公’ are the ‘Three Top Lords in the Imperial Court’. The ‘gong 公’ from the Chinese name ‘gong ji 公鸡’ for ‘rooster’ puns on the Chinese name for ‘lord’ and three roosters in the picture represent the three top lords, which are the three top positions in the imperial court. The Chinese name for ‘cypress’ is ‘bai 柏’, which puns on ‘bai 百’ for ‘one hundred’. Hence the whole image expresses the wish for highly respected person to have a very long life.

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Related motif:

Rooster 公鸡