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 state of ‘something rising high up’ is ‘高升 gao sheng’ in Chinese, which may be metaphorically used to mean ‘getting a promotion’. Thus, the image of a person pointing to the sun high up in the sky visually cues the congratulatory saying ‘zhi ri gao sheng 指日高升 – May your chance of promotion be just round the corner’.

Related Pun Pictures:

May you have repeated promotion 官上加官

May you have an imminent promotion 封侯

Interesting reading:

How do you tell a sun from a moon in porcelain painting

• Fig 1: porcelain dish with underglaze blue decoration, Tianqi period (1621–27), Ming dynasty, courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

  Fig 2: porcelain jar with underglaze blue decoration, Chongzhen period (1628–44), Ming dynasty, courtesy of Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Accession no. EA1978.2007

  Fig 3: porcelain beaker vase with underglaze blue and overglaze enamelled decoration, 17^th century, Ming dynasty, courtesy of the Glasgow Museums collection

  Fig 4: porcelain beaker vase with underglaze blue and overglaze enamelled decoration, Chongzhen period (1628–44), Ming dynasty, courtesy of Guest & Gray Antique Dealer, London

  Fig 5: famille verte baluster vase with lid, Shunzhi period (1644–61), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

  Fig 6: porcelain dish with underglaze blue and red decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum

  Fig 7: covered ewer with underglaze blue decoration, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  Fig 8-9: porcelain vase painted in overglaze polychrome enamels, Kangxi period (1662–1722), Qing dynasty, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  Fig 10: porcelain dish with underglaze blue decoration, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), courtesy of Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands

  Fig 11: doucai porcelain brush pot, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), courtesy of the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, China