Presentation Hanging for an Eightieth Birthday

When made for court personages, government officials, or other members of the aristocracy, commemorative hangings proclaiming meritorious service, major birthdays, or anniversaries could be spectacular objects. The dedicatory inscriptions are typically dated, while the figural imagery relating to family history is Confucian in nature. Taoist emblems connoting long life are also a standard part of the decoration. This hanging celebrates the eightieth birthdays of a husband and wife. In China, major birthday celebrations were held at sixty, seventy, and eighty years of age. The border surrounding the inscription of this magnificent hanging is comprised of one hundred stylized variations of the shou character which means long life. The lengthy inscription, translated in part in the adjoining label, gives a clear rendition of Confucian values. As the case is here, prominent writers and calligraphers were typically recruited by the family to compose the actual verse.