Woman’s semiformal robe with scenes of boys at play

This robe is fully embroidered with the traditional scene of a hundred boys (baizitu) in a combination of laid, couch, satin, and knot stitches. The imagery of one hundred boys playing is popular in the decorative arts of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It alludes to King Wen of the Zhou dynasty, who had a hundred sons (ninety-nine natural sons and an adopted one).

Portrayed in a garden with fantastic rocks, the boys are playing different games and conducting various activities, many of which carry auspicious symbols and implications, including the dragon dance (front) and lion dance (back). Other boys frolic in the lotus pond, a tableau that represents a wish for sons and grandsons to live in harmony. Another boy carries a large pomegranate bursting with seeds, symbolic of a wish for many male descendants. Among the trees is a tall osmanthus, from which a boy is taking branches. This act symbolizes the passing of the civil service examination with high honors (tongzi zhegui). In addition, two boys are pulling toy boats loaded with pomegranates and official headdresses and belts. This motif is a pictorial pun signifying the wish “May my rank pass on to my descendants (guandai liuchuan).”