Continuously birth precious sons
Lian sheng bao zi – Continuously birth precious sons
Yangjiabu, Shandong
35x45cm
Modern reprint of early twentieth century
Intended to encourage young brides to have many male children, this image shows a mother standing beside a qilin. The qilin is sometimes referred to as the Chinese unicorn, although the only real resemblance is their magical powers. In China the qilin brings babies to expecting mothers. To make the point absolutely clear the baby holds a musical instrument known as the sheng, which rhymes with the word for ‘birth’, while the mother holds a lotus representing fertility.
Normally an image like this would have a partner, although in this case it has gone missing.
