Artificial rohdea plant in a carved lacquer pot, Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

Artificial rohdea plant in a carved lacquer pot, Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

• Image Number: K1H000312N000000000PAE
• Dynasty: Qing dynasty
• Category: Lacquer wares
• Function: Furnishings
• Material: Plants/Paint/
• Description:
  Evergreen is an evergreen herb planted in China with a long history. Because it is evergreen in winter and summer, it has the auspicious implication of auspiciousness. In the folk etiquette of marriage and engagement, it is taken to combine with auspicious herbs and other plants as a symbol of blessing. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the quality of its proud wind and frost has been valued by scholars, and it has gradually become one of the indoor Qing offerings. This lifelike bonsai is a red carved lacquer basin with golden hoop and chrysanthemum petal pattern, which holds jasper evergreen with long leaves and red fruits with golden threads. In the basin, there are also rare stones and ganoderma lucidum made of lapis lazuli, tourmaline and opaque glass, with gorgeous color. The archives records show that the Qing court once collected and stored all kinds of silk flowers and jade evergreen, which were used for the display of the year and the year, or for the Qing Dynasty at four seasons. In the title of Everlasting Youth painted by Emperor Qianlong for Chen Guai of the Ming Dynasty in 1898 (1778), the homophonic “Everlasting Qing” implied the meaning of “protecting the people for thousands of years”. Among the numerous auspicious furnishings in the Qing Palace, the evergreen bonsai conveys the wish of eternal peace and well-being with its image of never fading.