Valance

Valances are long, horizontal textile panels used in traditional Chinese interiors to hang over doorways, windows, or canopy beds. The rich red color and subject matter of this valance suggest it was made for the bed of a newlywed couple, perhaps even by the bride herself.

In the scene, blue and green rocks, multicolored plants, and magical creatures and events reveal that we are viewing an enchanted garden of wish fulfillment. A goddess and her attendant float down on a cloud, delivering a smiling baby boy to the waiting arms of a man. The goddess stands in for the bride, promising a son who will support his parents in old age and carry on the groom’s family name. The man is the groom, dressed in antique scholar’s robes and shaded by his attendant’s parasol. He balances on the head of a large dragon-carp, a symbol long associated with success. For a scholar, the surest route to wealth, power, and honor was to pass the highest level of the competitive imperial civil service examination. This extraordinary feat was compared to the efforts of the mythical carp, whose perseverance in struggling up a famous waterfall was rewarded through its transformation into a dragon.