Children at Play

About the Artwork

Sixteen children engage in scholarly, religious, and military activities, representing the popular “one hundred boys” theme expressing the wish for abundant, successful male offspring. Such paintings conveying auspicious wishes were often displayed during the New Year festival season. Two older boys wear small crowns with red tassels. Another child with a mask holds a brush in one hand, a rice measure in the other. He stands on a low table imitating Kuixing, the God of Examinations and servant to the God of Literature.

Inscriptions

正德三年七月夏葵寫 [Zhengde san nian qi yue Xia Kui xie]

Provenance

?–1915: Charles L. Freer [1854–1919], Detroit, MI, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1915–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

A Study Exhibition of Chinese Textiles of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 1947-October 9, 1948). Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

Quick Overview

Artist: Xia Kui (Chinese, active c. 1405–1445)
Date: 1508
Medium: hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Painting: 62.5 x 113.7 cm (24 5/8 x 44 3/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 214 x 137 cm (84 1/4 x 53 15/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Gift of Charles L. Freer
Accession no.: 1915.110

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.