Material: Rice Paper​

This watercolour painting on rice paper represents a court scene possibly ‘Poker Game Announced by Jin Yuanyang’ in Chapter 40 of ‘Dream of a Red Chamber’, a famous 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin. Being able to interpret the painting itself is an intellectual test that educated, elite children in China are expected to be capable of as evidence of showing their awareness of literary masterpieces. The scene’s architectural details—such as open lattice windows, decorated screens, and intricately patterned furnishings—reflect the elite domestic environments typical of late imperial China. The painting depicts elaborately dressed seated women engaged in intellectual pastimes such as playing a stringed instrument, most likely a Guqin, and a game with tiles/tablets, possibly Mahjong or Pai Gow. These ladies are being waited on by domestic servants. The Chinese script at the top of the painting indicates the maker of the painting.

“This painting highlights sharp contrasts between the richly dressed, comfortably seated ladies and the young maids in simpler clothing and deferential postures—one even appearing childlike. These details reveal the social hierarchies and traditional labour expectations placed on poor girls in the past. Reflecting on this alongside my own family history and experiences in Guangdong and Hong Kong, I realise how these patterns persist today: domestic workers, mostly young women and often migrants from lower socio-economic backgrounds, continue to provide essential yet undervalued labour that supports modern households. Although society has changed, inequalities shaped by class, gender, age, ethnicity, and economic status remain deeply embedded, and the painting serves as a reminder that these power structures have evolved but never disappeared.”

Sylvia Yue, Project Participant