Rug with scene of bats and clouds

In the court tribute system of the Qing dynasty, the Ningxia region of north-central China was renowned for its production of high-quality wool rugs by local Muslim artisans. This long, rectangular panel can be used as a floor carpet or a hanging piece. Its woven motif of bats and clouds is a kind of mythological design, configuring a blessing of happiness as “enormous as the heaven,” because the cloud is usually considered a celestial phenomenon and the Chinese word for bat is a pun on the word for happiness.

The central design boasts twenty small bats flying amid large scrolls of five-color clouds and is framed by alternating cloud heads in the borders. The five colors here—yellow, beige, blue, russet, and black—suggest the primordial Five Elements in Daoism: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, which are believed to be governed by the shifting balance between the opposing energies of yin and yang. These auspicious motifs are believed to offer the power to overcome misfortunes brought by evil spirits.