Carved and lacquered wooden plaque which was supposed to protect the house and the family against attacks by evil spirits and for good ‘Feng Shui’. Feng shui is a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment. The term ‘Feng shui’ literally translates as ‘wind & water’ in English and deals with ‘invisible forces’ known as ‘Qi’, a flow of energy that binds the universe, earth, and humanity together. This particular plaque is carved in fine detail with an official who just dismounted from a horse greeting a woman with a child on her arm. His servant carries a parasol while her servant waves a large fan. The couple is surrounded by clouds which symbolize the granting of all wishes. We don’t know what the meaning is of this charming picture but we assume that it represents a safe home-coming. The plaque furthermore shows a pair of Phoenixes (Harmonious Marriage) and two other birds, perhaps Magpies (Happy Marriage) as well as auspicious symbols such as a Peony and a Rock (May you live long and achieve Wealth and Honor (changming fugui) and another symbol of Longevity, the Pine tree. The bottom part is carved with the ‘Eight Trigrams’ or ‘Pa Kua’ each consisting of three lines either ‘broken’ or ‘unbroken’ which were used in Taoist cosmology. Each trigram has a meaning, for instance Heaven (天 Tiân), Lake (澤(泽 Zé), Fire (火 Huǒ), Thunder (雷 Léi), Wind (風(风 Fēng), Water (水 Shuǐ), Mountain (山 Shān) and Earth (地 Dì). Inside the Pa Kua is a Yin Yang symbol consisting of two fish-like creatures. Yin and Yang represent opposite forces which are actually complementary and inside the Pa Kua they represent a balance in Feng Shui. Engraved on the back are the characters ‘Fu’ (Blessings) and ‘Lu’ (Prosperity). The plaque was discovered in Hong Kong in 1991. Height 25 cm. Width 31 cm. Depth 2 cm.