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Magpies among plum blossom.
Also known as: Magpie and plum blossom
A Chinese motif of magpies in a plum tree, carrying a wish that happiness be at the brow.
Works on a double pun: the magpie is the bird of happiness, xǐ, and the plum branch tip is méishāo, which sounds like the brow, méi — so the picture reads as happiness up to the eyebrows. The motif is a written phrase drawn rather than a scene.
Contexts: History
One or two long-tailed birds perched among the bare branches of a flowering tree, the blossom drawn as five-petalled rosettes directly on the wood.
A fuller structured visual breakdown is not yet documented for this symbol.