Gardening artisans

The plaque as a whole represents one big double gourd. But as no one famously ever said, one can never have too many gourds on an abstinence plaque.

The little bright greenish things are double gourds as well. The Chinese side received one, the Manchu side two. Amidst the explosion of Chinese symbolism, could this then be a subtle reminder that the Manchus were in charge, bearing twice as many gourds against a backdrop of the imperial yellow soil?

In nature, as in this microcosmos of abstinence, double gourds are fed and held by their strong stems and tendrils. The tendrils grow fast, able to reach a length of about ten metres in the summer. Growers have to navigate and support the growth, but for this plaque the artisans made the gourd plants fill up the womb of this big, gold edged mother gourd. In order to yield more fruit, growers cut off the tendrils's tips, freeing the way for fresh branches from which white flowers will bloom, eventually yielding more fruit.

The flowers on the gourd are pink, not white. It seems to be a case of artistic freedom, probably to avoid any association with death and ghosts that white flowers symbolize. Or is this artist painstakingly creating an entangled botanic bonanza of gourds and other prosperous flora?