Textile fragment with boys in floral scrolls, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), 11th–12th century. Silk twill damask (ling). W. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); L. 13 in. (33 cm), Rogers Fund, 1952; 52.8. © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This textile was meticulously woven with boys tucked among floral scrolls and lotus pods—a rebus for, or visual allusion to, progeny. In addition to the Buddhist belief in rebirth from the lotus, multiseeded lotus pods were also thought to be a symbol for plentiful offspring.