Tabatière en porcelaine à inscription dorée Chine, dynastie Qing, marque et époque Jiaqing (1796-1820)

entièrement couverte, entre deux frises corail et or à l'épaule et au-dessus de la base, d'un texte peint en or sur le fond blanc, se terminant par deux sceaux rouges, marque Jiaqing à six caractères zhuanshu sur la base; le bouchon en verre rose

This 506 characters inscription is a code of moral and social behaviour, written by the famous moralist and confucian philosopher Zhu Yongchun (1617-1689), entitled The Zhu family instructions. These broad guidelines for the conduct of the family were widely read and had a vast influence in China until the early 20th century. It recommends to be thrifty and simple, honest and generous. Here are two interesting quotes : "To prevent family conflicts, your servants should'nt be too beautiful", "Altough your children may be stupid, they cannot not be taught the Classics".