HSE Student Unveils the Mystery of a Qing Dynasty Silk Birthday Hanging ( shouzhang )

On May 13, the St. Petersburg Museum of the History of Religion hosted a press event to present the results of the attribution of a Qing dynasty Birthday Hanging (shouzhang). The research findings were presented by Vyacheslav Kuzmin, a fifth-year student of the Bachelor's Programme in Asian and African Studies at HSE University – St. Petersburg. His work involved a thorough examination of the museum’s archival materials, translation of the texts on the hanging, comparative analysis with similar artifacts from other collections, and interpretation of the auspicious imagery framing the piece.

Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of the History of Religion

In 2024, Kuzmin completed an internship at the St. Petersburg Museum of the History of Religion, where he came across an undocumented artifact. To bring it into the realm of academic study, he undertook the task of producing a detailed description and establishing its attribution. His research focused on identifying the artifact’s tradition, period, and place of origin, as well as analyzing its context and stylistic characteristics. This investigation later became the foundation of his thesis, supervised by Natalia Alferova, Associate Professor at the Institute of Asian and African Studies.

The artifact had been part of the museum’s collection since 1935, but Kuzmin’s work revealed that its original attribution, made nearly 90 years ago, was incorrect.

"At the time, the large canvas was mistakenly identified as a funerary item, but it turned out to be quite the opposite," Kuzmin explained. "The Chinese silk hanging is a 'longevity scroll'—the literal translation of the term shouzhang. The practice of writing congratulatory messages on fabric became widespread during the Ming and Qing dynasties. When combined with shouli, a specific type of congratulatory gift presented to the elderly, this tradition gave rise to the shouzhang. The hanging embodies Confucian ethical ideals and features imagery drawn from folk syncretic religion."

The attribution established that the artifact was created in the Guangdong region to mark the anniversary of Mr. Zheng, a high-ranking official celebrated for his distinguished career and public service. This conclusion is supported by an extensive congratulatory inscription in the central field of the hanging, dated 1853. The message draws on the Confucian canon and contains allusions to popular medieval Chinese poetry, accompanied by symbolic imagery along the borders. Some of these images visually reference poetic works, while others function as homonyms for common Chinese blessings. Through his translation of the inscription and analysis of the visual elements, Kuzmin not only successfully attributed the artifact but also shed light on the social structure and spiritual culture of traditional mid-19th century China.

“One of the main challenges I encountered was the scarcity of scholarly research on this type of artifact in European languages,” Kuzmin noted. “My study of Chinese sources led me to conclude that each congratulatory hanging preserved in Chinese museums is a unique piece, crafted for a specific individual. Moreover, the syncretic imagery found in Chinese religious art is complex and open to multiple interpretations.”

According to experts, the "Birthday Hanging" is a unique artifact in Russia, with no comparable examples from imperial China found in other museum collections. The silk hanging is scheduled for restoration and will subsequently be included in the museum’s permanent exhibition.