Intricately woven with nine five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls and cartouches depicting the Hundred Antiques, this brilliant carpet evokes multiple layers of auspicious meanings that related to the figure of the emperor and his quest for attaining immortality.
Capable of flying high in the sky and diving back in the sea, dragons were, since the earliest phases of Chinese history, seen as intermediaries between heaven and earth and empowered with extraordinary powers that compared with those of the emperors. In conjunction with the flaming pearl, the dragon acted as a visual metaphor for the good ruler who behaved wisely for the well-being of his subjects. Even the number of dragons occurring on many of these carpets represented the status of the emperor as the Son of Heaven. Nine is in fact closely associated with heaven in that it evoked infinity, partly because it was the product of three times three, the most basic unit of three being heaven, earth and man, and partly because the number nine was homophone with the word Jiu meaning eternity.