<p>It should be 福壽康寧 (<em>fú shòu kāng níng</em>; simplified: 福寿康宁).</p>

<ol>
<li>福</li>
<li>康</li>
<li>壽</li>
<li>寧</li>
</ol>

<p>I'm pretty certain about the first 3; 寧 is the only one that is hard to tell, but based on context, it should be 寧.</p>

<p>EDIT: And this is what it means: <a href="http://dict.bing.com.cn/#%E7%A6%8F%E5%AF%BF%E5%BA%B7%E5%AE%81" rel="nofollow">good fortune, long life, health and peace</a> </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-12T21:41:32.703Z
2012-02-12T21:49:03.050Z
2012-02-12T21:49:03.050Z
Claw
<p>I did some more research regarding the fourth character and found this in a book I did buy in China.
<img src="https://i.sstatic.net/s6Q1L.jpg" alt="scan chinese book"></p>

<p>I can't read it (I'm collecting art...) but recognize the 寿 (shou) between quotes, so is it 寿 in a different way of writing as 3 ? But then some time ago a Dutch professor in Chinese suggested 喜, Huang thinks it's 乐 and Claw 寧. So the mystery remains...</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-14T10:52:09.820Z
Alenanno? I didn't say anything on the characters. Maybe you mean Huang... Anyway, please post a complete answer, don't address part of the question.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-14T11:42:01.157Z
@Alenanno: Sorry, saw your name as the one who 'edited' my question, overlooked that Huang added the comment. And I thought it could be helpful to post the conflicting answers I found elsewhere.
Henry vM
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-14T11:43:02.780Z
It is helpful! I was just saying that you could add something about the other characters too. :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-20T19:04:05.783Z
Hmm... if the 4th one is 寿, I wonder if the 3rd one could be 寧 instead.
Claw
CC BY-SA 4.0
2012-02-14T10:05:45.433Z
2018-12-29T00:10:03.430Z
2018-12-29T00:10:03.430Z
Henry vM
<p>What characters are depicted on this old jar? My (art-)sources have all different opinions: "fu2 shou4 an1 kang1" or "fu2 lu4 shou4 xi3" or 4 x shou4 or "fu2 shou4 kang1 ning2" and all without telling which tree is what character.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HB9YG.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-13T13:02:37.590Z
Claw's answer is good. He is not sure that the last character is "寧(simplified:宁)", and I also doubt it. That character seems like “樂(simplified:乐)” to me, which means "happy,delightful". Look at the bottom part of that tree, it looks like "木", right?
Huang
<characters><character-identification>
What characters are on this ceramic jar?
# What characters are on this ceramic jar?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-02-12)

What characters are depicted on this old jar? My (art-)sources have all different opinions: "fu2 shou4 an1 kang1" or "fu2 lu4 shou4 xi3" or 4 x shou4 or "fu2 shou4 kang1 ning2" and all without telling which tree is what character.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/HB9YG.jpg)

**Tags:** characters, character-identification

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: username_2's answer is good. He is not sure that the last character is "寧(simplified:宁)", and I also doubt it. That character seems like “樂(simplified:乐)” to me, which means "happy,delightful". Look at the bottom part of that tree, it looks like "木", right?  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-02-12. Score: 3

It should be 福壽康寧 (*fú shòu kāng níng*; simplified: 福寿康宁).

1. 福
2. 康
3. 壽
4. 寧

I'm pretty certain about the first 3; 寧 is the only one that is hard to tell, but based on context, it should be 寧.

EDIT: And this is what it means: [good fortune, long life, health and peace](http://dict.bing.com.cn/#%E7%A6%8F%E5%AF%BF%E5%BA%B7%E5%AE%81)


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2012-02-14. Score: 2

I did some more research regarding the fourth character and found this in a book I did buy in China.
![scan chinese book](https://i.sstatic.net/s6Q1L.jpg)

I can't read it (I'm collecting art...) but recognize the 寿 (shou) between quotes, so is it 寿 in a different way of writing as 3 ? But then some time ago a Dutch professor in Chinese suggested 喜, username_1 thinks it's 乐 and username_2 寧. So the mystery remains...

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: username_3? I didn't say anything on the characters. Maybe you mean username_1... Anyway, please post a complete answer, don't address part of the question.  
> **username_0**: @username_3: Sorry, saw your name as the one who 'edited' my question, overlooked that username_1 added the comment. And I thought it could be helpful to post the conflicting answers I found elsewhere.  
> **username_3**: It is helpful! I was just saying that you could add something about the other characters too. :)  
> **username_2**: Hmm... if the 4th one is 寿, I wonder if the 3rd one could be 寧 instead.  

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