A WHITE JADE SHAPED RECTANGULAR PENDANT/PLAQUE 19世纪 青白玉 '喜报三元'玉牌 China, 19th century One side of the thick pendant is carved in low relief with a boy, holding a string of longans smiles towards a flying magpie, the reverse with a persimmon and a squash, reserved on a glossy ground within a rectangular panel, all within a raised outer border with clouds and bat. Size.5.4x5cm NOTE 喜报三元 translates to Triple Happiness Announcement. It refers to a graphic representation featuring a magpie and three longans, symbolizing good news. The term 三元 comes from the first character of magpie and the character 元 from three longans. In ancient China, officials were selected through the imperial examination system known as the keju. In this system, candidates from various counties took exams at the provincial level. The top scorer in these exams was called Jieyuan. Similarly, candidates who passed provincial exams and participated in the metropolitan-level exams were called Huiyuan. Finally, the top scorer in the imperial exams held in the capital was called Zhuangyuan. Therefore, 连中三元 refers to the consecutive achievement of Jieyuan, Huiyuan, and Zhuangyuan.