The ruyi sceptre with thick, flat shaft tapering from a pointed lower end and arched in the centre, the top carved as a four-clawed dragon, the turned-over head with two bats among clouds within a raised border. On the shaft, an extended spray of lingzhi fungus growing by a rock, with seven more bats, the lower end with a key-fret border, the end carved with a tenth bat as a loop, to which is attached a silken cord with knot and two yellow tassels. On the underside, further lingzhi sprays following the veining of the material.

Bats seen together with lingzhi fungus meaning, ‘When happiness arrives, may your heart be filled with inspiration’, and many bats meaning ‘many blessings’; the characters for ‘bat’ (fu) and ‘blessing’ (fu) being homophones.

The ruyi sceptre is a time-honoured symbol of authority in China.

Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume III.