One of the most commonly used motifs that depicts household fowls. It has also been frequently used in pun rebuses with intended meaning of ‘good fortune’ or ‘good wishes’, as its Chinese pronunciation is ‘ji 鸡’, punning on ‘ji 吉’ …
Goldfish is often found as a decorative motif in Chinese art. According to Chinese tradition, keeping goldfish in the house is considered auspicious, since the name for ‘goldfish’ (jin yu 金鱼) puns on the Chinese words for ‘gold 金 jin’ …
‘Dié 蝶’ from hú dié 蝴蝶, the Chinese character for ‘butterfly’, can be used to pun on ‘dié 耋’, meaning ‘octogenarian’ in the phrase ‘May mother live up to a ripe old age 萱耋’, or ‘dié 瓞’ for ‘small melons’ in the phrase …
Also named leechee, lichee, lichi, or litchi (nut). Lychee is a tall tropical evergreen tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) native to southeastern China. It was recorded in the Xijing zaji (西京杂记, Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital), a collection …
Grapes grow in clusters of up to 300 berries each and thus produce an enormous number of seeds. This property was regarded by the ancient Chinese as an apt allusion to their wish for a large number of offspring. That …
The phrase ‘gua die mian mian 瓜瓞绵绵’ is a variation of a line from the poem Mian 绵 collected in the section of the Greater Odes of the Kingdom (Daya 大雅) in the Classic of Poetry (Shijing 诗经). It is …
Continue reading “May the male line in your family clan continue and flourish (pictorial allusion)”
The tree commonly referred to in English as the flowering plum in fact belongs to the species Prunus mume, which is part of the apricot family. With the pine and bamboo, the plum is one of the Three Friends of …
In an ancient Chinese book, The Huainanzi (淮南子 The Discourses of the Huainan Masters), compiled around 139 BCE, there was a legendary story about a fairy lady, Chang’e 嫦娥, the Moon Goddess. She had a loyal companion, an adorable rabbit, …