Summer solstice, the longest day in the year, occurs in the fifth month of the Chinese calendar and Chinese astronomy believes that it stands for the apogee of the yang force in the annual cycle. Ancient philosophers warned in Classic …
In the oracle bone script, the earliest form of the Chinese characters, the pictograph ‘福 (fu)’ consists of a pair of hands holding a wine jar in front of a sacred ancestral symbol. It means that, if the ancestors were …
The tiger has impressed the Chinese for being ferocious, valiant, and awesome. Numerous imaginations, legends, and images have been stimulated by the fascinating impact of this majestic beast on the nation’s psyche ever since antiquity. Shuowen jiezi (说文解字), or Explanations …
Image of the Five Principal Human Relations (Wu Lun Tu 五伦图), also known as Lun Xu Tu 伦叙图 (Epitome of Hierarchical Social Order), symbolises the five basic relationships in traditional Chinese society. This design typically consists of five kinds of …
Phoenix has been deemed as a holy, noble and beautiful bird in the Chinese folk myths and was regarded as the king of all birds. In Volume 915 of the comprehensive reference book ‘Readings of the Taiping Era’ (太平御览 Tai …
During the Tang and Song dynasties, there were large dragon–carp (鳌鱼) reliefs on the steps in front of the imperial palace. In the era of imperial examinations, the scholar who scored number one would stand on the head of the …
Continue reading “May you be the only one who can stand on the head of a dragon-carp”
This is a legendary story about the birth of Confucius (551 BCE – 479 BCE), the renowned philosopher from ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BCE – 475 BCE). According to The Family History of Confucius (孔子家语), …
The ‘Nine Autumn Flowers’ (Jiu Qiu Tu 九秋图) is a distinguished pattern in traditional Chinese decorative art, frequently employed to symbolise the richness and splendour of the autumn season. This theme features nine varieties of flowers, although not in a …