Bats - Fu

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 29 – Since it is time for Halloween, and bats are associated with Halloween in the Western world, I thought I’d write about bats in China. Unlike how bats are traditionally considered “scary” for Halloween, they are a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture. The Chinese characters for bat, 蝠 fú (pronounced “foo”), and good fortune 福 fú, are pronounced the same.  Quoting from online: “Often the bat is shown flying upside down because the character (dao 倒) for "upside-down" and the character (dao 到) meaning "to have arrived" are both pronounced dao (like “dow” rhyming with cow).  Therefore, if a person were to say "the bat is flying upside down" a listener could just as easily hear this as "happiness has arrived" which, of course, has a very auspicious connotation.” According to Feng Shui, two bats bring double happiness, and five bats represent the five blessings in Chinese culture: longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and a natural death.  My pictures show bats on a tea cup and also on a complete tea set. The character written on the upper part of the cup is the “good fortune” 福 fú. Can you recognize it? Quote from http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

Tattooed Goldfish

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 24 – China, although thy have a large number of animal lovers and animal rights activists, still has many practices that can be considered as animal cruelty. Tattooing goldfish is one of these. Goldfish themselves are considered to bring good luck to their owners, and people worldwide have gotten tattoos of goldfish for a long time. Then, about 10 years ago, someone got the idea to start tattooing the goldfish to make them even more appealing to people. The idea became popular 5 or 6 years ago, unfortunately, it’s not so lucky for the goldfish. The Chinese characters or patterns that are tattooed on the goldfish are done by either injection or with a laser; either way damages the fish’s scales and it usually dies prematurely. These fish are sold pretty much anywhere you can buy live fish to keep as pets, although I’m sure there are some independent shops who look down on the practice. So, if you live in China, please don’t buy these fish! 

Dragons

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 23 – I’m not sure how I’ve made it this far into the year without posting specifically about dragons! Dragons, called龙 long, are HUGE in China and there is no way I’ll cover everything there is to learn about them in this paragraph! Most importantly, dragons in China are GOOD, unlike dragons in Western lore that are/were mean, ferocious enemies. Chinese dragons are mainly symbols of power and good luck. They have a very different look than most Western dragons. They have NO wings (although they can fly) and they don’t breathe fire; They have scales like a fish, the mane of a lion, the claws of a hawk, a long tail like a snake, the antlers of a deer, the mouth of a bull, the beard of a catfish, the nose of a dog, and eyes like a shrimp! Legend says that the emperor was a direct descendant of the dragon. Legend also says that the Imperial dragon had 9 dragon sons; today, you can still recognize nine different specific dragons, used in different ways. The dragon is also one of the Chinese Zodiac animals, the only mythological one of the group. Long ago, the dragon symbol was only allowed to be used by the emperor, but, today dragon symbols are widely used as a decorative symbol. This large ornamental pillar with a dragon wrapped around it is located in the Dalingshan Town Square, in Dongguan. 

Jade Cabbage

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 26 – Jade has been a highly sought after gemstone in China for thousands of years. It actually was first used for its hardness as tools before being used for its beauty. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says “You can put a price on gold, but jade is priceless.” I never knew much about jade (I still don’t really!) and when I came to China, I was surprised at all the colors of jade! I always associated it with green, but it can naturally be red, yellow, lavender, white, black, or green. There is a lot of jade jewelry in China, many ornaments and decorations, and even special jade markets. An interesting jade piece you see often is the jade cabbage. Chinese cabbage is called “bai cai,” which has the same sound (but different characters) as “bai cai” the words for “numerous wealth.” Thus, the jade cabbage is another good luck charm, put in your home or your business to bring in wealth. There is a famous jadeite cabbage statue in a museum in Taiwan, which also has a cricket and a katydid carved in it. There is an old poem where supposedly these insects represent having many children and grandchildren, so I’ve been told that there are often insects hidden in the carved cabbages (but I’ve never been able to find one!) The pictures are from various places around us where we’ve seen jade cabbages, and also an art print of the cabbage and insects. jade, cabbage, 

Stone Lions

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, August 4 – Even if you haven’t been to China you may know about Chinese guardian lions or “shi,” also called stone lions “shi shi” (shrrr shrrr), “Imperial guardian lions,” and in English “foo (fu) dogs or foo (fu) lions.” What most people don’t realize unless they come to China is how common these lions really are! Most large banks and many other places like temples, hotels, businesses, etc. have them at their entrances, whether walk-in doors or drive-in gates. These lions are used because they symbolize power, have traditionally been used to provide protection, and are for decoration. Historically, they have been used for over 2000 years, and were only allowed to be used in official places and homes of high officials. The number of bumps on their heads, representing their hair, indicated rank. As you can see, there are different styles of lions, ranging from more realistic looking to the mythical look. They have their eyes wide open “watching” and their mouths are open as if roaring. Lions are always displayed in pairs and usually there is a male and a female. The male is on the left and has a ball under its paw, which represented the globe and the emperors rulership.  The female, on the right, has a cub under her paw. Sometimes, guardian lions are made of other materials like bronze or marble, and in the lower left picture, you can see a modern day inflatable guardian lion! I always thought the common occurrence of lions in Chinese culture was interesting considering lions are not native to China. The use of stone lions supposedly arrived with the introduction of Buddhism. 

Inflatable Dragon Archways

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 4 – Today we decided to test the new scooter and go to the shopping plaza to see if there were any signs at all of the American Independence Day celebration, but there was nothing (Yes, I know, we do live in China !) . However, there was an inflatable dragon archway that is often used to celebrate a new store opening or a special event taking place. In Chinese culture, dragons are symbolic of success, achievement, and more. The top picture is the main entrance to the Spar Supermarket near where we live and they just opened a small optician “kiosk” inside the store. The sign reads something like “Offering Congratulations to the Opening of the Eyeglass Shop”. The bottom picture was from yesterday in the next town, Dalingshan, in front of a jewelry store. These inflatables aren’t very expensive, a 10 meter or 32 foot wide one like in the top picture costs about 50usd. A small cost to advertise your new business and bring it good luck :-)

Lucky Toads

A few nights ago, Leah and I went toad hunting and it made me think of the symbolism of toads in China :-) “Jin Chan” or “Chan Chu,” usually called “Money frog” or “Money toad” in English, is a figurine used in Feng Shui to attract money. It has three legs, usually red eyes (which makes it kind of evil looking!), always holds an ancient Chinese coin in its mouth, and usually sits on a pile of coins. Although you can only see six beads on its back, there are seven, and they represent the Big Dipper. You can have up to nine lucky toads in your home, and as with most things in Feng Shui, the placement of where you put them is VERY important! Placed just inside your main door is good, but… facing inwards, so the money comes “in,” never facing the door as the money will go out! And it should not be placed in a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or dining room. The legend behind Chan Chu is that a wife of one of the Chinese eight immortals was caught stealing the immortal elixir, and as punishment was turned into a toad by the gods. The picture shows a live toad we saw the other night and also a Chan Chu from a tea shop just outside the Walmart entrance.