Time:04/12/2018 Hits:17
Shi, which means rock, stone and pebble in Chinese, symbolizes unyielding will and loyalty. Shi can also represent someone’s unadorned and authentic self becaus…
- Fire
Both the Cold Food (Hanshi) Festival and the Qingming Festival originate from ancient custom of renewing fire in spring. As the story of selflessness embodied by Jie …
- Grasses, weeds
Cao refers to all kinds of herbs, including grass and weeds. Green grasses and weeds are symbols of strong love and tenacious vitality. In certain cases, they also sy…
- Swords
More than simply ornaments, swords in Chinese culture are symbols of one’s aspiration to contribute to society and can represent the sorrow of being unable to d…
- Willows
The character for the willow tree is a homophone of the character liu, which means asking a person to stay when bidding farewell. Thus it symbolizes the sorrow of sep…
- Angling
Fishing provided a means for ancient Chinese scholars to pursue harmony between humanity and nature. It also provided a theme for them to communicate their feelings i…
- Pine trees
One of the three companions in winter, together with bamboo and plum trees, pine trees in Chinese culture are symbols of people who maintain moral integrity and princ…
- Lamps, candles
To illuminate themselves at night, ancient Chinese mostly used deng, meaning lamps or lanterns, or zhu, meaning candles. Red deng and zhu symbolize happiness. For tho…
- Dogs
Dogs are called gou and large ones were also called quan (犬) in the past. These two words are used interchangeably today. The word “犬” has become a comp…