Page 126 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 119
Father

fu

Father and son form one of the five human relationships. As described in
Chinese literature, however, the relationship is something of an antithetical one.
The father is ‘strict’ while the mother is ‘loving’; one does not say, ‘I love my father’.
In the old patriarchal social set-up, the father symbolised the ruler, the son symbolised the
subject. Again, it is the eldest son who is permitted to accompany the father at New
Year to the family grave and the ceremonial invitation to the ancestors.

Father and son: ‘May the young man attain as lofty a post as your own!’

There is no shortage of pictures showing father and son in court dress, the former
wearing the hat of an official and the son wearing the head-dress which identifies the
wearer as one who has come first in the highest state examination. Such a picture wished
the recipient ‘May your son accompany you to court!’