Page 128 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 121
Feelings

qing

Asked what mattered most in connection with the rites, Confucius answered that
they provided human beings with a model of moderation to aim at: ‘Joy and sorrow must
be in moderation (the doctrine of the mean).’ If we gave way to our feelings and
expressed them openly, we should be letting ourselves be guided by the standards (dao)
of the barbarians.
The emotional life of the Chinese is held in check by traditional rituals, and is
therefore to some extent standardised. It is marked by a use of conventional symbols and
of obligatory gestures. ‘The superior man is above all concerned that others will not
find him lacking in the right forms of expression’ (‘Book of Rites’).
The Huang-di Nei-qing, that breviary of old Chinese medicine, details the
correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm. Just as the doctrine of the five
virtues ties up with our teaching on the five viscera, so do the affects correspond to the
bodily orifices: eyes and anger, tongue and joy, mouth and intention, nose and sorrow,
ears and fear.
Other authorities give seven affects: joy, anger, pain, fear, love, hate, desire. It is clear
from their novels that the Chinese are especially gifted in the sense of touch: the texts are
full of descriptions of skin, how it feels to the touch, is it soft under pressure, cool, etc.
Some insight into Chinese emotional life is afforded by two of the expressions used to
denote it: gan-qing and ren-qing. The former means ‘feeling’, ‘affect’ in general, but is in
practice limited to the feeling of mutual obligation between spouses. Gan-qing covers
what we mean by ‘love’, including intercourse and caresses; it can be ‘ruptured’ by
adultery or by failure to perform one’s marital duty. The second expression, ren-qing,
means ‘human feelings’ and is usually employed in this sense. But it can also mean
‘bribery’ – an extension from ‘the expression of goodwill by means of presents’:

normally to someone in a higher position.
‘Putting up with’ and ‘giving in’ as behavioural forms are denoted by ren and
rang.

Finger-lemon

fo-shou

This is a citrus fruit of bizarre aspect, with excrescences which look like fingers on a
hand: in Chinese it is called ‘Buddha-hand’ (fo-shou). It is sweet-smelling and is
therefore often kept in rooms. It is not eaten. In erotic literature it is compared to the male