Page 148 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 141
Frog

wa

Among the peasants, the frog is often called ‘partridge’ (tian ji); but this is really a taboo-
word for tian-ji meaning ‘celestial cock’, as it was believed that the frog’s seed fell
together with the dew from heaven. In various provinces there was at one time a
cult of the frog, which led in turn to its being banned as an article of food. In other
regions, however, frogs were bred for sale. Until well into the Middle Ages, it was widely
believed that the frog could turn into a quail.
Like the toad, the frog is of course a moon creature, but in folklore there is a
lot more to it than that. In Taiwan, the word for ‘green frog’ is taboo among young girls
because the creature is supposed to resemble the body of a girl. Instead, they refer to it as
the ‘water-chicken’. In Korea, a dream about a frog is supposed to foretell the birth of a
son. An ancient text assures us that one of a human being’s two souls, – the hun –
looks exactly like a frog. Finally, ‘frog-mouth’ means the glans penis. But many
references to the frog are obscure and difficult to interpret. Rulers, high officials and
poets often found the croaking of frogs disturbing: so, it is said, they told them to be quiet
– and the frogs obeyed!

A summons: ‘Protect all living things’