Page 152 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 145
the first sentence: noun–noun, verb–verb, compound–compound. The sentences are often
laced with quotations from classical texts and puns.
On open-air games, see Ball, Snow, Swing.

Garlic

suan

Garlic is a lucky plant; it is an antidote to poisons of all sorts. It plays considerable part in
the festival of the 5th day of the 5th month. Garlic may also symbolise a rich progeny.

Gate

men

A gateway – particularly a palace gateway – was a symbol of the Emperor; but it
could also symbolise the family. Until modern times, city gates were closed in the
evening, and not reopened until first cock-crow. At the summer solstice, they stayed
closed all day, as-this was held to be a peculiarly critical, indeed dangerous period (
feast-days). To keep demons away, a metal disc bearing a representation of a lion’s
head was nailed to the top of the gate. The custom of painting portraits of two generals on
the sides of the gate at New Year continues to be observed today. These were

generals in the service of one of the Tang Emperors, who murdered many people,
including members of his own family. Haunted to distraction by their spirits, he
engaged the two generals to protect him; and today their portraits are enough to protect
all the houses in the city. In South China it counts as very bad luck to leave either a gate
or a door half-open.
‘Gate-packet’ (men bao) is a euphemism for ‘bribery’: one gives the bribe ‘to the
gatepost’. ‘The one standing in the door’ (men-hu or meng-zhong ren) is a prostitute, and,
correspondingly, the ‘man in the door’ (men ren) is a male prostitute. The ‘dark gateway’
(xuan-men) is a metaphor for the vagina, but may also refer to a certain Taoist sect.