Page 164 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 157
As a migratory bird, the wild goose, like the wild duck, can be a harbinger of separation;
but then again they can both be regarded as messengers, bearers of glad tidings from a
spouse far away in northern lands.
Wild geese are represented as flying in pairs, and so a picture of wild geese makes a
good wedding present ( marriage). A picture showing a man with two geese in front
of him is a reference to the calligrapher Wang Xi-zhi (321–79) who, so the legend goes,
was particularly fond of geese and fed them with Chinese ink.

Gourd (Melon)

gua

Several kinds of gourd and melon are native to China. The water-melon alone is an
importation from Western Asia; for this reason it is called ‘Western gourd’ (xi gua).
It is said – and the saying may be as old as Confucius – that one should not stoop
or bend down while passing through a field of gourds, lest one be suspected of stealing.
On the day of the Feast of Women (the 7th day of the 7th month) women in Central
China make offerings of melons, and on the 15th day of the 8th month (i.e. the night of
the full moon) they make melon cakes. In the autumn, young girls go into the fields and
pick melons, in the belief that this will bless their marriage with sons.

Ornamental fruits with two gourds