Page 166 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

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urn about 50 cm deep. These vessels can be found for sale at markets in Taiwan. On the
walls of the tombs of rich people, we often find paintings representing scenes from the
life of the deceased, or scenes which are still well known in the theatre. (We know this
because the scenes have titles which are today titles of plays.)

Green

lü

Green is one of the colours that life takes on, and it is the emblem of the spring.
Dreams in which green colours figure invariably end happily. A modern text has it that
green indicates complete inner peace. Several of the gods and goddesses, e.g. the god of
literature, go about in green robes. In the 8th century, officials wore green.
Once upon a time, the fairy He xian-gu (one of the eight Immortals) felt tired,
so she removed her shoes and stockings. When the other gods and goddesses looked
askance at this indecorous conduct she ran away, but one stocking was caught on a
lichee twig and was left hanging there: this is the origin of the expression ‘hanging up
the green’. But green can also be a negative symbol. A man wearing a green turban (dai
lü mao, or lü jin) is a cuckold, and the ‘family of the green lamps’ are prostitutes.
The ‘Green Youth’ (lü-lang) is an evil spirit which attacks and kills girls at puberty.
The Chinese attach great importance to combinations of the two complementary
colours, red and green.

Guan-di

Guan Yu was one of those who helped Liu Bei to become Emperor of West China and to
found a short-lived dynasty there in the 3rd century AD. Guan Yu was subsequently
given the honorific name Guan-gong. He fell from power after the death of Liu Bei, but
was gradually elevated to divine status in the centuries that followed. Until quite recently,
temples to Guan-di (his name as a god) were to be found in almost all of China’s larger
towns. He was venerated as a god of war, and also as a god of justice and righteousness:
parties to a dispute often took their case to his temple to be settled. In the Chinese theatre,
he is a main protagonist in the many plays based on the ‘Romance of the Three
Kingdoms’. Here he is portrayed in the uniform of a general and on horseback. He is
instantly recognisable by his red face.