Page 218 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 211
The magnolia blossom symbolises a beautiful woman, though sometimes it is
replaced here by the peony. The popular name for the magnolia is ye-he hua = ‘the
flower of nocturnal togetherness’. Mu-lan is also the name of a celebrated warrior-
maiden who joined the army for the sake of her father and went on to make a successful
military career for herself ( Mu-lan).

Magpie

qiao

In popular parlance, the magpie has always been called xi-qiao, i.e. ‘joy-bringing
magpie’. Its call heralds good news or the arrival of a guest. The joy it brings is often
married bliss; this is because of one of the best-loved Chinese legends, the tale of the
cowherd and the spinning damsel. Thanks to the forgetfulness of the magpie the two
lovers can meet only on one night in the year. On the 7th night of the 7th month all the
magpies leave earth and fly to heaven where they form a bridge over the Milky Way,
and thus the cowherd can rejoin his wife. On the 7th day of the 7th month it usually rains
so that we on earth cannot see what is happening in the heavens.
In the Shen yi jing, the ‘Book of the Gods and other Strange Things’ (dating from the
4th or 5th century AD), we learn of a ‘magpie-mirror’. The story runs as follows.
Formerly, when man and wife had to separate they broke a mirror and each of them
took one half. If the woman succumbed in the interim to other men, her half of the mirror
turned into a magpie and flew back to her husband. This is the origin of the practice of
decorating the backs of mirrors with figures of magpies.

Two magpies, a coin with centre-hole and the inscription
‘Great Peace over the whole world’