Page 27 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 27
A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 20
The Duke of Zhou, who is supposed to have invented
the astrological calendar 3,100 years ago
Aubergine
qiez
The Chinese aubergine is long and unrounded. Together with its calyx it looks like a man
wearing a hat, and so in the popular mind it came to symbolise the official with
his cap of office. Its presence in a picture expresses the sender’s wish that the recipient
may soon be rewarded with an official post. In Taiwan the aubergine is eaten particularly
towards the end of the year; it is then supposed to make the lips red.
Its phallic form has led to its being used as a symbol for the penis in the whole of East
Asia, especially in China, Korea and Japan.
