Page 303 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 296

Plum-blossom

Pomegranate

shi-liu

The Chinese characters mean ‘stone willow’; and Chinese sources tell us that the tree was

brought to China from the Near East in the 2nd century BC. As in the Near East, so too in
China the pomegranate symbolises fertility as it is full of seeds (zi), by the rules of
homonymic transfer, therefore, full of children (zi). It is one of the ‘three fortunate fruits’
– along with the peach and the finger-lemon. These fruits symbolise abundance
and plenty. A picture of a ripe pomegranate, half-open, is a very popular wedding
present. The inscription here will be: ‘liu kai bai-zi’ = ‘the pomegranate opens: hundred
seeds, hundred sons’ (in Chinese, the word zi can mean both ‘seed’ and ‘son’).
A pomegranate ‘opens its mouth in laughter’ (shi-liu kai xiao-kou). Girls like to put
pomegranate blossoms in their hair. If a girl is told that she is ‘apple (ping-guo) and
peach (tao)’ what is meant is that she is 16 years old (shi-liu = 16, i.e. homonymic with
shi-liu = pomegranate). When performing a sacrifice, pomegranates should not be used as
the fruit is said to be too seductive. The pomegranate blossoms in the 5th Chinese month,
in the summer, that is. It joins the orchid, the iris and the wild apple as one of the
‘blossoms of the four seasons’.