Page 310 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 303
The rat is associated with money; when you hear a rat scrabbling around for food
at night, it is said to be ‘counting money’. ‘Money-rat’ is a disparaging way of referring
to a miser.
Rats used to be left undisturbed on certain days in the year so that they could get
married in peace! The days thus observed varied from one region of China to another –
thus, the 3rd day of the 12th month, the 7th of the 12th or the 19th of the 1st. In a South
Chinese legend, it is the rat which brings rice to mankind. Rats can turn into demons
– male demons usually, in contrast with the fox which turns into a female demon.
When rats appear in a house, cats soon follow, because they know that the family
will soon be in poverty.

Rat years

There is frequent mention in early texts of a rat-dance in which the rats stand up on
their hind legs, place their front paws on their heads and sing.
Unlike the rat, the mouse plays little part in Chinese symbolism, perhaps because it
does not do so much harm; perhaps also because both creatures have the same name in
Chinese (shu). When a distinction must be made, the rat is called ‘old mouse’ (lao shu),
or ‘big mouse’ (da shu).
Performing mice used to be shown in Peking markets at New Year.

Rattle

jing-zhang

A rod or staff fitted with a ring at the upper end, from which further rings hang. It is an
Indian symbol, and appears only in Buddhist contexts. The rattle symbolises the
mendicant monk who warns small creatures on the ground to get out of his way lest he
inadvertently step on them.