Page 313 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 306
the wine producers in the country. The ‘red heart’ is the centre of the target; ‘red lotus’ is
a late-cropping brand of rice.
‘Red’ can also mean ‘naked’. For example, a ‘red child’ is a naked baby – not one
with red hair! (A red-haired child, believed to be a bastard, was often exposed in ancient
times.) A ‘red spot’ was painted on a child’s forehead on the 14th day of the 8th month,
to protect it against diseases. Grown women also had a red spot painted on their cheek as
a beauty spot. When one prayed for divine help or guidance in a temple, it was customary
to bind a ‘red cord’ round the neck of a statue or part of an altar. The ‘Red Eyebrows’
were a group of rebels in the 1st century AD who painted their eyebrows with an
indelible red so that they could not desert their cause. The Taoist sect whose members
specialise in exorcism are known as ‘Redheads’, in contradistinction to the ‘Blackheads’,
who conduct funeral services.
Since red and green are the colours of life, their combination is especially significant.
In one novel we read that many a girl is as red as peach-blossom and ripe for love,
while others are as green as willows and can only be pitied. (But we must remember
that ‘pity’ is a word that men often use when they are describing their feelings for young
women.) Very frequently we hear of girls who have red skirts and green stockings, which
means that they are very young. The phrase ‘Red lamps – green wine’ describes the way
of life in low pubs. Painting may still be referred to as dan-qing: in this compound, dan =
cinnabar and qing is a very old colour word which can mean anything from dark blue (the
blue of the sky) to grey and green. ‘Red and green’ is the symbolic formula of Chinese
painting. ‘Red and white’ is a phrase referring to marriage and funeral ceremonies.
And finally one speaks appreciatively of the red lips and the white teeth of a
beautiful woman.

Ren

This word denotes a specific state of mind, which we might render in somewhat basic
fashion in English as ‘to forbear’, ‘to endure’: to put up with something which one would
rather do without, in order to avoid something worse. There is a story about an old man
who was once asked how he managed to live so happily in one house with his wife, his
children, his daughters-in-law, his sons and all their wives, etc. He answered with the one
word: ren. There is an old proverb which says: ‘Forbear, forbear, forbear, pardon, pardon,
pardon’ (forbearance ranks higher in the Chinese scheme of things than forgiveness).