Page 314 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 307
Rhinoceros

xi-niu

The rhinoceros was native to China but has long been extinct. The horn is one of the
lucky symbols associated with the scholar. It is the emblem of the ‘sound character’
which a good scholar ought to have. The horn was also popularly supposed to have the
property of identifying poison in a liquid.
A belt made of rhinoceros hide is impermeable. According to legend, such a belt was
used by Cao Guo-jiu, one of the eight Immortals, when he crossed the path of
the dragon kings who lived under water.

Rhombus

ling-xing

The rhombus is one of the eight lucky symbols. It is said to symbolise a sound state
of affairs in the country and its government, but some sources say it is an emblem of
victory.
As in Europe, the reduplicated rhombus (fang-zheng) is supposed to ward off evil
spirits, demons and so on. The figure is often seen on walls.

Rice

dao; mi

Rice, a staple food of the Chinese people, is cultivated mainly in South and Central
China. In the North, there is a higher proportion of farinaceous crops and foods.
Its status as a useful plant goes back to the dawn of Chinese history: the mythical
Emperor Shen-nong is supposed to have performed the solemn ceremony of planting the
first rice every year, and before the close of the second millennium BC there were
extensive irrigation schemes along the Yangtse for the rice-fields. Here too, cosmological
considerations were borne in mind: a rice field had to be proportionate in size with
human dimensions if large areas of wet paddy-fields were to be regulated and held to the
proper depth.