Page 322 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

S

Sack

bu-dai

Sacks made of leather played an important part in ancient Chinese life. They were used,
as in European classical antiquity, as containers for wine. Criminals, especially those
guilty of political offences, were often sewn into leather sacks and either drowned or
beaten to death.
The ‘god of sacks’, Di-jiang, who lived on the celestial mountain, had neither eyes nor
face, but six feet and four wings. He sang and danced, and resembled the Primeval Being
who had no limbs, or the Primeval Chaos which was also imagined as an inchoate mass.
For these reasons, the popular name for a sack was hun-dun = chaos. Nowadays, meat-
balls wrapped in dough and boiled in water are also called hun-dun (the Cantonese
pronunciation is wan-dan).
A popular figure in folk-art is the monk bearing a sack. He is supposed to
have died on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of 917, in the monastery of
Yue-lin in Zhejiang Province; but after his death he was seen by many,
and is regarded as an avatar of Maitreya (Mi-lo). Although his sack was
heavy, only a child could carry it. Once, a monk saw him taking a bath,
and noticed that he had an eye on his back. Ashamed that this was no
longer a secret, he gave his sack to the monk who had discovered it.

Saddle Saddle

an

An = saddle is a homonym of an = peace; and it is often depicted together with a vase
(ping), which is in turn a homonym of ping = rest, quiet: so such a picture expresses the
wish that the recipient will have peace and quiet. For more than a thousand years it has
been the custom in China to place a saddle at the main gateway of the parental home
before the bride and bridegroom entered it. The bride was then expected to step over the
saddle in token of her wish to bring only peace and concord to the house. In the Middle