Page 333 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 326

Three sheep (or goats) in the sunshine

Sheep were, on the whole, less important for the Chinese than for the nomads of Tibet
and Mongolia, who believed that if sheep-bones were sown at the onset of winter, lambs
would be born from the earth in the spring. Normally, no distinction was made between
sheep and goats, though the latter are sometimes called ‘mountain sheep’.
A ‘sheep’s-eye-ring’ (yang-yan quan) is a sort of condom, which is
covered with hair like a brush, and which is supposed to be made from the
ring of muscle round the sheep’s eye. Before use, it must be softened in

warm tea.
Shoes Shoes

xie

Shoes symbolise concord and harmony (xie). In South China, however, the Chinese
character written above is pronounced hai; and shoes then symbolise the wish for a son
(hai). ‘Lotus-shoes’ are small shoes for women with bound feet, and also symbolise the
wish: ‘(May you) bear sons one after another.’ At marriage ceremonies in Central
China, the bride and bridegroom exchange shoes, thereby expressing the wish that both