Page 36 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 29

The Imperial Flag (up to 1912) and the flag
of the People’s Republic of China

On the Chinese stage, generals carry banners on their backs. These are richly
decorated and their number indicates the size of the armies under the generals’ command.
The flag of Imperial China had a five-clawed dragon and a red sun or a pearl on a
yellow background. Since 1949, the flag of the People’s Republic has had a large yellow
star flanked by four smaller stars which stand for the four classes – workers, peasants,
petty bourgeois and ‘patriotic capitalists’.

Bao

This word has a wide variety of meanings. It may mean ‘retribution’, in the sense of
taking revenge. But we often come across such an expression as ‘recompensing the
favour shown by the state’ (often, i.e., the ruler of the state). Underlying this is the idea
that each citizen receives so much bounty from the state in the shape of admission to the
state examinations, appointment, etc., that he must in due course repay these favours, if
necessary with his death. In this case, ‘the loyal heart’ is praised of the man who is
‘making recompense’ to the state.
A newspaper reported on the case of a blind widow who had sold lottery tickets to
raise money in order to see her son through his schooling. On qualifying, the son had to
excuse himself: he was not yet in a position to repay his mother for her bounty and
kindness which was as deep as the sea. Another newspaper report concerned an
adulterous union between a man well on in years and a woman who was no younger:
‘above, hot steam was rising; down below was just recompense’.