Page 396 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 396
A-Z 389
Waves and whitecaps
Waves
Waves
lang
Wavy lines are used in ornamentation to indicate water; usually these lines are
stylised patterns of quarter, half or three-quarter circles in parallel series. This design on
the hem of a court garment represents the sea; mountains in the same design represent
the landscape. The wave pattern often represents the tide (chao) and can therefore
symbolise the homophone chao = ‘audience’ (at court, etc.). That is to say, the wish is
expressed that the recipient of such a picture may rise to become an important official at
court.
Well Well
jing
A man who wants to marry but cannot find a bride, is said to be ‘looking for a river
and keen to find a well’. In erotic literature, the well stands for the vagina. In Fukien
