Page 398 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 391

Nine ears of wheat

with wood as permutation, or state of being ( elements): and also with spring, the
colour green and the sheep. Accordingly, wheat was eaten mainly in the spring, along
with mutton. ‘Grain rescues life’ we are told in the ancient ‘Book of Odes’ (Shi-jing).
The ear of grain symbolises the clitoris, another term for which is ‘wheat molar’.
White White

bai

Symbolically, white is connected with the West; so the ‘white tiger’ is the animal of the
West, just as the blue dragon is the creature of the East. White clothing is said to have

been worn in the time of the Shang Dynasty (which ended c. 1050 BC) as white was the
symbolic colour of this dynasty.
In the 7th century, scholars who had not yet been appointed to posts wore white
clothes. The earth-god (tu-di) is represented as an old man with a white face, as is Guan
Ping, the son of Guan Yu (who became the war-god, Guan-di).
White is also the colour of the autumn, and the emblem of old age. On the Chinese
stage, actors with white faces represent men who are not exactly wicked, but who are
cunning and treacherous. Another name for these is ‘doufu-faces’, because dou-fu (bean-
curd) has a whitish-yellow colour.
When a procession is being held in honour of a goddess, women who want to have a
son take a white flower from the vase which is being carried by the escort accompanying
the procession. At the feast of lanterns, held on the 15th day of the 1st month,
however, white blossom presages a daughter; those who want sons must take a yellow
flower.