Page 44 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 37
It was desirable that a scholar should have feminine traits in his appearance.
However, fat men in general – military men and wrestlers, for example – have never been
regarded as handsome: even Fat-belly Buddha stands for merriment, not for beauty.
In the erotic ‘Spring pictures’, male breasts often outdo those of the ladies.

Bee

mi-feng

South Chinese tribes used to hunt for bees’ nests in old trees and smoke them out to get at
the honey. Bee-keeping proper is scarcely attested. On the whole, the bee does not play a
very important role in Chinese symbolism. However, as the word for ‘bee’ (feng) is
phonetically close to the word for preferment to a noble rank (feng), a picture showing
a monkey and a bee together can be taken as meaning ‘preferment to noble rank’ (the
monkey – hou – symbolising ‘award of a fief’ – hou). As in the West, the bee may also
stand for industriousness and thrift. Like the butterfly, the bee also represents a
young man in love, and the peony on which it sits, or round which it flies, represents
the girl he loves. The expression ‘to call the bee and bring the butterfly’ refers to an
extramarital affair: successful conclusion of such an affair is described as ‘the bee rolls
up, the butterfly picks’.
A South Chinese legend, which is known also in Japan, tells how a bee helps a young
man to choose the right bride for himself out of a whole row of beautiful girls.