Page 53 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 46
‘To sow jade in the blue field’ means ‘to be pregnant’ ( bridge). ‘Blue Dragon’ is
a metaphor for the penis. The ‘blue bird’ is a messenger from Xi-wang-mu: hence,
any messenger.

Boat

chuan

A picture showing two children pulling behind them a wooden boat on wheels containing
a cap of office, an official’s sash and a pomegranate, is a pictorial riddle. The hat
(guan) symbolises an official (guan), as does the sash (dai); the boat (chuan)
means ‘from generation to generation’ (chuan), while the pomegranate (liu) means
‘to flow, transmit’ (liu). Thus, the riddle expresses the wish that the recipient of this
picture may receive the cap and sash of an official: that is, attain an official post, and that
the same state of affairs may be extended to his progeny.
On the 5th day of the 5th month, a boat race using long narrow boats is held in South
China and in the Ryukyu Islands. It is a fertility ritual: quite often one or another of the
participants is drowned, and thus the Water-god, who confers fertility, is not deprived of
a sacrificial offering. The government or the local authorities have apparently tried to ban
the race, but, at least until very recently, without success.
It was the practice of the South Chinese coast and in Taiwan, on certain days of the
year, to fashion large boats out of paper and thin boards, which were set on fire and
pushed out to sea. These were supposed to carry plague away with them. A seaworthy
boat carrying a picture of the Plague-god (Wang-gong) was launched: at the point where
it made landfall, a temple was built to the god.
A ‘dry-boat’ (han-chuan) is the frame of a boat without a bottom, which one or two
men can carry along, so that it looks as though it is being rowed. This was a popular
game in North China at the New Year festivities.