Page 54 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 54
A-Z 47
‘The ruler is the boat, the people are the water. It is the water
that bears the boat; it is also the water that can make
the boat capsize’ (Xun-zi, 3rd century BC)
Bodhi
pu-ti
The Buddha himself does not record that he received enlightenment under the Bodhi-
tree (Ficus religiosa). Nevertheless, there are some grounds for believing that when
Siddhartha Gautama became a Buddha one night in 528 BC, not far from the site of the
present-day Mahabodhi Temple of Bodh-Gaya, he was sitting under a tree which can be
identified as a Bodhi tree by reason of its heart-shaped leaves with their long divergent
points. In China, the pearls in a rosary are called pu-ti-zi because they can lead to
enlightenment when used in prayer. ‘Pu-ti-water’ is a metaphor for semen.
