Page 84 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 77
Clean/Unclean

su/hun

‘Clean’ (su) and ‘unclean’ (hun) form a contrastive pair which appears in various
contexts. One of the commonest is the contrast made between ‘vegetarian’ (su) and ‘non-
vegetarian’ (hun): a culinary distinction between Buddhists and non-Buddhists.
Monks must eat su, i.e. ‘simple’, not enhanced in any way. Su is also used for garments
worn in time of mourning, which should be made of coarse, undyed material. The word
hun is used for food which includes meat in any shape or form. In non-Buddhist contexts,
the distinction is between ‘clear’ (here, su = qing) and ‘dull’, ‘cloudy’.
Before 1949 it was customary for a Chinese to use disparaging expressions when
referring to his wife, in token of modesty and that sense of propriety which required that
one should denigrate one’s own possessions and speak respectfully of anything belonging
to the addressee, or to a third party. Thus a man could refer to his wife as hun-jia = the
turbid or confused one, without, however, meaning the words to be taken literally.

Clouds

yun

Clouds symbolise good fortune and happiness, especially when they have more than one

colour; and clouds with five colours (wu-se-yun) are emblems of five-fold happiness.
Auspicious clouds such as these are also harbingers of peace. Clouds are correlated with
the West. They arise from a union of the two main principles yin and yang.
Stylised clouds are frequent in ornamentation, e.g. the ‘intertwined band of cloud’ which
takes the form of a spiral wave; but we also find more realistic representation as well.
‘Cloud mountains’, i.e. far-off ranges of hills, represent separation and longing. As the
great poet-painter Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty) sang:

I will walk till the water checks my path,
Then sit and watch the rising clouds.

‘Cloud-mother’ (yun-mu) means ‘mica’; ‘fragrant clouds’ is a meta-phor for beautiful
hair when a woman lets it float free. ‘Cloud-fog’ (yun-wu) is an enticingly full brassière.