Page 86 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 86
A-Z 79
reliability, as he never fails to mark the passing hours. He is also a symbol of male
vigour. According to Indian legend, a cock sits on a tree in the Continent of Jambudvipa:
this is the ‘King Cockerel’ and when he crows all the cocks on earth crow.
Symbolically, a cock (gong-ji) crowing (ming) represents ‘achievement and fame’
(gong-ming). The word for ‘cock’s comb’ (guan) is phonetically identical with guan =
official; a present of a cock with a handsome comb, therefore, expresses the wish that the
recipient may be rewarded with an official post. A cock with five chickens is a reminder
that a father’s job is to educate his five sons.
A cock with handsome comb and the herb of immortality
A cock-fight
