Buddha’s Hand
(佛手)
A peculiar kind of inedible citron, Citrus medica (香梅) running almost entirely into rind, and terminating at the head in long narrow processes like fingers, is known to the Chinese as fóshôu or Buddha’s Hand. It has a very powerful and fragrant odour, and is offered up in porcelain bowls before the shrine of the household gods at the New Year Festival and other religious sacrifices. It is also used for scenting rooms.
This fruit connotes Buddhism because its form resembles a classic position of Buddha’s hand with the index and little finger pointing upward.
It is also a symbol of wealth as it illustrates the gesture of grasping money.
Butterfly
(糊蝶)
There are in China many different species of the order Lepidoptera, of which the family Papilio, or the butterflies, form an important part. Some of the latter are of a gigantic size and variegated colouring, and it is therefore not astonishing that this insect should be a favourite theme for the poet and the painter.
The philosopher Zhuāng Zî (莊子), once dreamt that he was transformed into a butterfly and found great happiness in flitting hither and thither sipping nectar from innumerable flowers. Hence the insect is an emblem of joy. It is also a symbol of summer.“The butterfly is a sign of conjugal felicity; in fact it might almost be called the Chinese Cupid. The origin of this is to be found in the story told by the Taoist philosopher Zhuāng Zî, of a young student who, running after a beautiful butterfly, unknowingly intruded into the private garden of a retired magistrate, whose daughter he thus saw, and was so struck with her charms, that he determined to work hard and try to obtain her for his wife. In this he was successful, and rose to high rank.”25
The butterfly is often conventionally depicted with great skill, and is a common decoration for embroidery and chinaware.
Cangue
(棚)
From the Portuguese Canga —yoke. Also called the “wooden necktie” (木風領). The heavy square wooden collar worn by criminals for such offences as petty larceny, etc. It is taken off at night, but during the day the wearer must be fed by others, as he cannot reach his mouth.
The infliction of this instrument of punishment is not now stipulated in the Chinese penal code, but it is still employed to a certain extent in remote districts.
Canopy
(蓋)
One of the EIGHT TREASURES (q. v.) or auspicious signs on the sole of Buddha’s foot, sometimes symbolically representing the sacred LUNGS (q. v.) of that divinity. It is of similar import as the UMBRELLA (q. v.). According to some authorities it was originally a flag.
Carpets
(地楼)
The weaving of carpets and rugs is believed to have been introduced from Persia and India in ancient times.
As in the case of CHINAWARE (q. v.), a free use of symbolic devices is made for purposes of decoration. The DIAPER PATTERNS (q. v.) are employed as border designs, while numerous birds and animals, both natural and mythical, together with many conventional floral arrangements and religious emblems, which can be found treated in this volume, are commonly woven in coloured wools into the fabric of the Chinese floor coverings, which are composed of the wool of the sheep, goat, or camel and are usually reversible. A design or key-note is often repeated many times on the same carpet. “Recently foreign importers have supplied designs for some of the rugs shipped to them, and the Chinese weaver is very skilful in making exact copies of any designs furnished to him. In general, rugs with the native designs, especially the older ones, are far more beautiful and harmonious than the rugs made on foreign designs. In many cases, the designs furnished by the foreign importers are merely copies of old Chinese rugs found in private collections and museums. Modern Chinese designs are painted by native artists, who make this work a profession. They turn out from six to ten designs per month, in colour. These designs are turned over to another designer or copier, who makes an enlarged design in black on tissue paper. This large design is made in the actual size of the rug. The tissue paper drawing is then pasted on to the warp strings in the same position that the rug is to occupy, and the design is traced on to the strings as a guide to the weavers. A miniature design in black and white is supplied to the weavers, with notations indicating the colours which are to go on the various lines.”26
The Chinese loom is of very simple construction, and the weaver sits before it on a long bench. His coloured balls of woollen yarn swing and bob merrily, keeping time to the movement of his nimble fingers as they tie the knots of wool into the warp, clip them off with a razor-edged knife, and pound them into place with an iron fork. The cotton warp is stretched on heavy beams, whose weight keeps it taut. Several weavers work on large carpets at the same time. The method of weaving is as follows: The woollen yarn is fastened to two threads of the warp either by a Senna knot, or a Giordes knot. After being securely fastened, the thread is cut to the depth of pile required. The longer the pile the softer is the carpet, and therefore the length varies between 3/8 to 5/8 of an inch. The closeness of the warp gives the number of threads to the square foot, which vary from 60 to 120, 90 being the usual number for the market.
The colouring of many of the antique varieties is impossible to reproduce at the present day. The blues have an unequalled depth and luminosity, the warm imperial yellows are of an unrivalled delicacy increasing with age, and the soft reds are unsurpassed by modern dyers.
In the weaving a heavy weft or cross-thread is used, sometimes four heavy strands after each transverse row of knots. The texture is coarser than that of Persian or Turkish carpets, but the pile is flatter or less perpendicular. Sometimes the pattern is accentuated by cutting away part of the pile, leaving the design standing in relief. The wool is generally yarn-dyed. Occasionally carpets are woven in two or three sections which are knitted together by the warp threads.
The old temple rugs are the most beautiful and valuable. The late J. P. Morgan is said to have paid as much as $25,000 for one specimen. In the temple rug illustrated above appear the imperial five-clawed Ming dragons contesting for the flaming jewel, which is one of the Buddhist emblems. At the lower end are the sacred mountains and the PLANT OF LONG LIFE (q. v.), beyond which are the waves of the sea, conventionally treated. Throughout the field are distributed cloud-forms, BATS (q. v.), and the EIGHT TREASURES (q. v.), of Buddhism, thus emphasizing the horror vacui of the primitive artist. At the top is a continuous festoon, made up of conventionalized buds and flowers of the sacred LOTUS (q. v.). The length is ten feet, width eight feet, and it contains forty-two hand-tied knots to the square inch.
Few genuine old rugs can now be obtained at any price, but the modern article is not to be despised, and Peiping, Tientsin and Soochow are the chief centres of production at the present time.
Castanets
(銀)
Two round brass plates struck together and used on the stage and in temples. The single brass oblong slab is called the “sounding plate” (響板), and is struck with a brass rod. The latter is used by pedlars and priests, and is the emblem of Cáo Guójiù (曹國舅), one of the EIGHT IMMORTALS (q. v.) of Taoism.
Cat
(猫)
It is curious that so common an animal as the cat was not selected for inclusion among the animals of the duodenary cycle (vide TWELVE TERRESTRIAL BRANCHES) and the twenty-eight constellations (vide STARS). It has therefore been suggested that the animal is not indigenous to China and did not abound in the country in former times. Cats are, however, referred to in the “Book of Odes”