Symbol Database
156 entries. Symbols as they are used in Chinese art, festivals, names, gifts and everyday objects — animals, colors, numbers and plants, each with what it has meant and where that meaning comes from.
This library is deliberately kept separate from the dream database, and the distinction matters. A dream entry asks what it means that an image appeared while asleep; a symbol entry asks what that image has meant in daylight, across centuries of use on porcelain, on door gods, in wedding gifts and in the naming of children. The crane that appears in a dream and the crane painted on a birthday scroll draw on the same animal and are not making the same statement.
Numbers carry the densest layer here, and phonetics does nearly all the work. Four sounds close to death and gets skipped in floor numbering and gift counts; eight sounds close to prosperity and gets pushed in exactly those same contexts; nine is reserved for longevity and imperial reference. It is not arithmetic — it is a set of sound associations that hardened into habit.
Animals come next in usefulness, largely because they are the ones still legible on buildings and textiles. Dragon, phoenix, qilin and bat each hold a specific association, and most of them only make sense in pairs or groups rather than alone. Reading the animal entry together with its color entry usually recovers the intended meaning of an old design.
Plants and flowers read best by season, because the association generally runs through what was in bloom at the relevant festival — peony and spring, lotus and summer, chrysanthemum and autumn, plum and winter. Pairing a plant entry with its festival entry in the calendar database explains why those combinations keep recurring.
Each entry describes what a symbol has meant in the tradition. Nothing here predicts events, and no object or placement is presented as the cause of any outcome.
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Animals · 50
DragonThe dragon is the central emblem of Chinese symbolic tradition — authority, transformation and the power of what is not fully seen.PhoenixThe phoenix (fenghuang) is the dragon's counterpart — the emblem of the empress, of renewal, and of virtue recognised.QilinThe qilin is an auspicious composite creature associated with gentle authority — a power that does not harm.PixiuThe pixiu is a winged composite beast associated in popular tradition with attracting and holding wealth.TigerThe tiger is the emblem of raw authority and of the mountain — power that operates without permission.CraneThe crane is the traditional emblem of longevity and of the retired scholar — long life paired with removal from ordinary affairs.TurtleThe turtle is the emblem of endurance and of the world's structure — long life, plus a shell read as a model of the cosmos.KoiThe koi is read through the older carp symbolism: persistence, and the traditional story of climbing the falls and becoming a dragon.FishFish carry the general reading of abundance and of surplus — the word for fish is homophonous with the word for surplus.ButterflyThe butterfly carries two readings at once: transformation, and the philosophical question of the Zhuangzi passage about dreaming.BatThe bat is an auspicious emblem in Chinese tradition — the word for bat is homophonous with the word for good fortune.DeerThe deer carries the reading of official income and advancement — the word for deer is homophonous with the word for salary.FoxThe fox in Chinese tradition is a transformation figure — a creature of age, cunning and the capacity to take human form.SnakeThe snake is read as transformation and as the smaller dragon — it is the colloquial name for the dragon in the zodiac.MonkeyThe monkey carries the reading of quickness and of advancement — the word for monkey is homophonous with a high official rank.HorseThe horse carries the reading of swift progress and of carrying something forward — momentum with a rider's purpose attached.OxThe ox is the emblem of sustained labour and of spring's beginning — the animal that pulls the plough.RabbitThe rabbit is associated with the moon, with longevity, and with the medicinal work done there in the traditional account.RoosterThe rooster is the emblem of punctuality and of the dawn — the animal that announces the boundary between night and day.DogThe dog carries the reading of loyalty and of guarding — fidelity rather than status.PigThe pig carries the reading of plenty and of the household's stored wealth — the animal kept and fattened.RatThe rat leads the zodiac cycle — read for quickness and for the resourcefulness that won the race in the traditional story.GoatThe goat (often rendered as sheep or ram) carries the reading of gentleness and of filial conduct in the traditional account.ElephantThe elephant carries the reading of stability and of bearing weight — strength that is steady rather than violent.LionThe Chinese lion is a guardian figure — not a native animal, but an imported emblem that became the standard door guardian.Guardian LionThe paired stone lions at a doorway are a specific protective form with fixed placement rules, distinct from the lion as a general emblem.PeacockThe peacock carries the reading of display and of official rank — beauty that is also a marker of position.Peacock FeatherThe peacock feather as a rank marker is a specific administrative symbol — status made visible and removable.MagpieThe magpie is the traditional bird of good news — its call is said to announce a coming arrival or event.SwallowThe swallow is the emblem of spring's return and of a household that is settled — the bird that comes back to the same eaves.SparrowThe sparrow is the emblem of the small and ordinary — a bird read for its insignificance as often as for itself.FinchSmall passerines appear in Chinese painting as the ordinary, observed bird — the subject of close, careful looking rather than of emblem.CrowThe crow has a divided reading in Chinese tradition: it is the sun's bird in the oldest sources and a doubtful omen in later popular usage.OwlThe owl carries a largely unfavourable reading in Chinese folk tradition, associated with night and with ill omen.EagleThe eagle carries the reading of sight from height and of decisive action — the bird that sees first and takes.HawkThe hawk reads similarly to the eagle but in the domestic register — the trained bird, and the one kept rather than encountered.Mandarin DuckThe mandarin duck is the standard emblem of a married pair — the pair is the symbol, not the individual bird.CicadaThe cicada carries the reading of rebirth and of purity — it emerges from the ground transformed, and it was buried with the dead as an emblem.BeeThe bee carries the reading of organised collective labour and of sweetness produced by work.AntThe ant carries the reading of organised effort at the smallest scale — collective work by the least conspicuous creature.SpiderThe spider carries a divided reading: the weaver of the web, and in folk usage the bringer of a joyful event.FrogThe frog is associated with water, with the moon in some accounts, and with the toad that lives in the moon in the traditional telling.Money ToadThe three-legged money toad is a specific popular wealth figure — distinct from the frog and from the moon toad of classical sources.WolfThe wolf carries a largely negative reading in Chinese tradition — greed, and the predator that takes more than it needs.BearThe bear carries the reading of raw strength and, in the oldest sources, of the shamanic — strength that is not refined.EgretThe egret carries the reading of purity through its white colour, and in the compositional tradition it pairs with reeds and water.OrioleThe oriole is a bird of spring and of the poetic tradition — associated with the season and with the sound rather than with any emblematic role.DragonflyThe dragonfly carries the reading of lightness and of the summer pond — a painter's subject associated with the still surface.FireflyThe firefly carries the reading of a small light in darkness, and of the scholar reading by gathered fireflies in the traditional anecdote.CatThe cat sits outside the twelve zodiac animals, and the traditional story explains why — a reading about exclusion rather than about the animal.
Colors · 25
RedRed is the colour of Fire, of the south and of celebration — the default auspicious colour in Chinese practice.YellowYellow is the colour of Earth and of the centre — and historically the colour reserved for the imperial house.WhiteWhite is the colour of Metal, of the west and of autumn — and the traditional colour of mourning.BlackBlack is the colour of Water, of the north and of winter — associated with the deepest and the unlit.Qing (Blue-Green)Qing is the traditional colour category covering blue, green and black-green — a single term where modern English uses three.GreenGreen is Wood's colour and carries the reading of growth and of spring — with a specific secondary association in headwear.PurplePurple carries the reading of the auspicious vapour and of high rank — one of the more elevated colours in the tradition.GoldGold is the colour of Metal at its most valued, and of the imperial and the sacred — the standard for what does not degrade.VermilionVermilion is the specific red of seal paste and of palace walls — a defined pigment rather than a general red.Imperial YellowImperial yellow is the specific regulated shade reserved for the emperor — a colour defined by law rather than by appearance.Jade GreenJade green is the colour of the stone the tradition treats as the standard for integrity — green made permanent.IndigoIndigo is the traditional blue dye, and the proverbial source for the idea that something can exceed its origin.CrimsonCrimson is the deep red of official robes and of formal settings — a rank colour rather than a festive one.AzureAzure is the sky's blue in the traditional vocabulary, and carries the reading of the heavens and of the open.SilverSilver is Metal's second colour — valuable, but consistently ranked below gold in the tradition.BlueBlue in the modern sense maps awkwardly onto the traditional palette, where it falls inside qing — the reading depends on which traditional term is behind it.OrangeOrange is not one of the five principal colours and sits between red and yellow — a mixed colour without a strong independent tradition.PinkPink is read as a lightened red and carries the peach blossom's associations — spring and the beginning of things.BrownBrown is the colour of the ordinary and the aged — of undyed cloth, worked wood and tilled ground.GreyGrey is the indeterminate colour — the tradition reads it as a stage between black and white rather than as a colour in itself.TurquoiseTurquoise is read through the stone, which carries protective associations in several traditions and is one of the traditional treasures.ScarletScarlet is the bright red of the highest official grades and of formal dress — rank, rendered in the most visible red.OchreOchre is the earth pigment — the colour of ground used as paint, and of walls and of the plain.Ink BlackInk black is the colour of the calligraphic and painting tradition — the one colour in which the tradition's most valued art is made.The Five ColoursThe five-colour system is the framework itself: red, yellow, blue-green, white and black, mapped to the five elements and five directions.
Numbers · 30
OneOne is the beginning and the undifferentiated — the number before division, associated with the origin of the counted series.TwoTwo is the pair — yin and yang, heaven and earth, the number of everything that comes in complements.ThreeThree is the number at which the tradition says the myriad things appear — the generative number par excellence.FourFour carries a divided reading: it is the number of the directions and seasons, and it is also avoided because it sounds like death.FiveFive is the number of the system itself — five elements, five directions, five colours, five virtues, five grains.SixSix is associated with smoothness — the word sounds like the word for flowing, which gives it a favourable reading.SevenSeven carries a divided reading: it is the number of the seventh-month festival and of the weaving maiden, and it has funerary associations.EightEight is the most reliably auspicious number — its sound is close to the word for prosperity or increase.NineNine is the number of extreme yang and of completeness — and because it sounds like the word for long-lasting, it is also auspicious.TenTen is the number of completion in the counted series — the full set of stems, and the round ending of the decade.TwelveTwelve is the number of the earthly branches, the zodiac animals, the traditional months and the double-hours.Twenty-FourTwenty-four is the number of the solar terms — the division of the year that governs the agricultural calendar.Thirty-SixThirty-six is a traditional number of plenitude — six squared, and a conventional count in the narrative literature.Seventy-TwoSeventy-two is the larger of the paired conventional counts, and also the traditional number of the five-day periods in the year.One Hundred and EightOne hundred and eight is the number of the traditional bell strokes and of the narrative outlaws — a number with both ritual and literary weight.HundredHundred is the conventional number of totality — hundred surnames, hundred schools, hundred years of life.ThousandThousand is the conventional number of great quantity — thousand-li journeys, thousand-year plans, thousand-character classic.Ten ThousandTen thousand is the number of the myriad — the tradition's term for everything that exists, and the source of the word for longevity.SixtySixty is the number of the sexagenary cycle — the combination of ten stems and twelve branches that the traditional calendar runs on.ZeroZero has no traditional symbolic role — the counting system runs on the empty place rather than on a zero as a number.ThirteenThirteen carries no particular reading in Chinese tradition — it is a number without accumulated meaning.Forty-NineForty-nine is the number of the yarrow stalks used in the classical divination procedure — a technical rather than a symbolic number.FiftyFifty is the number of the divination stalks before one is set aside, and the number associated with the cosmic total in the classical account.Sixty-FourSixty-four is the number of the hexagrams — the complete set produced by pairing the eight trigrams.EighteenEighteen carries a mixed reading — conventionally auspicious from its eight, and separately the number of the Buddhist hells.Twenty-EightTwenty-eight is the number of the lunar mansions — the divisions of the sky the tradition uses to track the moon's position.Sixty-Six (Double Six)Double six is a modern phonetic construction — six repeated for smoothness, used in dates and prices.Double Ninth FestivalThe double ninth is the ninth day of the ninth month — a specific traditional observance with its own practices.Eight in Modern UseEight's contemporary dominance — in phone numbers, addresses, licence plates and opening dates — is a modern development built on an old sound association.Numbers in the Five-Element SystemThe five-element scheme assigns numbers to the elements, which is why certain numbers carry an elemental rather than a phonetic reading.
Plants · 51
BambooBamboo is the emblem of integrity under pressure — hollow, jointed, and bending without breaking.PinePine is the emblem of constancy — evergreen, and therefore the plant that holds through the year's hardest part.Plum BlossomPlum blossom is the emblem of flowering in adversity — the plant that opens in late winter before the leaves.OrchidThe orchid is the emblem of refined worth that does not advertise — fragrance in an unremarkable plant.ChrysanthemumThe chrysanthemum is the emblem of autumn and of retirement — the flower that opens as others finish.LotusThe lotus is the emblem of rising unstained — the plant that grows from mud and opens clean above the water.PeonyThe peony is the emblem of wealth and of the height of spring — the flower of the richest and most displayed register.WillowThe willow carries the reading of parting and of spring's arrival — and of the pliability that bends without resisting.Peach BlossomPeach blossom carries the reading of spring, of romance, and — in a separate idiom — of the peach-blossom spring utopia.PeachThe peach is the emblem of longevity, and its wood is one of the tradition's principal protective materials.ApricotThe apricot carries the reading of spring rain and of the medical profession — the apricot grove is a byword for a physician's practice.JasmineJasmine is the emblem of small fragrance — the plant valued for scent rather than for show.MagnoliaThe magnolia carries the reading of noble bearing and of early spring — a large flower on bare branches.OsmanthusOsmanthus carries the reading of autumn fragrance and of examination success — the pun links it to gaining rank.CamelliaThe camellia carries the reading of lasting beauty — it flowers in cold months and its bloom falls whole rather than petal by petal.NarcissusThe narcissus is the flower of the new year in the south — grown in water and timed to bloom for the festival.WisteriaWisteria carries the reading of the climbing and the trailing — growth that depends entirely on what it is attached to.GinkgoThe ginkgo carries the reading of survival and of the ancient — a tree whose lineage is old enough to be called a living fossil.CypressThe cypress carries the reading of the funerary and the enduring — the tree of graveyards and of long duration.MapleThe maple carries the reading of autumn colour and of the reddening — the season read through the leaf.PaulowniaThe paulownia is associated with the phoenix — the tree the phoenix is said to perch in, and a timber of specific use.MulberryThe mulberry carries the reading of the household and of sericulture — the tree that feeds the silkworm.TeaTea carries the reading of measured conduct and of hospitality — the plant whose preparation is itself a discipline.RiceRice is the staple whose name is bound to the word for livelihood — the loss of the rice bowl means the loss of the living.WheatWheat is the grain of the north, paired with rice as the second staple and read for the harvest cycle.MilletMillet is the oldest of the five grains and the one associated with the tradition's origins — the grain of the earliest accounts.GourdThe gourd is the emblem of the container and of the medicine bottle — the dried vessel that carries what heals.PomegranateThe pomegranate carries the reading of many sons — its seeds are the standard emblem of numerous offspring.PersimmonThe persimmon carries the reading of事事如意 — the word sounds like the word for affair or matter, giving 'everything as you wish'.TangerineThe tangerine carries the reading of good fortune through sound, and is one of the standard New Year fruits.KumquatThe kumquat is the New Year potted plant of the south — the name contains the word for gold, and the fruit is left on the tree.LycheeThe lychee carries the reading of the southern exotic and of imperial extravagance — the fruit rushed to the capital.LonganThe longan — dragon eye — is named for its appearance and carries the dragon's reflected auspiciousness.JujubeThe jujube carries the reading of early arrival — the word sounds like the word for soon, and it is given at weddings.ChestnutThe chestnut carries the wedding reading through sound — the word is close to the word for son or for establishing.WalnutThe walnut is valued for the resemblance of its kernel to a brain and for its hardness — a food and a material.LingzhiThe lingzhi fungus is the emblem of longevity and of the auspicious find — the plant that appears where conditions are right.GinsengGinseng is the root that carries the reading of restored strength — the tradition's principal tonic.MossMoss carries the reading of quiet neglect and of the unvisited — growth on stone that marks a place unused.ReedThe reed carries the reading of the waterside and of autumn — the plant of the riverbank and of the season's turn.IrisThe iris is a waterside plant of the painting tradition, associated with the fifth month and with the sword-shaped leaf.Lotus SeedThe lotus seed carries the wedding reading through sound — the word is close to the word for continuous birth.GrapeThe grape enters the tradition as an imported plant associated with the western regions and with wine.FernThe fern carries the reading of the ancient and the uncurling — a plant whose form has barely changed and whose frond opens from a coil.IvyIvy carries the reading of the clinging and the persistent — growth that stays attached whatever it covers.Scholar TreeThe scholar tree is associated with the examinations and with official rank — the tree whose name contains the word for the examination graduate.MugwortMugwort is the plant of the fifth-month festival — hung at the door for its protective association, and used in moxibustion.Sweet FlagSweet flag is the sword-shaped plant of the fifth-month festival — the leaf read as a blade that cuts what should not enter.Banana PlantThe banana plant is the garden plant of the rain — the tradition's standard image for the sound of rain on broad leaves.Morning GloryThe morning glory carries the reading of the brief — the flower that opens at dawn and closes by midday.Water ChestnutThe water chestnut is a pond crop of the south — the tradition reads it as food rather than as symbol.