Antique Chinese Lamps - Bamboo and Bats
In traditional Chinese art, symbolism has always played a significant part, with highly regarded, auspicious symbols for births, weddings, wishes for long life and congratulations for birthdays.
Many of these symbols, either as a cursive character or as an artistic device have been in ingest in China for literally thousands of years, so that the derivation of some symbols have been forfeited to memory. However, even in modern China, these ancient meanings persist, still deeply rooted in the Chinese psyche. Some are archaic with origins from Imperial dynasties three or four thousand years old with others originating from Chinese Buddhism. Many symbols also relate to Taoism, but most are derivative from Confusion arts intellection with its focus on the seasons and the natural world. Many of these symbols are discreet, requiring a ESP of their meaning. They are healthy to be read and when understood, convey a such greater depth of meaning to the observer. Some of the more popular symbols are:
Bamboo - stands for longevity and courage in adversity. As it is an evergreen and because it grows straight, it was a popular symbolisation for mandarins and represented an honest official.
Bats - the homonym \"fu\" stands for both \"bat\" and \"happiness\", hence the wink is a popular symbol. Five bats shown together signify the Five Blessings: longevity, health, wealth, morality and a natural death.
Crane -the crane is another longevity symbolisation as the bird was intellection to live for two thousand years. A bird flying or hunting towards the sun represents a desire to rise high in the polity hierarchy.
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