Fish are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are various myths involving fish. Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China. The geographic area of "China" is of course a concept which has evolved of changed through history. Fish in Chinese mythology include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other officially recognized 56 minority ethnic groups in China. [1] : 4 The Chinese word for "fish", yu, is a homophone for "abundance", "plenty", and "affluence" (yu 餘); [2] therefore, fishes are a symbol of wealth. [3] : 124 The Chinese dragon is the head of the fish clan. The act of fishing is also an important motif in Chinese mythology and culture.
Fishes are a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture. [3] : 124 The Chinese character for fish is yu (traditional Chinese : 魚; simplified Chinese : 鱼; pinyin : yú). It is pronounced with a different tone in modern Chinese, 裕 (yù) means "abundance". Alternatively, 餘, meaning "over, more than", is a true homophone, so the common Chinese New Year greeting appears as 年年有魚 or 年年有餘. Due to the homophony, "fish" mythically becomes equated with "abundance". [3] : 124
Jinyu (金鱼) is a homophone for "gold in abundance"; therefore, they are perceived as suitable gifts for wedding. [3] : 155 Jinyu is also an homophone of gold (jin 金) and jade (yu 玉), [6] which are both indicators of wealth. [2]
The word carp in Chinese is li (鲤) which is an homophone for advantage (li 利); therefore, carps are used to express wishes for benefits or advantage in business. [3] : 63 Its association with wealth mostly likely comes from the pun liyu (利餘), liyu (鯉魚) also means carp. [2] Li is also an homophone for the character li (力) which means strength, power, and ability. [2]
There is a tale dating in the 1st century BC about a giant fish which swallowed a boat. [3] : 126
Some tales involved drunk men turning into fishes. [3] : 126 There are also tales involving fish-demons (drunk men transformed into fishes) which could sometimes marry women. [3] : 126
Other tales involved fishes turning into birds. [3] : 126
Carp (traditional Chinese : 鯉; simplified Chinese : 鲤; pinyin : lǐ) can be transformations of dragons or carp can sometimes change into dragons. According to tradition, a carp that could swim upstream and then leap the falls of the Yellow River at the Dragon Gate (Longmen 龍門) would be transformed into a dragon: this motif symbolizes success in the civil service examinations. [3] : 63 This is the Dragon Gate at the border of Shanxi and Shaanxi where the Yellow River flows through a cleft in the Longmen mountains, supposedly made by Yu the Great, who cut through the mountain. According to one account, all the carp competed at a yearly competition to leap the Longmen falls; those who succeeded were immediately transformed into dragons and flew off into the sky. [7] : 65, 74 Pictures of carp attempting to leap the Longmen falls have been enduringly popular in China. There are other Dragon Gates in the rivers of China, typically with steep narrows, and the mythological geography does not depend upon an actual location. The "flying carp" or "silver carp" (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) is native to China and other parts of Asia. It is a great jumper. Silver carp are strong swimmers and researchers have observed them to jump 1.81-2.24 meters (approximately 5.94 to 7.75 feet) above the surface of the water with an angle of leap of 44-70º. [8] They are quite capable of swimming upstream and leaping over barriers in the water.
In one of the stories depicting his exemplar filial piety, Wang Xiang (a young boy) went to the frozen river when his ill mother said that she wanted to eat some carp in winter; there he sat on the ice long enough to melt through the ice and a big carp immediately sprang out of the hole. [3] : 179 In another version, Wang Xiang removed his coat and shirt in the cold and melted the ice when the sat on the ice and cried more and more until the ice melted a hole in the ice through his hot tears and body heat; in this version, it is 2 carps which sprang out of the hole immediately. [9]
Other Chinese myths are related to fishes; some Chinese mythological motifs also involve fishermen or fish baskets or a fish trap.
According to Chinese myth, the culture hero Fuxi invented fishing after the Great Flood catching fishes and making nets. [3] : 126 He is also credited for teaching how to eat fish. [3] : 126
A story tells that first Fuxi fished with his hands, but after observing a spider catching insects in its web, he invented the rattan net and used it to catch fish, which skill he passed on to his descendants. [1] : 120
Jiang Ziya, the great general and strategist and military mastermind who was key to establishing the Zhou Dynasty, was said to have spent years in his old age fishing, but with a straight hook, or no bait, or with his hook dangling above the water: but, he was fishing for a Lord, not a fish. After Jiang Ziya became the general, he was known as "Taigong" or "the Grand Duke". The degree to which this qualifies as a myth is open to question, but it is certainly a well-known motif.
According to Chinese myth, Fuxi also invented the fish basket, or trap (gu), by weaving bamboo into a cage which had a funnel opening, that was easy for the fish to enter because the big opening was on the outside, but inside it tapered to narrow and exit opening, so it was easy for the fish to get in, but hard to get out. [3] : 127 In other cases the fish basket served more as a net, in which a fish could be scooped from the water and transported to the market.
In one manifestation, Guanyin is pictured as holding a fish basket. This imagery is sometimes considered to have a sexual connotation.
The character for fish (魚) evolved from an ancient pictograph. It is the traditional 195th (out of 216) traditional radical. Over time, the pictographic representations tended to become increasingly stylized, until evolving to the modern standard form:
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Koi or more specifically nishikigoi, are colored varieties of the Amur carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens.
The Chinese dragon, also known as loong, long or lung, is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. Academicians have identified four reliable theories on the origin of the Chinese dragon: snakes, Chinese alligators, thunder and nature worship. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it in East Asian culture. During the days of Imperial China, the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial strength and power. In Chinese culture, excellent and outstanding people are compared to a dragon, while incapable people with no achievements are compared to other, disesteemed creatures, such as a worm. A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms feature references to a dragon, such as "Hoping one's child will become a dragon".
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia, from Latin cornu (horn) and copia (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts.
Chinese mythology is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of the mythology involves exciting stories full of fantastic people and beings, the use of magical powers, often taking place in an exotic mythological place or time. Like many mythologies, Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Along with Chinese folklore, Chinese mythology forms an important part of Chinese folk religion. Many stories regarding characters and events of the distant past have a double tradition: ones which present a more historicized or euhemerized version and ones which present a more mythological version.
Fuxi or Fu Hsi is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters around 2,000 BC. Fuxi was counted as the first of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period.
Merfolk or merpeople are legendary water-dwelling human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world.
Yinglong is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Several species of heavy-bodied cyprinid fishes are collectively known in the United States as Asian carp. Cyprinids from the Indian subcontinent—for example, catla and mrigal —are not included in this classification and are known collectively as "Indian carp". Asian carp are considered invasive species in the United States.
The three-leggedcrow is a mythological creature in various mythologies and arts of East Asia. It is believed to inhabit and represent the Sun.
Yusheng, yee sang or yuu sahng, or Prosperity Toss, also known as lo sahng is a Cantonese-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish, mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. There is also a vegetarian version of this dish, where the fish is replaced with soy "fish", which resembles salmon. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (魚)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (魚生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have become an invasive pest in parts of North America.
Yansheng Coins, commonly known as Chinese numismatic charms, refer to a collection of special decorative coins that are mainly used for rituals such as fortune telling, Chinese superstitions, and Feng shui. They originated during the Western Han dynasty as a variant of the contemporary Ban Liang and Wu Zhu cash coins. Over the centuries they evolved into their own commodity, with many different shapes and sizes. Their use was revitalized during the Republic of China era. Normally, these coins are privately funded and cast by a rich family for their own ceremonies, although a few types of coins have been cast by various governments or religious orders over the centuries. Chinese numismatic charms typically contain hidden symbolism and visual puns. Unlike cash coins which usually only contain two or four Hanzi characters on one side, Chinese numismatic charms often contain more characters and sometimes pictures on the same side.
Standard Chinese, like many Sinitic varieties, has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory. The Cihai dictionary lists 149 characters representing the syllable "yì". Many Chinese take great delight in using the large amount of homophones in the language to form puns, and they have become an important component of Chinese culture. In Chinese, homophones are used for a variety of purposes from rhetoric and poetry to advertisement and humor, and are also common in Chinese loans, for example phono-semantic matching of brand names, computer jargon, technological terms and toponyms.
Snakes are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are various myths, legends, and folk tales about snakes. Chinese mythology refers to these and other myths found in the historical geographic area(s) of China. These myths include Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups.
Guanyin Yulan Ji or simply Yulan Ji is a Ming dynasty play with 32 acts. The written version was first published by Wenlinge (文林閣), a Nanjing publisher owned by a Tang (唐) family during the Wanli era (1573–1615). Set in 11th-century Song dynasty, the play tells the story of a carp spirit seducing poor student Zhang Zhen by metamorphosing into a woman, who closely resembles Zhang Zhen's lover Jin Mudan. The goddess of mercy Guanyin, the Dragon King and the legendary judge Bao Zheng work together to subdue and capture the spirit in a fish basket carried by Guanyin.
Open-work charms are a type of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese numismatic charms characterised by irregularly shaped "holes" or "openings" between their design elements known as openwork. The design of the amulets represent yin while the holes represent yang and their general purpose was to attract good fortune and ward off evil spirits and misfortune. Unlike most other types of Chinese numismatic charms which usually tend to have square center holes if they’re holed, open-work charms tend to almost exclusively have round center holes though open-work charms with square center holes are known to exist and certain thematic open-work charms that feature human-made constructions mostly told to have square holes. Another distinctive feature of open-work charms is that they’re almost purely based on illustrative imagery and only a small minority of them contain legends written in Hanzi characters. While most other forms of Chinese numismatic charms are made from brass open-work charms are predominantly made from bronze.
Wuqi Zhenwu Temple is a Taoist temple located in Wuqi District, Taichung, Taiwan. The temple is dedicated to the Taoist deity, Xuantian Shangdi.
In Chinese mythology, Longmen is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. The legend states that while many carp swim upstream against the river's strong current, few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp successfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful dragon. The legend is so famous that throughout China, a common saying is that "a student facing his examinations is like a carp attempting to leap the Dragon Gate."
Chinese auspicious ornaments in textile and clothing refers to any form of Chinese auspicious ornaments, which are used to decorate various forms of Chinese textile and clothing, fashion accessories, and footwear in China since the ancient times. Chinese auspicious ornaments form part of Chinese culture and hold symbolic meanings. In ancient China, auspicious ornaments were often either embroidered or woven into textile and clothing. They are also used on religious and ritual clothing and in Xifu, Chinese opera costumes. Auspicious symbols and motifs continue to be used in present day China in industries, such as home textiles and clothing; they are also used in modern design packaging and interior design. Some of these Chinese auspicious ornaments were also culturally appropriated by European countries during the era of Chinoiserie, where they became decorative patterns on fashionable chinoiserie fashion and textiles.
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