This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(September 2022)
A list of Chinese symbols, designs, and art motifs, including decorative ornaments, patterns, auspicious symbols, and iconography elements, used in Chinese visual arts, sorted in different theme categories. Chinese symbols and motifs are more than decorative designs as they also hold symbolic but hidden meanings which have been used and understood by the Chinese people for thousand of years; they often influenced by nature, which include the fauna, the flora, landscape, and clouds.[1][2] Chinese symbols often have auspicious meanings associated to them, such as good fortune, happiness, and also represent what would be considered as human virtues, such as filial piety, loyalty, and wisdom,[1] and can even convey the desires or wishes of the Chinese people to experience the good things in life.[2] There are also special symbols in Chinese arts, such as the qilin, and the Chinese dragon.[1] According to Chinese beliefs, being surrounding by objects which are decorated with such auspicious symbols and motifs was and continues to be believed to increase the likelihood that those wishes would be fulfilled even in present-day.[2] Chinese symbols and motifs are often found in Chinese decorative arts, porcelain ware, clothing, and personal adornments.[2]
Cicada motifs were used as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties to decorate bronze; both realistic and stylized cicada motif were used during these periods.[13]:89 Cicada motifs were also used in 17th and 18th when decorating bronze and cloisonne objects which imitating ancient bronzes.[13]:89 Jade carved in the shaped of a cicada used to be placed in the mouth the deceased before being buried.[12] It was believed that cicada jade would prevent the decaying of a corpse or speed up the deceased's rebirth.[13]:89
Symbol of immortality and resurrection (or regeneration[13]:89); it is also a symbol of happiness and eternal youth as cicada's longevity is longer than other insects.[12]
Associated with royalty.[3] It is also called “flower of rank and honour"; honours means attaining high rank, an official position or high social status.[3]
Important Immortal deity painting depicting Xi Wangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, d. Ming dynasty.
In present day China, the Sanxing and other Chinese folk deities continue to be perceived as powerful carrier of good fortune.[2] The Queen Mother of the West, Xi Wangmu, who is often figured in Chinese stories, is associated with symbols of longevity in Chinese arts as the peaches of immortality are believed to grow in her celestial peach orchard according to folklore stories.[20]
↑ When part of the Eight Auspicious pattern, both two fishes can either be upright (going upward) or be upside down (going downward).
↑ Depending on the time period, the Chinese dragons were depicted with 3, 4, or 5 claws. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was established that the Chinese dragons (Long 龙) required 5-claws to meet their established definition of a Long (龙). Chinese dragons with less than 5 claws were no more considered as 'real' long (龙) dragons; e.g. the 4-clawed dragon then became known as mang (蟒, lit. "python").
↑ The crow in the sun disk is referred as sanzuwu when it is depicted with having three-legged
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
