SUPERIOR MAN
The central idea of Confucius is that every normal human being cherishes the aspiration to become a superior man—superior to his fellows, if possible, but surely superior to his own past and present self. This does not more than hint at perfection as a goal; and it is said of him that one of the subjects concerning which the Master rarely spoke, was “perfect virtue.” He also said, “They who know virtue, are few”, and was far from teaching a perfectionist doctrine. It refers rather to the perpetually relative, the condition of being superior to that to which one may be superior, be it high or low,—that hopeful possibility which has ever lured mankind toward higher things.
ENDLESS KNOT
The endless knot originally symbolized the cyclical nature of all existence, the futility of life coursing without end, a chain that can be broken through heeding the teachings of the Buddha who shows endless compassion. In popular Chinese folk tradition, it came to be associated with Buddhism in general as well as longevity, magical Daoism’s primary objective. It remains a popular symbol.
BAMBOO
Daoists employed bamboo as a means of showing strength in (apparent) weakness; the bamboo yields to the storm and hence is not uprooted or broken and survives. Confucians likened bamboo’s ability to bend without breaking to being a desirable virtue in a “gentleman,” and the painting of bamboo in the same black ink as one writes Chinese characters was said to be a fundamental accomplishment of a correct education. For the Confucians, bamboo represents integrity.
EIGHT TRIGRAMS
From yin and yang spring all else, a concept that the Chinese explain through the evolution of the Eight Trigrams. Each trigram consists of three lines, broken or unbroken, and represents one the eight different combinations that can be made of three broken or unbroken lines. The solid lines represent yang, the broken lines yin. Each of the eight basic trigrams has a symbolic meaning and is associated with an animal, a direction, and a natural force, progressing rationally from the three solid lines that represent heaven to the three broken lines that represent earth. When these eight trigrams are paired, they create the sixty-four hexagrams, the traditional basis of all things to the Chinese, including science, medicine, and even future events. China’s divination classic, the Yijing (Book of Changes), is based upon the bi polarities of yin and yang and the sixty-four hexagrams. Its earliest recorded usage dates back to the seventh century BCE. As an art motif, the eight trigrams are one of the oldest representations found in traditional Chinese folk art. Their depiction on ancient pottery and carvings represents the harmony of all nature and life itself. There is magic in all this, something not lost on a modern-day Asian who hangs an octagonal plaque of the yin/yang motif surrounded by the eight trigrams to ward off evil in his office or home.
K’AN (one of Eight Trigrams)
Middle son, water, clouds and rain, the moon, a pit, peril, difficulty, dangerous, blood red, pig
PIG
The pig is one of the most important animals in the Chinese economy, where ownership of a pig was a sign of wealth, rightly earning the pig its position as one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. Despite having several homophones, its symbolic meaning is restricted to the important role it plays as a sign of general prosperity, wealth, and overall good fortune.
The central idea of Confucius is that every normal human being cherishes the aspiration to become a superior man—superior to his fellows, if possible, but surely superior to his own past and present self. This does not more than hint at perfection as a goal; and it is said of him that one of the subjects concerning which the Master rarely spoke, was “perfect virtue.” He also said, “They who know virtue, are few”, and was far from teaching a perfectionist doctrine. It refers rather to the perpetually relative, the condition of being superior to that to which one may be superior, be it high or low,—that hopeful possibility which has ever lured mankind toward higher things.
ENDLESS KNOT
The endless knot originally symbolized the cyclical nature of all existence, the futility of life coursing without end, a chain that can be broken through heeding the teachings of the Buddha who shows endless compassion. In popular Chinese folk tradition, it came to be associated with Buddhism in general as well as longevity, magical Daoism’s primary objective. It remains a popular symbol.
BAMBOO
Daoists employed bamboo as a means of showing strength in (apparent) weakness; the bamboo yields to the storm and hence is not uprooted or broken and survives. Confucians likened bamboo’s ability to bend without breaking to being a desirable virtue in a “gentleman,” and the painting of bamboo in the same black ink as one writes Chinese characters was said to be a fundamental accomplishment of a correct education. For the Confucians, bamboo represents integrity.
EIGHT TRIGRAMS
From yin and yang spring all else, a concept that the Chinese explain through the evolution of the Eight Trigrams. Each trigram consists of three lines, broken or unbroken, and represents one the eight different combinations that can be made of three broken or unbroken lines. The solid lines represent yang, the broken lines yin. Each of the eight basic trigrams has a symbolic meaning and is associated with an animal, a direction, and a natural force, progressing rationally from the three solid lines that represent heaven to the three broken lines that represent earth. When these eight trigrams are paired, they create the sixty-four hexagrams, the traditional basis of all things to the Chinese, including science, medicine, and even future events. China’s divination classic, the Yijing (Book of Changes), is based upon the bi polarities of yin and yang and the sixty-four hexagrams. Its earliest recorded usage dates back to the seventh century BCE. As an art motif, the eight trigrams are one of the oldest representations found in traditional Chinese folk art. Their depiction on ancient pottery and carvings represents the harmony of all nature and life itself. There is magic in all this, something not lost on a modern-day Asian who hangs an octagonal plaque of the yin/yang motif surrounded by the eight trigrams to ward off evil in his office or home.
K’AN (one of Eight Trigrams)
Middle son, water, clouds and rain, the moon, a pit, peril, difficulty, dangerous, blood red, pig
PIG
The pig is one of the most important animals in the Chinese economy, where ownership of a pig was a sign of wealth, rightly earning the pig its position as one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. Despite having several homophones, its symbolic meaning is restricted to the important role it plays as a sign of general prosperity, wealth, and overall good fortune.
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