| Badger & Magpie |
May you experience great
happiness |
Basket of Fruit or Flowers |
One of the Eight Immortals |
| Bats |
Good Luck. 2 Bats together means
double good fortune. 5 Bats means The Five
Blessings: long life, wealth, health, virtue, and a
natural death |
Butterflies |
With Plum Blossoms symbolizes
Long Life and Beauty. With a Cat means wish to live
to 70 or 80 years |
| Bear / Panda |
Man |
Carp |
Advantage or Benefit in Business |
| Cicada |
Immortality, Life after Death |
Cock |
Reliability / Red Cock protects
your house from fire |
| Crane |
Longevity. A Pair of Cranes
symbolizes "Long Marriage", as Cranes mate
for life. |
Cricket |
Fighting Spirit |
| Deer |
Riches |
Dove |
Fidelity |
| Dragon |
Male Vigor and Fertility, also
the symbol for The Emperor |
Dragon & Phoenix |
Man and Wife, also the Symbol
for Emperor and Empress. |
| Duck |
Married Bliss |
Duck in Reeds |
May you do well on your exams |
| Eagle |
Strength |
Eagle on a rock in Sea |
Hero |
| Elephant |
Strength and Astuteness |
Riding an Elephant |
Happiness |
| Fish |
Wealth |
Fisherman |
One of the 4 Basic Occupations |
| Goose |
Married Bliss |
Heron with Lotus Flowers |
May your path be upward |
| Endless Knot |
Long Life without Setbacks |
Lotus |
Purity |
| Magnolia |
Beautiful Woman |
Onion |
Clever |
| Ox / Water Buffalo |
Coming of Spring |
Peach |
Longevity |
| Peacock |
Dignity and Beauty |
Phoenix |
The Five Human Qualities:
Virtue, Duty, Correct Behavior, Humanity,
Reliability |
| Pine Trees |
Longevity, Steadfastness, and
Self-Discipline |
Quail |
Courage |
| Sheep |
Yang...The Male Principle |
Snake |
The Woman |
| Tiger |
Courage and Bravery |
Tortoise |
Longevity & Immortality |
| Yin |
The Female Principle |
Yang |
The Male Principle |
The
various symbols found on Asian works of art have
quite a long history. Taoism, and Buddhism each
brought with them a complete set of beliefs,
legends, and superstitions. To even attempt a
complete listing would be a lifetime project. What
we have done instead was to go through our inventory
of product and research the meaning of each, compile
the information we found, and present it here. We
are continually adding to this section as we acquire
new designs and find there meaning.
