It seems that everything symbolizes “good luck” in China. I believe so far our tour group has been told that several varieties of flowers, pearls, the wearing of Jade, and even bats are all “good luck.” Some things may not be so straightforward in their symbolism; for instance, the Qilin – a mythical being that is part dragon, part horse – symbolizes prosperity and success. And the dragon can be used to symbolize happiness. But those meanings sound pretty favorable to me, too. If I can’t have good luck, I would be fine if I were stuck with “prosperity” or “happiness.” What struck me, however, was not only the plethora of good luck symbols (though it seems a great deal more than we have in Western Culture, which limits itself to one number – 7 – a rabbits foot, and perhaps the occasional clover), but that there was a noticeable dearth of “bad luck” symbols. For example, in Western culture, it’s “bad luck” to walk under a ladder. Or cross paths with a black cat. Or break a mirror. Or do any number of things. But here, the only thing I heard of being “bad luck” was to somehow deface or harm one of the good luck symbols.
One night we went to a dumpling banquet that finished with a soup into which tiny little dumplings were scattered. Our waitress began to tell us the meaning behind the number of mini-dumplings we received in our bowl of soup: “‘One dumpling means ‘good journey,’ two dumplings means “good fortune,” and so on. I kept waiting for her to reach a number that was some sort of bad luck, or simply devoid of luck, but it didn’t happen. It seemed that no matter how many dumplings appeared in one’s soup, there was some variation of “good luck.”
Thinking we had finally found an oversight in the good-luck line-up, we asked the waitress, “But, what if we don’t get any dumplings in our soup?” She paused as she ladled out the last bowl of soup. “No worries,” she replied.
Here are a few “auspicious” Chinese symbols and their meanings:
- Chrysanthemum – “life of ease” (and good luck in the home)
- Citron – luck and happiness
- pearl – wealth, good luck, and prosperity
- the number 9 – good luck (because it is the largest possible single digit)
- bat – good luck (the word “bat” in Chinese sounds identical in the word for “good fortune”)
- Qilin – a mythical dragon/horse creature which symbolizes prosperity and success
- phoenix – heaven’s favor, virtue, grace, luck and happiness
- dragon – success
