Through pictorial rebus puzzles and folklore associations, the images on Chinese furniture are rich with symbolism

1. Dragons for Power, Bats for
Luck: Symbols on Chinese
Furniture and Art

2. Intricate Artwork
 From its beginnings in the first millennia BC to the
present day, Chinese furniture-making has often
incorporated symbolic images from its rich cultural
tradition. Whether it’s a lacquered chair featuring
carvings of bats or a cabinet depicting dragons flying
through the sky, Chinese furniture and art convey
messages through images.
 Chinese furniture historically progressed from simple,
low-to-the-ground essentials such as mats and
scholars’ tables, to the intricately joined, polished
hardwood and lacquered works of the cabinetmaker’s
art now recognized as cultural highwater marks. Many
of these pieces speak eloquently through symbols.

3. Resources on symbolism in furniture
The book Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, by Terese Tse Bartholomew and published
by San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, is a wide-ranging study on symbols in Chinese
furnishings. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols by Wolfram Eberhard, published by
Routledge, is also useful.
The book Symbols and Rebuses in Chinese Art: Figures, Bugs, Beasts, and Flowers, by
Fang Jing Pei, published by Ten Speed Press, offers examples of furnishings and art
incorporating rebus puzzles, in which images represent words or syllables.

4. Puzzles that unlock symbols
 An example of a rebus puzzle in Chinese
furniture might include a picture of bats and
peaches. Together, these symbols depict
longevity and blessings.
 Here’s how it works out, as shown in a Qing
dynasty porcelain dish housed at the Art
Institute of Chicago: The word for “peach,”
“tao,” sounds like “longevity.” “Fu,” meaning
“bat,” sounds like the word for good fortune.
Five bats then symbolize the five blessings of
health, long life, virtue, wealth, and a tranquil
death.

5. Symbolism
 So, wishing someone through pictorial
symbols “peaches and bats” is a wonderful
way to show friendship and caring in a
creative way.
 Another example: A squirrel scampering amid
bunches of grapes also signifies longevity, as
shown in embroidered hangings and other
decor. Squirrels are “pine tree mice” (pines
also connote longevity) in Chinese, and the
word for “grapes” (“tao”) sounds like
“peaches.”

6. A menagerie of meaning
 Whether carved, scrolled, inlaid, painted on
porcelain, or forged from metal, images in
Chinese furniture and everyday household items
are rich with meaning, conveyed through
rebuses or in one-to-one symbols.
 Dragons typically symbolize authority and
power and are a supreme symbol of good luck.
The dragon (“long”), traditionally in the first
rank among real and mythical beasts, bears
connotations of cosmic energy. Art and
clothing, as well as furniture, were often
adorned with dragons to show high personal
rank.

7. Perfect Union
 A dragon is sometimes depicted with a
phoenix, a mythical bird known for its
benevolence. With the phoenix representing the
empress and the dragon symbolizing the
emperor, the two images together symbolize a
perfect union in marriage, or the harmonious
combination of male and female.
 By itself, a phoenix symbolizes prosperity and
opportunity. As the king of birds, four parts of
its body were designated as the four symbols of
noble generosity. The pheasant is sometimes
interchanged with the phoenix as a symbol of
beauty, fortune, and other positive attributes.

8. Long Life
 Like peaches and evergreen pines, the crane also
symbolizes long life. One legend tells of an old couple
who lived for hundreds of years near a lonely,
towering pine tree. After the couple died, each
transformed into a crane and flew around the pine
tree together. Numerous Chinese painters have
depicted pines and cranes together.
 The word for “fish,” “yu,” sounds similar to the word
signifying material abundance. So fish images on
furniture often symbolize affluence and high rank.
Additionally, the fact that fish reproduce so
abundantly has made them symbols for marriage and
childbirth.

9. Gardens of delight
 As a symbol for immortality, peaches also figure in the
story of the Queen Mother of the West and her
orchard, filled with peaches with magical powers that
could make anyone live forever. She figures
prominently in Chinese art: two beautiful examples
include the 17th-18th century handscroll painting “The
Peach Festival of the Queen Mother of the West” and
an 18th century tapestry depicting a similar feast of
the peaches.
 Other botanical symbols include peony flowers,
which symbolize righteous conduct and royalty.
Known variously as the “king” of the flowers, the
peony also represents such “kingly” virtues as honor
and wealth.

10. Purity
 Meanwhile, the lotus is recognized as a
symbol of purity because it blooms out of
mud. It is among the eight auspicious
symbols associated with Buddhism. A lotus
can also stand for a harmonious, stable home
life. An early 20th century cabinet from Gansu
uses lotus images to set “calm” against the
main motif of a roaring tiger, a symbol of
courage.