Marvelous Menagerie in China

Live, carved or depicted in art, you’ll find animals everywhere in China. Animal symbols have power in all cultures, so it’s no surprise that in China, with its ancient civilization, we can find these animal symbols and themes throughout Chinese culture and heritage.

Animals have played an important role in Chinese culture for thousands of years. From ancient times, the Chinese believed that animals were human tools and property. While believing that animals hold a subordinate status, the Chinese still revere some animals as “god-like” and view them as extremely important members of Chinese culture. The Four “Divine Animals” are the dragon, phoenix, tortoise, and kylin, all of which feature prominently.

The Chinese are excellent philosophers and observers. As such, they understand the deeper meanings of animals, and utilized the characteristics of each creature to represent traits they wish to call upon in their own lives.

Chinese animal symbols serve as reminders, charms, omens, and sentiments. They are artistically represented in drawings, embroidered on clothing, painted on houses, and formed into statues all over China as harbingers of wealth, and good luck.

As one half of the Chinese principle of “yin-yang”, the dragon (yang) symbolizes fertility and vitality. It’s also the sign of authority, worn on robes of the imperial family and other nobility and often yellow in color, as yellow was reserved for the emperor. The Dragon Dance, which originated during the Hang Dynasty as part of the farming culture, is still used today during Chinese New Year celebrations.

Eternal rival to the dragon, the tiger is used in Chinese martial arts to describe opposing fighting styles: “Dragon Style” is based on technique and “Tiger Style” is based on raw strength. In Chinese culture, the tiger is the king of all the animals, an emblem of dignity, ferocity, sternness, courage, and lord of the mountains. The male tiger, considered to be the god of war, assisted the emperor’s armies and fought demons that threatened graves of the deceased. Also a symbol of protection, the image of a tiger is often seen on clothing or in the home to ward off harm and assure safekeeping. In certain areas of China and Asia, the Tiger is regarded as a god of wealth. Consequently, the Chinese God of Wealth is usually depicted sitting on a tiger.

The Phoenix is the king of the winged kingdom. Magnificent and legendary, this bird is synonymous with good fortune, opportunity, and luck. It also conveys strength and resilience in the symbolic rising from its own ashes and soars to greater heights. On its own, the Phoenix is a Yang symbol and is associated with fire energies and the four winds. Combined with the Dragon, the Phoenix represents Yin energy.

The Giant Panda has been the unofficial national animal of China since the mid-1900s. While it can be seen on many Chinese gold coins today, images of pandas have been found in Chinese art dating back thousands of years. The panda is called “Xiong mao”, meaning “bear-cat”, because it has the body of a bear and the face of a cat. Previously given as diplomatic gifts, the Giant Panda is currently endangered, with only about 1,600 remaining in the wild.

A Chinese cultural hero, the monkey is often referred to as “Sun Wukong”, the Monkey King. Legend goes that he was born out of a stone and learned many powers from his master, including an astounding 72 “earthly methods of transformation”. It’s alleged that the monkey can transform into objects or other people, and that he can also make copies of himself.

Animals in the Chinese Zodiac

Unlike western zodiac beliefs, which look to the alignment of constellations to determine someone’s future and fortune, Chinese culture designates 12 distinct animals to interpret individual personalities: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The characteristics of each animal are believed to influence personality, world events, and even the fate of everyone and everything born in their designated year.

Journey Along the Avenue of the Animals:

Animals play an important role at the Ming Dynasty Tombs outside Beijing and in Nanjing where they watch over the road to the graves, protecting the deceased emperors buried there. During the Ming Dynasty, any visitor had to enter the tomb complex through two huge gates at the bottom of the hill, then come up this avenue of animals, then along the upper avenue with stone ministers before arriving at the main gate.

In Nanjing, the Sacred Way is a long, wide promenade through a park-like setting. Also called Stone Elephant Road, it is 615m long. We think it’s gorgeous! Stroll along the Sacred Way’s Avenue of the Animals, flanked by 12 pairs of matching animal sculptures of horses, elephants, camels, lions, and two mythological beasts---the kylin (or qilin), one of the 4 divine animals; and the xiezhi, a mythological unicorn. There are six types of animals and for each there is a pair of standing beasts and a pair of kneeling or squatting beasts. Each animal is carved from a single large stone, and each represents certain attributes.

Horse (*1), as the emperor's mount, is absolutely indispensable. Horse was part of emperor’s honor guard during court ceremonies. “With spirited eye and proud look, they seem to be flaunting the merits of their imperial owner before death”.

Qilin (*2), an auspicious symbol, was placed on two sides of a doorway or building. “The unicorn integrates the features of the tiger, lion, ox and dragon. As the legend goes, it appeared only in the reign of a benevolent and wise emperor. Therefore, no one except the emperor had it before his tomb”

Elephants (*3), for instance, symbolize stature, wisdom, and courage. They were placed on the sacred way of imperial tombs as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) and this practice continued in the Ming Dynasty.

Camel (*4) and elephant are meant to suggest the vastness of the territory controlled by the court, because they are dependable transport in desert and tropics. “Camels showed off the emperor’s national strength and symbolize peace in the Western regions (inhabited by minority nationalities) and the prosperity of the nation”.

Xiezhi (*5) was put there to keep evil spirits away, because it was believed to possess the sixth sense to tell the difference between right and wrong. If two men were in a fight, a xiezhi would gore the wicked one. “ Xiezhi, a bear-eyed unicorn, also named Renfashou, stands for justice. It is placed before the tomb to show uprightness”.

Lion (*6) symbolizes awesome solemnity because of their ferocity and lording it over the animal kingdom. The lion, traditionally believed to be a guardian animal in China, is also used in festival celebrations during the Lion Dance.

It is said that these animals along the Sacred Way are supposed to change guard at midnight. Visitors love these animals, and stop to pat them, sit on them, and have their picture taken next to them. On some of the animals, the stone has been rubbed so much that we can see it’s not just rough granite, but actually a beautiful pinkish streaked marble. Early in the morning, local people come here to exercise and folks drape themselves over the backs of some of the stone animals as part of their stretching and relaxing. They lie back on the back of the animal, so the stone animal sort-of massages the human back. Who would have thought!

Be sure to look for your favorite as you stroll along in the dappled shade, birds twittering and cicadas chirping in the many trees.

I loved them and could imagine people 500 years ago trekking up the hill, really believing in all the properties of these animals.