Hidden Meanings
This is a superb example of using the skin of the jade in the carving process. This jade, with a lotus flower and a fish carved into the rind of the stone, is a homonym symbolizing a desire for prosperity, year after year.
Homonyms are words pronounced alike but having a different meaning. Examples in the English language include the words quail as in the bird or the verb quail as in to tremble. Or two, to and too. The Chinese language is much more limited in sound so has many more homonyms.
Chinese people who see this carving will immediately associate it with the idiom lián nián yǒu yú which translates as abundance (or plenty) year after year. They will associate it with this idiom because the words lián and yú, also mean lotus flower and fish. So any carving you see with a lotus flower and a fish expresses a wish for prosperity in the coming years. Carved from gem quality Siberian jade.
Height: 36mm. Width: 22mm. Depth: 13mm. Weight: 21g
This is a superb example of using the skin of the jade in the carving process. This jade, with a lotus flower and a fish carved into the rind of the stone, is a homonym symbolizing a desire for prosperity, year after year.
Homonyms are words pronounced alike but having a different meaning. Examples in the English language include the words quail as in the bird or the verb quail as in to tremble. Or two, to and too. The Chinese language is much more limited in sound so has many more homonyms.
Chinese people who see this carving will immediately associate it with the idiom lián nián yǒu yú which translates as abundance (or plenty) year after year. They will associate it with this idiom because the words lián and yú, also mean lotus flower and fish. So any carving you see with a lotus flower and a fish expresses a wish for prosperity in the coming years. Carved from gem quality Siberian jade.
Height: 36mm. Width: 22mm. Depth: 13mm. Weight: 21g
This is a superb example of using the skin of the jade in the carving process. This jade, with a lotus flower and a fish carved into the rind of the stone, is a homonym symbolizing a desire for prosperity, year after year.
Homonyms are words pronounced alike but having a different meaning. Examples in the English language include the words quail as in the bird or the verb quail as in to tremble. Or two, to and too. The Chinese language is much more limited in sound so has many more homonyms.
Chinese people who see this carving will immediately associate it with the idiom lián nián yǒu yú which translates as abundance (or plenty) year after year. They will associate it with this idiom because the words lián and yú, also mean lotus flower and fish. So any carving you see with a lotus flower and a fish expresses a wish for prosperity in the coming years. Carved from gem quality Siberian jade.
Height: 36mm. Width: 22mm. Depth: 13mm. Weight: 21g