Rat

(鼠)

The written symbol for this animal is derived from the ancient pictogram of a rat, figuring the head, whiskers, feet, and tail.

The rat is one of the symbolical animals corresponding to the first of the TWELVE TERRESTRIAL BRANCHES (q. v.), and is an emblem of timidity and meanness. It is also regarded as the symbol of industry and prosperity on account of its ability for locating, acquiring and hoarding abundant supplies of food.

It is a recognised article of diet in Canton, where it is dried and exposed for sale, and chiefly consumed by the boat-population (蛋家), and by persons who have a tendency to baldness, the flesh being considered an effective “hair-restorer.”

These vermin are very numerous and act as carriers of a parasite which serves as a host for the plague-germ, which causes so much devastation in North China. The marmot or tarbagan, Aretomys bobac, for the skins of which there is a great demand, is another rodent believed to be instrumental in the transmission of bubonic and pneumonic plague.

The rat was supposed by the ancient Chinese to turn into a quail in the spring, and quails into rats during the eighth month. The actual date of transformation was recorded in the imperial almanac.

Reed-organ

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The shēng, or reed-organ, is a musical instrument consisting of 17 bamboo tubes of 5 different lengths inserted into the upper part of a gourd, which also contains a wooden mouthpiece in its lower end.

It is said to have been invented by Nǚ Wā (女鍋), sister and successor of the legendary Emperor Fú Yì (伏義), 2953–2838 B.C., and is intended to symbolize the PHOENIX (q. v.), the reeds resembling the tail of that bird of good omen. It was formerly used at weddings, funerals, and imperial religious ceremonies, but is now only employed on rare occasions. It is played by sucking in the breath, though sounds may also be produced by blowing on it. On this account there is an old superstition that those who took up practice on the shēng became so enamoured of its dulcet notes that they played to excess, thus causing inflammation of the bronchial tubes and lungs, and death before the age of forty.

Kratzenstein, a Russian musician, became possessed of a shēng, and built an organ on the same principle with similar reeds, which led to the invention of the accordion and harmonium in Europe. (Vide also MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.)

Rhinoceros Horns

(庫角)

The “sworded cow,” or the rhinoceros (庫牛), was formerly found in Szechuan, but the animal is now extinct. The fossil teeth are occasionally excavated, to be sold as “Dragon’s Teeth,” and ground up for medicinal purposes. The hide used to be made into a jelly (海庫膏).

The horns are imported from Siam, Cochin, China, Sumatra, and India.“Only the horns of the rhinoceros are composed wholly of horny matter, and this is disposed in longitudinal fibres, so that the horns seem rather to consist of coarse bristles compactly matted together in the form of a more or less elongated bone.”²²⁷ They are sometimes carved in very intricate designs for ornamental purposes, and were used as drinking vessels in days of old, being said to reveal the presence of poison by sweating. They are powdered and made into medicine at the present day, the black and pointed kind being considered the most efficacious for the compounding of tonics.

A pair of rhinoceros horns symbolises happiness, and is one of the EIGHT TREASURES (q. v.).

Rice

(米)

Although the natives of Hopeh, Honan, Shensi, and Shantung show a preference for wheat, which is more easily grown in the dry climate of these provinces, yet rice, Oryza sativa, may be considered the staple food of the Chinese, and is profusely cultivated in the Yangtze valley and the plains of Hunan, Kwangsi, and elsewhere. The annual yield is estimated at over thirty million tons a year.

There were many names for rice in its different stages and qualities, e. g., gû (穀), the ripe grain in the husk; sù (粟), paddy; nuòmî (儒米), glutinous rice; dào (稻), rice in the straw; mî (米), hulled rice; fàn (飯), cooked rice; etc., which show the great importance it has for China.

Rice is often faced with sulphate of lime, or levigated marble, to give it whiteness and increased weight.“Glutinous rice dumplings are made at the time of the Fifth Moon Feast and consumed in large quantities. Puffed rice is eaten by persons with weak digestions, and sweetmeats are also made from this rice; it is used in diarrhoea, in the shape of a conjee, as a diuretic in fevers, and cakes of it fried in camel fat are used for hemorrhoids. The rice flowers are used as a dentifrice, the stalk is recommended for biliousness, and its ash for the treatment of wounds and discharges.”²²⁸ Rice straw (稻稗) is employed to make paper, matting, sandals, rope, thatch, and fertilizer; it also serves as a cattle-fodder.

The sweet rice-cakes, round or oval in shape, eaten at New Year, typify pleasure by their sweetness, and are suggestive by their shape of a complete family circle, and symbolise peace and harmony in general. Similar rice-cakes, but stuffed with pork, are consumed on the 15th day of the 1st month, or the first full moon of the year, and are clearly connected with the ancient worship of the moon.“The upsetting of a basin of rice on the table or elsewhere is very unlucky, and to take away any person’s rice-steamer and empty it on the ground is one of the greatest insults that can be given to a family.”²²⁹

The worship of the rice-measure is described under STARS (vide also GRAIN MEASURE), and the symbolic use of grains of rice for purposes of decoration is shown under TWELVE ORNAMENTS. The so-called “rice china” is stamped out in holes which are glazed over. Sheaves of rice appeared upon the Order of the Excellent Crop (嘉禾章), on the collars, arm-bands, and belt buckles of the naval uniform, and on coins, etc. The rice-plant in fact, may undoubtedly be regarded as a national emblem (vide AGRICULTURE).

Ring

(圈)

The circle is believed by the Chinese to be the origin of all creation; when split into two round or ovoid segments it is said to be reduced to its primary constituents, the male and female principle (vide TAIJI).

“A ring is the symbol of eternity with the Chinese, who say it has no beginning; and hence very naturally regard it as emblematical of dignity and authority. Two rings are especially worthy of regard: one perfect, the other defective; the former an emblem of the sovereign’s favour, the latter, of his displeasure, as shown towards his public servants. In older times, when officers who had been banished to the frontier for maladministration, had completed the term of their sentence, the one or other of these rings was sent to them by the Emperor: if it were the perfect one, it denoted that he was about to restore them to their official duties, despite their temporary disgrace, without detriment to character or emolument; but if the defective ring were sent, it was a token that the offender’s connection with the government was forthwith dissolved.”²³⁰

Rosary

(念珠)

The rosary, Sanskrit, Mala, is an essential part of the dress of the Buddhist priest, and is also worn by the people for religious reasons. It was an item of the ceremonial costume of officials of the nine grades under the late imperial form of government.

Rosaries are sometimes perfumed with must, etc., and are composed of pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, turquoise, coral, amber, crystal, jade, lapis-lazuli, bone, gold, wood, seeds, snakes’ vertebrae, etc., being worn either as a necklace or as a girdle.

There is a small rosary of eighteen beads, symbolising the EIGHTEEN LOHAN (q. v.), but the common article contains 108 beads of uniform size, one of the alleged reasons for this number being to ensure the repetition of the sacred name of Buddha a hundred times, the extra beads being added to make up for possible omissions through absentmindedness during the telling process or for loss of beads by breakage. The two ends of the string of beads, before being knotted, are passed through three extra beads, the centre one being the largest. These beads keep the rosary beads in position and indicate to the teller the completion of a cycle of beads; the triad of beads symbolises the “Three Holy Ones” of the Buddhist trinity, viz : Buddha, the Word, and the Priesthood, the large central based representing the Master. The hidden string stands for the penetrating power of all the Buddhas, and is sometimes made of human hair.

Rúyì

(如意)

“As you wish, in accordance with your heart’s desire. The name of a kind of short sword, with sword-guard, originally made of iron, and used by the ancients for self-defence and also for purposes of gesticulation. It is now often given as a present among the Chinese, signifying good wishes for the prosperity of the recipient. It is seen in the hands of idols, and is the setting of Mani (摩尼), the round pearl—one of the sapta ratna (七寶)—which is said to keep always clean and bright and to shed a brilliant light on all surrounding objects. Hence it is the symbol of Buddha and his doctrines. Used for the Sanskrit riddhi and riddhi-pada, in the sense of magical powers.”²³¹ “Zhào Xïgü (趙希搞), an archaeolo-gist of the 13th century, tells us that the rúyì was used ‘for pointing the way’ and also for ‘guarding against the unexpected,’ i. e., for self-defence. It was, in fact, a kind of blunt sword, and traces of basket work are still found inside what must have been the swordguard.”²³² Its shape is said by some to have been derived from the sacred fungus or PLANT OF LONG LIFE (q. v.), and it is therefore regarded as an emblem of longevity, but in Buddhistic eyes it represents the mystic LOTUS (q. v.), which is generally carved on the superior end. The head of the rúyì, conventionally treated, often figures as an ornament or border design on clothing, porcelain, carpets, buildings, etc., and bears a strong resemblance to the bat of good augury or to the top of the pomegranate. The rúyì may also be compared to the Hindoo vadjra or DIAMOND MACE (q. v.), the symbol of destruction and conquering power of the Buddhists. It may also be connected with the sceptre of male supremacy anciently used for ceremonial purposes. The word guï (圭) signifies a sceptre of authority, and its composition, earth, repeated, denotes that it was originally made of some rude material dug from the 土 earth. According to the “Book of Odes” (詩經), a sceptre (環) was usually given to a male infant as a toy, and has hence become an emblem of the male sex, while the girl’s plaything, a concave tile (瓦), formerly used as a weight for the spindle, has similarly become the symbol of the female. It is possible that the rúyì may have been an emblem of ancient phallic worship.

Ceremonial rúyì have been made of a great variety of different substances, such as rhinoceros horn, bone, gold, silver, rock-crystal, etc., but the most recent varieties are of purple sandalwood ornamented at the two ends and in the middle with jade.