Fish are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are various myths involving

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The geographic area of "China" is of course a concept which has evolved of changed through history. Fish in Chinese mythology include myths in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and other languages, as transmitted by

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

as well as other officially recognized 56 minority ethnic groups in China. The Chinese word for "fish", ''yu'', is a homophone for "abundance", "plenty", and "affluence" (yu 餘); therefore, fishes are a symbol of wealth. The

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

is the head of the fish clan. The act of fishing is also an important motif in Chinese mythology and culture.

Cultural significance and symbolism

Yu (fish)

Fishes are a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture. The Chinese character for fish is yu (). It is pronounced with a different tone in modern Chinese, 裕 (yù) means "abundance". Alternatively, 餘, meaning "over, more than", is a true homophone, so the common Chinese New Year greeting appears as 年年有魚 or 年年有餘. Due to the homophony, "fish" mythically becomes equated with "abundance".

Fish and humans

* A picture of a ''child with a fish'' expresses the wishes of having an "abundance of high-ranking sons". * Due to their association with wealth, fishes are eaten on

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

as they expresses the wishes of ''being affluent year by year'' or "bring abundance of good wishes throughout the year".

Fish and flowers

* The combination of a ''fish and a lotus-blossom'' (lian 莲) is used to express the wishes of ''living in affluence (yu) year after year (lian nian).'' * The combination of ''a boy with a fish beside a lotus'' is interpreted as the wish to have "abundance (yu) year in and out (lian)".

Fishes and foretelling

* According to ancient Chinese literature, an abundance of fishes in water is believed to foretell a good harvest while the fish swarming up the shoals of rivers is interpreted as a harbinger of civil unrest and rebellion against social order.''''

Sacrifices and religion

* Fishes were used as sacrifice in China; fish-heads (yutou 魚頭) were sacrificed in Central China to the god of riches as they were believed to symbolize the "beginning of wealth" (yutou 餘頭).'''' * The fish is part of the 8 Buddhist symbols:'''' they are golden fishes which comes in pairs; they are symbols of fertility and represents salvation from suffering.

Sexuality/ marital bliss

* In ancient China, the word yu also meant

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...

as a secondary meaning, however nowadays, it is the

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

which is used instead of fish.'''' * A metaphor for sexual intercourse in Chinese is "fish and water come together".'''' * A happily married couple is described as having "the pleasures of fish in water" (''yúshuǐ zhīhuān'' 鱼水之欢'); therefore pairs of fishes are symbolism of sexual harmony and mutual sexual pleasure.'''' Popular weddings gifts were prints of fishes swimming together. * When the fish constellation is visible in sky, it is interpreted that the time of "cloud and rains" (''yunyu'' 云雨') have passed which means that it is no longer the auspicious time for the Emperor to have sexual intercourse.''''

Jin yu (Goldfish)

Jinyu (金鱼) is a homophone for "gold in abundance"; therefore, they are perceived as suitable gifts for wedding.'''' Jinyu is also an homophone of gold (jin 金) and jade (yu 玉), which are both indicators of wealth.''''

Goldfish and humans

* The depictions of goldfish in a pond (tang 塘) is used to express "may gold and jade fill your house" (''jinyu mantang'' 金玉滿堂) to describe the wishes of having a prosperous household.'''' * A similar depiction is the combination of goldfish in a pond in the courtyard of a house with a wealthy lady with 2 infants and her attendant which symbolically expresses for wish of having "gold (jin) in abundance (yu) fill the whole hall (tang) of the house".

Goldfish and flowers

* When combined with a lotus (he 荷), the goldfish and lotus (''jinyu tonghe'') combination represents "gold and jade joined together" or "celebrations with gold and jade" (''jinyu tonghe'')

Goldfish and purse

* The combination of a purse and a goldfish is used to express the wishes for having "gold (goldfish) in abundance in a purse."

Sexuality

* A pair of gold fishes is a symbol of fertility. * A goldfish can also represent the lover of a widow. * A goldfish can also represent a man who is supported by a prostitute.

Li (carp)

The word carp in Chinese is ''li'' (鲤) which is an homophone for advantage (li 利); therefore, carps are used to express wishes for benefits or advantage in business. Its association with wealth mostly likely comes from the pun ''liyu'' (利餘), ''liyu'' (鯉魚) also means carp.'''' Li is also an homophone for the character ''li'' (力) which means strength, power, and ability.''''

Carp and humans

* The picture of a carp being sold by a fisherman to a woman with a child expresses the fisherman's wishes for her to have good income and social advancement.

Symbols of perseverance and martial attributes

* Carps are symbols of perseverance as they are admired for its struggles against the currents.'''' * Due to its scaly armour, carps are seen as a symbol of martial attributes.''''

Legends and mythologies

Fish

There is a tale dating in the 1st century BC about a giant fish which swallowed a boat.'''' Some tales involved drunk men turning into fishes.'''' There are also tales involving fish-demons (drunk men transformed into fishes) which could sometimes marry women.'''' Other tales involved fishes turning into birds.''''

Carp

Carp leaping the Dragon Gate (liyu tiao longmen 鯉魚跳龍門)

Carp () can be transformations of dragons or carp can sometimes change into dragons. According to tradition, a carp that could swim upstream and then leap the falls of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

at the Dragon Gate (Longmen 龍門) would be transformed into a dragon: this motif symbolizes success in the

civil service examinations Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruitin ...

. This is the Dragon Gate at the border of

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

and

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

where the Yellow River flows through a cleft in the

Longmen mountains The Longmen Mountains (), also tautologically referred to in English-language publications as the Longmenshan Mountains, are a mountain range in Sichuan province in southwestern China. Geography The range runs in a roughly northeast to southwest ...

, supposedly made by

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures prominen ...

, who cut through the mountain. According to one account, all the carp competed at a yearly competition to leap the Longmen falls; those who succeeded were immediately transformed into dragons and flew off into the sky. Pictures of carp attempting to leap the Longmen falls have been enduringly popular in China. There are other Dragon Gates in the rivers of China, typically with steep narrows, and the mythological geography does not depend upon an actual location. The "flying carp" or "

silver carp The silver carp (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in the south. Alt ...

" (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is native to China and other parts of Asia. It is a great jumper. Silver carp are strong swimmers and researchers have observed them to jump 1.81-2.24 meters (approximately 5.94 to 7.75 feet) above the surface of the water with an angle of leap of 44-70º. They are quite capable of swimming upstream and leaping over barriers in the water.

Wang Xiang

In one of the stories depicting his exemplar filial piety,

Wang Xiang Wang Xiang (184 – 30 April 268''wuxu'' day of the 4th month of the 4th year of the ''Taishi'' era, per Emperor Wu's biography in ''Book of Jin''. Wang Xiang's biography in the same work indicated that he died in the 5th year of the ''Taishi'' ...

(a young boy) went to the frozen river when his ill mother said that she wanted to eat some carp in winter; there he sat on the ice long enough to melt through the ice and a big carp immediately sprang out of the hole. In another version, Wang Xiang removed his coat and shirt in the cold and melted the ice when the sat on the ice and cried more and more until the ice melted a hole in the ice through his hot tears and body heat; in this version, it is 2 carps which sprang out of the hole immediately.

Fish-related legends and myths

Other Chinese myths are related to fishes; some Chinese mythological motifs also involve fishermen or fish baskets or a fish trap.

Fisherman (Yufu 漁夫)

Fuxi

According to Chinese myth, the culture hero

Fuxi Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well ...

invented fishing after the

Great Flood A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primaeval ...

catching fishes and making nets.'''' He is also credited for teaching how to eat fish.'''' A story tells that first Fuxi fished with his hands, but after observing a spider catching insects in its web, he invented the rattan net and used it to catch fish, which skill he passed on to his descendants.

Taigong

Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya ( century BC – century BC), also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye, he continued to serve ...

, the great general and strategist and military mastermind who was key to establishing the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

, was said to have spent years in his old age fishing, but with a straight hook, or no bait, or with his hook dangling above the water: but, he was fishing for a Lord, not a fish. After Jiang Ziya became the general, he was known as "Taigong" or "the Grand Duke". The degree to which this qualifies as a myth is open to question, but it is certainly a well-known motif.

Fish basket

According to Chinese myth, Fuxi also invented the fish basket, or trap (gu), by weaving bamboo into a cage which had a funnel opening, that was easy for the fish to enter because the big opening was on the outside, but inside it tapered to narrow and exit opening, so it was easy for the fish to get in, but hard to get out.'''' In other cases the fish basket served more as a net, in which a fish could be scooped from the water and transported to the market. In one manifestation,

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

is pictured as holding a fish basket. This imagery is sometimes considered to have a sexual connotation.

Evolution of Chinese characters

The character for fish (魚) evolved from an ancient pictograph. It is the traditional 195th (out of 216) traditional radical. Over time, the pictographic representations tended to become increasingly stylized, until evolving to the modern standard form:

Gallery

File:Tools and utensils in the in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum - DSC03578.JPG, Mongolian bamboo fish basket. Tools and utensils in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming, Yunnan, China. File:Tools and utensils in the in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum - DSC03575.JPG, Dai bamboo fish basket. Tools and utensils in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming, Yunnan, China. File:Venerable Guanyin au painier de poissons - attrib ZHAO Meng Fu dyn Yuan - anon dyn Ming 1368 1644 - rouleau sur soie 122 6 x 61 3-07587.jpg, Guanyin of the fish basket - attributed to Zhao Mengfu Yuan dynasty. File:Baskets in Haikou 02.jpg, Baskets in Haikou: the flat baskets at center are for holding small fish or shrimp.

References

{{Chinese mythology Animals in Chinese mythology