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| Zhu Bajie wishes you a Happy Pig Year! |
This
Tuesday, February 5th, 2019 is the beginning of the Chinese New Year for
the Year of the Pig. The pig is the last animal in the cycle of the Chinese
zodiac; next year the series will start again with the Year of the Rat.
Interestingly,
those who object to identifying with the pig (as do Chinese Muslims) call this
Hai (亥) year, Hai being a special character used in
Chinese timekeeping and ordering systems. This of course is an unusual case;
those who object to being rats, snakes, dogs, etc. simply have to live with
their situation. (Note however that we say someone is “of the year of the rat”
and not just “a rat,” unless the conversation is already about zodiac animal
years.)
It
was difficult to look over my collection for older examples of pigs, but I did
manage to find this pair of carved panels, taken from some larger piece of
furniture, showing wild boars chasing
through the woods. The scene is typical of many forest scenes, with animals
wandering through a forest of trees, with birds and flowers also present. Boars
do exist in the wilder parts of Taiwan; the aboriginal craftsmen use boar tusks
in many types of artifacts and jewelry.
The
white specks in the border of the panels are crushed pearl shell, and like the
gilding would have given the panel some glitter in an age of lower lighting
levels.
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This
close-up of the second panel shows the tusk more clearly.
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One
of my earlier posts was about the pig-god, Zhu Bajie. Zhu Bajie was a character
with a human body and a pig’s head, whose escapades were recorded in the
Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. He then somehow became deified and
entered a new career in Chinese folklore.
I
usually don’t repeat images from earlier posts, but Zhu Bajie was so long ago
that I don’t think that most of my readers saw that article, and I didn’t have
the prescience then to know that I would be needing antique Chinese pigs for a
future post!
If
you want to learn why the pig-god Zhu Bajie is revered by prostitutes, take a look at the earlier story.
On
Chinese New Year, the tradition is to give red envelopes filled with money to
young people. To make it more fun, I try to add various small gifts associated
with the specific year. This year I was lucky to find these colorful glass pig
paperweights.
I
had the extra fun of calling people up and asking them to choose a color,
without specifying why, so I would know what color pig to give them as a
surprise. The colors in the photo look a little different—the originals look somewhat
more intense.
The
pig is considered a lucky animal, and the Year of the Pig is considered
especially favorable for wealth, prosperity, and even romance. Pigs are
considered good at working, but also somewhat lazy, so perhaps Pig Year will
favor idleness, a good sign for me personally.
With
all this good fortune available, do you have any special plans for the Year of
the Pig? In any case, I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous Pig (or Hai) Year!
P.S. This post is dedicated to blogger The Vintage Contessa and her pet pig, Banksy, who will have to be our mascot for this special year.
All photos and
original objects property of the author.
Speaking of wealth, what a wealth of info in this post! My Rare One and I celebrate the Lunar New Year every year (pure cultural approriation!) and my post will be up on Tuesday about it. Personally, I'm a Rooster and she's a Rabbit, but somehow we make it work.
ReplyDeleteHello Debra, There are so many levels to Chinese timekeeping and astrology that there must always be some common and favorable ground. That's the way I view it, anyway.
DeleteI will be looking forward to your version of the holiday, I'll bet that my effort is tame by comparison. --Jim
Oh oh. I'm a Nice Lady and I read your older post about Zhu Bajie. Now I'm off to enjoy a life of debauchery, ta ta!
ReplyDeleteI'll always blame myself, Debra!
DeleteI have not thought about using crushed pearl shell as decoration, but you are right - it just kicks up the glitter level a tad.
ReplyDeleteHappy, healthy and prosperous Hai year to you too. Hai in Hebrew is Life, so it is a perfect greeting :)
Hello Hels, Glitter was also used on postcards in the early 20th century, but they had to stop because the coarser glitter of that era was cutting the postmen's hands!
DeleteThank you for reminding us of the Hebrew Hai. Look at how many people wear Hai symbols for good luck or as an emblem of faith. --Jim
Happy Chinese New Year of the Pig Jim - your little glass pig paperweights are delightful. I am sure that the recipients will be very happy with them. I would have chosen the pale pink glass pig because he looks like a proper 'little porker'.
ReplyDeleteWe have just finished our Chinese New Year supper of lightly battered chicken breasts with a sweet and sour sauce, fried rice that made with red pepper, spring onions, mushrooms, corn, peas, root ginger, some soya sauce, and some duck spring rolls. Probably not really authentic, but we enjoyed it.
By the way I am a horse, and my husband is a tiger.
Hello Rosemary, I agree, the pink pigs are the most authentic, but I couldn;t resist buying each color. Also, that way the kids will know their own pig!
DeleteYou New Year supper sounds delicious. The corn should make up for any lack of authenticity. Here they put corn kernels in so many dishes, I don't know how Chinese civilization languished for thousands of years before the discovery of the New World and maize-type corn. --Jim
These objects seem to be so exotic when one is much more used to Western art.
ReplyDeleteIt's ironic that the Chinese consider the pig to be a lucky animal as they delight in pork-based cuisine!
Last week a friend was celebrating Burns Night combined with the Chinese New Year. I didn't want to go but he twisted my arm...
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s vivaciously Verdant
Blog ‘To Discover Ice’
Hello Bazza, Although I have been here long enough to take much Chinese art and cuisine for granted, I still do often get that "exotic" impression you mention. It keeps things perpetually interesting.
DeleteI hope that at your Burns supper someone read Auld Lang Syne, appropriate both for the New Year and for meeting with family and friends and celebrating old traditions. --Jim
p.s. Did you eat the haggis? I have enlarged my eating horizons greatly, but I am not sure if I am ready for haggis yet!
Ah....my last remark was a (failed) joke about Chinese burns as in "twisted my arm"!
DeleteSorry Bazza, I never heard that expression before, so it went right past me! I never heard of doing that to someone's arm, either--perhaps it's a British thing, but I recently read Gathorne-Hardy's The Public School Phenomenon, and I'm pretty sure that wasn't mentioned. --Jim
DeleteHERE I AM!
ReplyDeleteWHAT A TREAT FOR ME AND BANKSY!How do I get one of those glass PIGS?They are GORGEOUS!!!!!! I can see them lined up on my kitchen table!
I MUST DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR BANKSY NOW!!!!!BESIDES THE USUAL BELLY RUBS!!!!
THANK YOU for mentioning ME!
XX
Hello Elizabeth, I'm glad you like the post. You are the only person I know with a pet pig, so of course I had to think of you when writing this. The glass pigs were a lucky find--usually souvenirs are not really appropriate for the occasion, or are poorly made. I just realized that I did not translate the good-luck characters on the side of the pigs, so I'll have to go back and add that! --Jim
DeleteSome Pigs!... To paraphrase Charlotte in E.B. White's classic story.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year Jim and may it bring you good health and fortune.
Last year, my husband and I were in San Francisco and saw the Dragon parade. This year (we live in a Boston suburb)Chinese New Year is overshadowed by the Patriots victory parade. .
Even so, our local Costco now sells Moon Cakes along with dumplings, seaweed salad and kimshi. That tells you how much Asian food has been adopted by American suburbanites. As a good ABC, I will prepare noodles for longevity tonight.
Kung Hei Fat Choy,
Karen
Hello Karen, Happy New Year to you, too! Thanks for reminding us of Charlotte's Web--I haven't thought of that story for a while. You are right, it's funny how when I was growing up, "real" Asian food would have been unthinkable, but now we get it even in Cleveland. Of course, Taipei's food sometimes goes a few steps beyond even what is available in the U.S.
DeleteCongratulations on the Patriot's victory--I am sure that Chinese New Year events combine well with other celebrations. --Jim
Dearest Jim,
ReplyDeleteFinally able to catch up on some blog reading.
Happy Chinese New Year and may the Pig year prove to be a special one with good health and positivity!
What an interesting collection you have and those human bodied, standing pigs are quite adorable.
Our female ver has a pig as a pet that she often did bring to her clinic. They are so cute and absolutely house trained.
I've been very busy in creating an additional blog, with Pieter's life's story with pictures etc. He got in 2012 a large book from his adopted daughter in which question got asked for answering in ink... Most of those questions hardly made sense (the author was born in 1974...) but Pieter worked with his fountain pen and numerous photos over 3 months for filling the 193 pages.
Liz promised to take care of making copies as those pages were way too large for having them copied. At least back in 2012. She never followed through and Pieter had taken photos of each page. He only skipped one... But it is an interesting book that I made into a blog now. Only for his immediate family to enjoy reading, like his two nieces and great-nieces and great-nephew.
It made me feel relieved for having tackled that and Pieter enjoyed reading it on the iPad.
Have to do the same with my Mom's letters, by date and year, to share with my siblings.
But TIME... is the limit and I doubt that the year of the Pig will give me any bonus!
Also the historic photos and stories that Pieter as one of the last mushroom industry pioneers can tell, I want to complete. It is often hard with little material as his archive of old photos was left behind at the Practical Training College. Wonder where they are now as the College is no more; literally.
Some other precious photos are left behind before his divorce and there was never any sharing of such things...
Still I feel the urge to tell the story for others to read.
Had choir rehearsal this evening and that is quite a challenge too, as we have to memorize all the songs and also make moves to it. May 18 is the Revue at the local theatre but we will manage once again. Last year I was well prepared by March 27 and so proud of it and then the double closed pelvic bone fracture kept me from attending...
We've been biking together last week and on Sunday and yesterday. It was so balmy and warm but Saturday will be cooler again. Looking forward to the spring!
Hugs,
Mariette
Hello Mariette, This will certainly be a full year for you and Pieter, with all those plans! I have been doing a lot of that too, scanning and photographing family photographs and documents, and then distributing the results to interested relatives.
DeleteAs for Pieter's lost papers at the Practical Training College, often when an institution closes, its archives are accepted at some other college or library--it is worth checking into.
Good luck with all your activities; I am sure that we will be hearing updates on your blog! --Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteYes, a loaded year, as usually for both of us but in a different way now. The garden work etc. we have behind us, just minimal upkeep now. We also have completed all renovations so now its just the cleaning and light maintenance, which is more than enough. We're aging and getting slower... Haha, on Wednesday I've added another digit.
We biked yesterday in the most balmy weather and wearing our shorts for the first time in 80˚F weather. It cools down again and as they always say here in the South, 7 x spring... The Japanese Magnolia is in full bloom!
By the way, it should read female vet of course...
Sending you hugs,
Mariette
Jim, forgot to mention how lucky you were to have found those glass pig paperweights! And very clever for asking ahead of time for the favorite color. 🐖
ReplyDeleteHi again, It was a challenge to my Mandarin having to describe all of those colors distinctly! There is even one color that I don't know what to call in English--not only is it an odd color, but it looks quite different in different lights. --Jim
DeleteDearest Jim,
DeleteYou are so right about color description. I used to be able from the time I did study fashion and we had to read about different silks and other fabrics. Nowadays I guess they invented so many new names for paints and other things that it confuses us. Let alone you ought to describe that in Mandarin!
Hugs,
Mariette
Hi Jim,
ReplyDelete己亥年快樂!
Zhu Bajie is well known in Japan, too. Many elementary school students have read Xi You Ji edited for children or watched its TV drama. Zhu Bajie is similar to human being and very funny. It's not easy to be not greedy. I should have time to study 老荘思想？！
Hello rtc, Thank you for the greetings! Zhu Bajie is also popular here among the younger set, for his humor and adventures--the risque parts are presumably edited out. I agree that it is natural to be greedy--I sometimes feel that way as a collector, wanting to obtain interesting objects, but never at the expense of or taking advantage of others. --Jim
Delete