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Chinese folk traditions and willows

rodaki

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I just came across an article about the Qingming festival where a number of references to the uses and symbolisms of willows were made, including the following:


Another tradition for the Qingming Festival, one which stretches back more than 1,000 years, is wearing a garland made of willow twigs. People also hung twigs of willow under their roofs and windows to prevent ghosts and evil spirits from entering the house, as it is one of the country's three ghost festivals, a time of year when it was believed ghosts walked the earth

(. . . )

Buddhism also contributes to the prevalence of the tradition, as the Goddess of Mercy, or Guanyin, is usually depicted holding a willow twig. Willow trees were also called guibumu, which literally means "the tree which makes ghosts afraid", in ancient China.
"When I was young, many people broke off willow twigs and tied them to the baskets in front of their bicycles after sweeping their ancestors' tombs," said Shen, who is 72 years old. "That scene is still vivid in my memory, though most people nowadays no longer do that."

In China, presenting a twig of willow to another person is also a way of expressing that you want them to stay. The word for willow is liu in mandarin, the same as the word for stay, although they are pronounced with different tones.

(. . .)

People also participated in various sports, including shooting the willow, playing cuju and cockfights. Shooting the willow was first invented to improve archery skills. According to material from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), people first put pigeons into gourds before tying them on top of a willow tree. Several people then shot the gourds with bows and arrows, which would free the pigeons inside when they fell onto the ground. The winner was the one whose pigeon flew the highest on its release


I thought they made for interesting side-notes when considering the meaning of willow leaves in 44.5
(you can find the original article
here)
 

bradford

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In 28 the willow is used to connote eros. It's often a sexual symbol.
Charlie oughta like that.
As a phreatophyte it loves the marshes, the domain of Dui.
But as a salicale it usually reproduces by cloning or suckering.

Here's more from Wolfgang Eberhard's Dictionary of Chinese Symbols:

The willow, much valued as firewood, is a symbol of spring. As spring is the season
of erotic awakenings, the phrase ‘willow feelings and flower wishes’ means sexual
desire; ‘looking for flowers and buying willows’ means visiting a prostitute, ‘flowers and
willows by the wayside’ are prostitutes, and ‘sleeping among flowers and reposing
beneath willows’ is a term for visiting a brothel.
The waist of a beautiful woman is compared to the willow, her eyebrows to
the curve of willow leaves. A young girl is a ‘tender willow and fresh flower’ while
a woman who can no longer claim virginal freshness is described as ‘faded willow and
withered flower’. A woman’s pubic hair is ‘in the depths of willow shade’.
Furthermore, the willow repels demons. In one novel, 49 children armed with willow
twigs score a victory over ghosts. At the Qing-ming festival, held on the 105th day
after the winter solstice, willow twigs were worn, or one put a willow wreath round one’s
head. There was a current saying, to the effect that if you failed to wear willow in some
shape or form on this feast-day, you would be reborn next time round as a yellow dog.
In ancient China it was customary to give someone who was going away twigs broken
from a willow-tree. Thus, a scholar who was being moved to a post in the provinces
would receive such twigs from women and friends assembled at the east gate of the
capital city.
 

rodaki

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ah, Eberhard's book sounds like a book to seriously lust after :D

28 had totally slipped my mind with this, but of course 44 is also filled to the brims with sexual/sensual connotations and what not. I believe that willows are laden with female symbolisms the world over and the healing capacity of their bark was also something I had heard of before.
But there are a couple of new things here for me, like the part on protection against/cleansing of ghosts - especially teamed up with hx50 in 44.5 opens up the line, especially for those non-sexual contexts . .
Also 'willow; and 'stay' as the same word: like saying 'no need to grab, just ask'? another aha! added to the pot right there ..

I wonder of Eberhard's book (or something equivalent) is also available in pdf/online format cause I'm trying to keep my movables light, not having set up permanent home anywhere yet . . any ideas welcomed!
 

bradford

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I wonder of Eberhard's book (or something equivalent) is also available in pdf/online format cause I'm trying to keep my movables light, not having set up permanent home anywhere yet . . any ideas welcomed!

I would tell privately you how to get it, but your clarity inbox is full.
 

lsdavis

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What "stay" 留 /liu/ shares with "willow" 柳 /liu/ is the element of /mao/ 卯, and this looks like another instance where there was an original initial consonant cluster that got differentiated over time; the original sound must have been like /mlog/ according to Karlgren. It was an initial consonant cluster just like we have with Pleiades 昴 /mao/ which also uses the phonetic, the calendrical sign /mao/. This ancient character was used as a verb in oracle bone script, with references to sacrifices apparently to mean "cut in two" so you can see the splitting in two in the character itself, which means "rabbit" in the zodiac. This is similar to the world-wide idea that cleft palate is called "hare lip" (/tu chun 兔唇 in Chinese) because rabbits have connotations of splitting (there's an article on this by the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss).
Now, I'm interested in the willow for these reasons. The classical literature and its commentaries describes the hearses going to the cemetery, covered with and dragging willows (e.g. Sui shi of the Zhou li), so its apotropaic and medicinal properties were recognized. It seems to me also important that willows grow alongside water courses, and for this reason willows were boundary markers for territories. They "cut in two" the expanse of territory, and for this reason the connotations of the tree must be peripheral and marginal. No wonder it keeps away (and traffics with) ghosts!
Compare Liu 劉 (common family name) which also means "to kill" (also contains the mao element).
 

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