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Blog post: Melon perspectives

hilary

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I’m experimenting with a different kind of post: taking just one line of the Yi, looking at what the translators and interpreters make of it, and seeing what I can learn from the different perspectives.
Let’s start with the fifth line of Hexagram 44, Coupling – a strange line, in a mysterious hexagram:
‘Using willow to wrap melons.
Containing a thing of beauty,
It is falling from heaven.’
I’ll look at the elements of the line first, and then dive into some commentaries.

The line, one image at a time…

Wrapping melons in willow

There are a couple of different ways to understand this. One is the idea of wrapping a melon for eating in willow leaves while it ripens, to prevent bruising. The more I think about this, the less convincing I find it. All the instructions I can find for melon-growing describe leaving them to ripen on the vine, and resting them on something solid, like a brick, to keep them dry and prevent rot. I suppose you might then wrap the ripe fruit in leaves for storage – but then as Lars Bo Christensen points out, willow leaves are narrow, and a strange choice for wrapping the fruit of a plant that has big, wide leaves itself.
Richard Rutt explains the other understanding: the bottle gourd ‘is bound near the stalk while it is growing, in order to ensure that, when it is dried for use as a flask, it will have a good shape.’ I think this is what’s going on here.
The wrapped melon/ gourd also looks like pregnancy imagery (along with the ‘fish in the wrapper’ in previous lines); the character for ‘wrapping’, bao, shows a foetus in the womb.

Containing a thing of beauty

To ‘contain’ is literally ‘to hold something in the mouth’, and also to contain, restrain or tolerate.
And the ‘thing of beauty’ is zhang, whose dictionary meanings include a chapter of a book, a section of a piece of music, a composition, structure, set of rules or constitution. The old character breaks down into ‘ten’ and ‘sounds’, so maybe ‘musical composition’ is the core idea.
In the Shijing, the Book of Songs, this word means variously the blazon on a flag, finely woven cloth, elegant speech, gold and jade ornaments, ancient statutes, the laws or the personal example given by a great ruler, and the form of the Milky Way in the heavens. I get the impression of a perfectly elegant, distinct shape, whole and complete in itself.
The character zhang with the radical for ‘jade’ means a jade baton (which in itself signified nobility and culture), and there was a custom of holding such a baton in front of your mouth when speaking with the ruler. So some modern translators combine these two characters into ‘hold a jade baton in the mouth’. (Though ‘in the mouth’ and ‘in front of the mouth’ are not the same thing…)
The same hidden/contained zhang appears in 2.3, where it allows constancy, but not for recognition. And the zhang (no longer hidden) is also what’s coming, bringing reward and praise, in 55.5.

Falling from heaven

This is more straightforward, though the word for ‘falling’ does also mean ‘meteorites’; ‘there are meteorites from heaven’ would be a perfectly literal translation.

Zhi gua 50, the Vessel

This is the line that joins Coupling with the Vessel, and I think this should be included in our understanding of the text. For instance… there is a bronze vessel, and there is a more fragile, organic vessel to be shaped with willow twigs. And there is a Vessel representing the new form of government according to the Mandate of Heaven, and there is the zhang (a model, an example, a constitution…) falling from heaven.

Learning from some commentaries

(I’ve looked at lots of commentaries for this, but these are the ones I thought contributed something original.)

The Xiaoxiang

Part of the Yijing, of course, but also the original commentary on the line.
‘Nine at the fifth place contains a thing of beauty: central and correct. Something is falling from heaven: aspiration does not relinquish the mandate.’
The first part of this simply refers to line theory: the fifth place is central, and a yang line in that position is correct. All is in order, the pattern is whole. The second part seems to be about alignment: heaven sends down its mandates, so align your will with that and don’t let it go.

Wilhelm Book I

The translation and commentary:
‘A melon covered with willow leaves.
Hidden lines.
Then it drops down to one from heaven.’
‘The melon, like the fish, is a symbol of the principle of darkness.’ [He means the first, yin line of the hexagram, which he identifies with the threat of the powerful woman.] ‘It is sweet but spoils easily and for this reason is protected with a cover of willow leaves. This is a situation in which a strong, superior, well-poised man tolerates and protects the inferiors in his charge. He has the firm lines of order and beauty within himself but he does not lay stress upon them. He does not bother his subordinates with outward show or tiresome admonitions but leaves them quite free, putting his trust in the transforming power of a strong and upright personality. And behold! Fate is favorable. His inferiors respond to his influence and fall to his disposition like ripe fruit.’
Wilhelm is thinking of the easily-spoiled melon as line 1, and this fifth line as the wise ruler dealing with such things, protecting people who could easily go to the bad. Zhang becomes ‘lines’ – which sounds odd, but imagine a hidden pattern to the ruler’s character, firm and strong. So the ruler’s protection is like the willow wrapping; the ‘hidden lines’ are his inner character; the development of the inferior people is like the melon ripening; what drops down to one from heaven is the positive response of the inferiors.
I like the sense of tolerant protection here, but I find the way he breaks up the line quite awkward and unnatural. The melon is one thing, then the hidden lines are something else, and what falls from heaven is yet a third thing – or perhaps the melon, but that’s also awkward, since melons grow on the ground.

Wilhelm Book III

It’s always interesting to turn to Book III of Wilhelm, where he often ‘shows his workings’ in more detail, with explanations based on component trigrams and line theory. For this line, though, he says,
‘…[The melon] is protected and covered with willow leaves. No forcible interference takes place. The regulative lines of the laws upon which the beauty of life depends are covered over. We entrust the fruit in our care entirely to its own natural development. Then it ripens of its own accord. It falls to our lot. This is not contrived but is decreed by our accepted fate.’
The jarring insistence on ‘inferior’ people is gone; instead, this is just about trusting the process of ripening. There’s no mention of keeping anything sinister in check. The ‘hidden lines’ become the implicit natural laws of growth and development. The fruit need not be people we influence; it could be anything that ‘ripens’ – a creative idea, perhaps, or our own character.
So there’s a clear, distinct idea – ‘entrust the fruit in your care entirely to its own natural development, and it ripens of its own accord.’
(Which is a better fit in readings? This, or the idea of using willow twigs actively to shape the gourd for use?)

Bradford Hatcher

Bradford’s work is available, as always, from hermetica.info. Here’s his original translation and commentary for the line.
‘Wrapping the melons in willows
Restraint is displayed
They will have fallen from heaven.’
‘All of the members come to his meeting, and he acts like a model host, serving his fine food and drink. But all the green melons stay in the cellar, hidden from light and view. Still deeper down, and covered with cobwebs and dust, are many rows of tightly-corked bottles of wine. These melons and wine will one day be sacraments, as though they had fallen from heaven. But heaven is not simply a place, or even all places: it is all times as well, and the way times are strung together. There is much of not yet in heaven, but not much too soon or too late. these melons and wine, given our kind, but reserved, host’s assistance, will fall from the time of just right, when heaven is ready as well. Haste is such a shallow thing, hardly worthy of sacraments. Just like these melons and wine, our very best is sacred, and worthy of our patience.’
As with Wilhelm, these are definitely edible melons, not bottle gourds, but the rest is completely different. Han zhang, ‘contained pattern’ has become containment as a pattern: wrapping the melons is a display of restraint. The line becomes an ode to the kind of patience required to enjoy divine timing.

LiSe

– at yijing.nl:
‘Melon enwrapped in willow. A hidden creation descended from heaven.
Carry and treat the future heir with respect – Heaven made it. Every creative action or thought should be handled this way. They may look easy but creativity grows only when everything is right: the seed, the soil, the season. It needs the completeness of nature. It can not be summoned when it is absent.’
LiSe picks up directly on the pregnancy imagery of the enwrapped melon. She also reads the line as a whole: the wrapped melon is the hidden beauty which comes down from heaven. I like this – and also I taken her point that what falls from heaven is not something you make happen by your own efforts. (This builds on Wilhelm’s point about trusting natural development – you can’t direct it, so you have to trust it.) You can wrap it, protect it and wait for it – that’s all.

R.J. Lynn

As far as I know, the very first full commentary on the Yijing was written by Wang Bi, and this has been passed on to us in its entirety in Lynn’s superb book. (If you don’t already have this one, I would strongly recommend it.) These are the roots of the tradition Wilhelm also represents, so the interpretations are often similar to his – but not always…
‘With his basket willow and bottle gourd, this one harbors beauty within, so if there is destruction, it will only come from Heaven.’
Wait, what?
Wang Bi’s commentary:
‘The basket willow is such that it is a plant that grows in fertile soil, and the bottle gourd is such that it is tied up and not eaten.’ [Here a footnote glosses this idea, quoting Confucius saying he would not want to be like a bottle gourd, ‘just hung up and not eaten’, i.e. ornamental and empty.] ‘Fifth yin manages to tread the territory of the noble position, but it does not meet with any proper response.’ [Reference to line correspondence: a yang line 5 doesn’t resonate with yang line 2.] ‘This one may have obtained land, but it does not provide him with a living; he may harbor beauty within but never has a chance to let that beauty shine forth. As one here does not meet with any proper response, his orders will never circulate. However, such a one manages to occupy a position that is right for him, embodies hardness and strength, and abides in centrality, so if “this one’s will remains fixed on not giving up his mandate,”‘ [quoting from the Xiaoxiang] ‘he cannot be destroyed. This is why the text says: “If there is destruction, it will only come from Heaven.”‘
How strange. ‘There is falling from heaven’ has become in effect, ‘If there is downfall, it is from heaven.’ And the rich, sweet melon imagery has become something dry and hollow, an image of frustration. There’s beauty within, but it has no influence – which is exactly the opposite of Wilhelm’s interpretation, and really doesn’t resonate for me.
However, Lynn’s book is blessed with copious footnotes, and for this line he includes Cheng Yi’s alternative explanation: in brief, that the key to the hexagram is the idea of meeting, and this line shows the meeting of the lofty willow with the beautiful but lowly melon.
‘Here we have something that is beautiful but abides in a lowly place, and this is an image of the worthy who remains out of the way and leads an insignificant life.’ Willow wrapping melon is an image of a ruler humbly seeking this worthy talent below. ‘One who can humble himself in this way also nourishes virtues of centrality and righteousness within, so he comes of perfect fruition and displays perfect beauty. If the sovereign of men is like this, he will never fail to meet those whom he seeks.’
I admire the way Cheng Yi interprets, using a few very simple facts about the line and its imagery: this hexagram is about meeting; trees are tall whereas melons grow on the ground; the fifth line is the place of the ruler. Then he draws this together into a single picture – more successfully than Wang Bi, I reckon.

Kerson and Rosemary Huang

Wang Bi’s ‘destruction from heaven’ interpretation wasn’t abandoned – in fact, it surfaces in unexpected places. Some modernists read zhang as Shang, the name of the dynasty, and so for instance Kerson and Rosemary Huang have,
‘Wrapping melon with leaves of staple grain:
The downfall of Shang.
It brought wrath from heaven.’
They suggest that wrapping melons in this way must have been sacrilegious… well, I suppose they have to suggest something of the sort to find a connection with the first part of the line…

Margaret Pearson

Margaret Pearson contributed the idea that 44’s powerful woman is a royal bride to be treated with respect. (And if that idea isn’t unambiguously present in the text, nor is the traditional view that she represents a creeping, insidious evil.)
For 44.5, she has:
‘She protects the babe within, just as a gourd is protected by being wrapped in flexible willow twigs. You hold great beauty within you. If you miscarry, this is Heaven’s will.’
Pure, perfectly coherent pregnancy imagery – and Wang Bi’s influence.

Minford

Minford’s work is unique in that it offers you two quite different perspectives inside one book: a traditional, ‘wisdom book’ interpretation in the Part I, and a reconstruction of the Bronze Age oracle in Part II.
So the commentary in Part I offers ideas familiar from Wilhelm: protecting the light and restraining the dangerous presence of First Yin; the leader protecting his employees like protecting the gourd with willow leaves. Part II has less explanation and more mystery:
‘A gourd
Is bound
With purple willow.
A Jade Talisman
Is contained.
It drops
From heaven.​
A meteorite? A gourd bound into the shape of a bottle gourd, traditional receptacle for things magical or Taoist?’
Wait – so a shaped gourd isn’t just a convenient water bottle, but has magical significance? I hadn’t realised, but my goodness, it makes sense in the context. Must – read – more – books.

Field

One of my favourite books.
‘Bundle the gourd in willow. The pattern holds. Something will fall from heaven.’
‘This omen collects another image that seems to describe metaphorically the consummation of a sexual rendezvous. “Bundle the gourd in willow” literally describes the process by which a gourd is shaped for use as a bottle. The image of the willow tree was also used as a sexual metaphor in lines 28.2 and 28.5. A variation of “the pattern holds” was used in line 2.3 to indicate fertility and ripeness. The counsel, “Something will fall from heaven,” may pertain to anomalies such as rocks falling from the sky, but more likely refers to falling stars.’
The ‘willow’ in 28.2.5 is a different character, which I imagine must mean a different plant. Also, I’d say that while it’s obviously associated with sex, it’s more specifically a symbol of rejuvenation, turning back the clock and cheating old age.
However, I do like the suggestion that we should consider ‘falling from heaven’ as literal before it’s symbolic. Signs from heaven could well be meteorites (Alfred Huang’s translation) or falling stars. And what would those mean?

Karcher, Total I Ching

Stephen Karcher does his best to weave together wisdom tradition and Bronze Age mystery:
‘Coupling. The Royal Bride.
Willow wrapping the melons, jade talisman in the mouth.
Held in this containing beauty,
It tumbles down from Heaven.’
As you see, he takes a ‘so good I’ll translate it twice’ approach. Han zhang becomes both ‘jade talisman in the mouth’ and ‘held in this containing beauty.’ What strikes me, though, is that he seems to suggest a poetic parallelism between wrapping the melon and hiding the jade. That seems right to me.
His commentary –
‘This is a beautiful inspiration, the Coupling of King and Queen, literally made in Heaven. What you do now will add elegance and beauty to life. It inaugurates a wonderful new time.’
– closely follows Wu Jing Nuan: ‘This line indicates a wondrous, creative time when heaven and man are joined spontaneously in beauty and elegance.’
Alas, neither of them can tell me what a jade talisman in the mouth might mean here – and han does mean ‘held in the mouth’ not ‘in front of the mouth’, so this seems important. I’ve heard of jade used in burials because of its imperishability, but that really doesn’t seem to fit with this line.

Mine:

(for completeness…)
‘Using willow to wrap melons.
Containing a thing of beauty,
It comes falling from its source in heaven.’

‘What you have here comes falling into your lap ‘out of the blue’. It is a beginning to receive and nurture with care, as people would wrap a melon to protect it against bruising as it ripens.
This is the beginning of an incubation period, like a pregnancy, and the final shape of this ‘thing of beauty’ is still hidden away, growing and transforming – perhaps into a whole new pattern to live by. It may not be anything you had planned for, and you may or may not have a place for it. Much depends on the quality of your availability, and whether you will create space for a relationship with this unexpected, maybe unasked-for gift in its entirety.’

Conclusions?

What have I gleaned from these explorations?
Well… mostly I feel as though I’m at the beginning of a whole new cycle of checking ideas against reading experience to find what holds.
I like the idea of zhang as a hidden pattern of character, from Wilhelm. (And if this is, as he says, about influence, then that would make the Image something of a commentary on the fifth line – which it often is.)
I appreciate the lessons, from LiSe and Wilhelm and Bradford, about natural growth and timing and its hidden laws. Also the importance of care and protection, from LiSe and Margaret Pearson.
The fluent simplicity of Cheng Yi’s interpretation grabbed me, too. I must look out for examples of something worthy-but-hidden.
From the ‘modernists’, I’ve gleaned more questions than answers.
If the first image is not an edible crop but a gourd to be shaped into a useful vessel, what does that mean? (With apologies to Wang Bi and Confucius, I can’t take seriously the idea that this is the image of something useless.) No-one seems to have attempted to describe this yet.
I think I can see the idea: the future shape of the gourd-vessel is hidden, contained, like the future constitution. The great disruptive power of heaven finds its own way to expression (perhaps as the coming heir). You work with it, align yourself with its energy if you can, but you don’t grow it. It ‘ripens of its own accord.’
But there is so much more to learn! Does the idea of shaping something for use work in readings? How do you go about shaping a bottle gourd by binding it with willow, anyway? What is the symbolic or magical power of such a gourd, and – a whole other, and probably unanswerable, question – what was its symbolic power in Zhou times?
And come to that… if there is a ‘jade talisman held in the mouth’ in the line, who would have one? When, and why? (As I said, the burial custom really doesn’t fit here – or not unless the line is describing the whole cycle of life as what ‘falls to us from heaven’…) And if there were meteorites or meteors, what did such an omen represent?
(In other words, the main thing I’ve learned is how much I have to learn. This is, on the whole, not especially surprising. Maybe gourds are bigger on the inside?)
calabash.jpg
 

rosada

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Very helpful! Thank you Hilary!
1 down, 383 lines to go...
 

rosada

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I think it’s notable that this beautiful line about the blessings that come from heaven- such as a baby - appears in the hexagram that discusses the dangers of giving in to powerful instincts and indeed includes tips on how to avoid pregnancy (keep those little fishes confined in a basket!). Perhaps it is advicing that if after all the previous warnings there is still a little bundle of joy heading you way, then accept it as God’s will and welcome the unexpected gift - and if you should have any lingering hesitations about it, for goodness sake hold your tongue (jade baton)!
 

hilary

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Hm, so you think it's 'keep your fish in its wrapper!' in line 2? :rolleyes: I'd always thought that one was about conception, too. It was either Margaret Pearson or LiSe (or both) who pointed out that in the early stages of pregnancy you need to keep quiet, not hold parties.
 

rosada

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My take on the hexagram:

44. The Urge to Merge
The instinct to conceive is powerful.
One should not mindlessly give in to this instinct.

Like Ulysses sailing past the sirens and their alluring songs, here is a situation that will require great strength of character to over ride primitive urges and establish new routines.

44.1
It must be checked with a brake of bronze.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
If one lets it take it's course, one experiences mis-
fortune.
Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around.

Stop those instincts with firm determination.
Continue to abstain and it's all good.
Give in to the urges and experience mis-fortune.
There is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant.

44.2
There is a fish in the tank. No blame.
Does not further guests.

The sperm are in the condom. Nothing wrong with birth control.
Don't encourage the little visitors.

44.3
There is no skin on his thighs,
And walking comes hard.
If one is mindful of the danger,
No great mistake is made.

Abstinence can be a real pain.
If one is mindful of the danger of pregnancy,
[And takes precautions]
No great mistake is made.

44.4
No fish in the tank.
This leads to misfortune.

Didn't use a condom?
Uh-ho.

44.5
A melon covered with willow leaves.
Then it drops down to one from heaven.

A little bundle of joy is heading your way.
(Jade baton in your mouth? If you have any negative thoughts about this, bite your tongue and keep your mouth shut!)

44.6
He comes to meet with his horns.
Humiliation. No blame.

Honk! Honk! Out of my way! Not interested in merging!
May get a bit of teasing but who cares?
 

rosada

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If we ever do a thread on famous scenes from movies that epitomize the lines:

44.6 Stopping desire with force
The scene in Casa Blanca where Ingrid Bergman says, “Play it Sam, play As Time Goes By” and Humphrey Bogart appears and stops him, “I told you never to play that song again!”
 

hilary

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Rosada, your take on the lines is poetic and very witty and... maybe just a little bit barking mad? ;) Not catching any fish in your trap is a bad omen for marriage, meaning no conception and no children - a gigantic disaster in ancient China.

By the way, Geoffrey Redmond's book is patchy imo, but he says one interesting thing about 44: that it's not 'don't marry the woman because she's strong' but 'don't marry the woman even though she's strong' - strength is a desirable quality in a woman, but this is the wrong one.
 

charly

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...
The ‘willow’ in 28.2.5 is a different character, which I imagine must mean a different plant. Also, I’d say that while it’s obviously associated with sex, it’s more specifically a symbol of rejuvenation, turning back the clock and cheating old age.
...

Hi, Hilary:

Maybe it was te same willow or maybe not. The ancient chinese sistem for botanical names grew more over folklore than over science. Linnæus didn't endorse it. Not strange that the same denomination was given to different species. And often the same specie received many different names.

I wonder if the tree of 44.5 is not a WLLOW but another tree. I've always believed that H.44 was about LOVE MARRIAGE and PREGNANCY, and the willow had a little bad press with its associations with mercenary love. The MELON goes well with its many seeds but I think that maybe the GOURD should go better.

The chinese received text, of course, says nothing about willow LEAVES, it is pure supposition. The begining of the fifth line says:


以杞包瓜
yi3 qi3 bao1 gua1
USE WILLOW TO WRAP MELONS
Say, wrapping melons using willow leaves.​


An alternative, of course, among many others.


以杞包瓜
yi3 qi3 bao1 gua1
ACCORDINGLY WOLFBERRY- TREE HOLDING GOURDS
Say, behave like a wolfberry-tree holding gourds.

Only different chosen meanings, no interpolation.

Annotation:
yi3: to use, according to, because of, ...
qi3: medlar (wolfberry tree), willow ...
bao1: to wrap, to hold, to take charge of, container, bag, ...
gua1: melon, gourd ...

The four characters present an exemplary condition seen in the natural realm where two individuals with different atributes share mutual support enjoying exhuberant fertility. The image of not a cosmic but a natural example adviced to follow.

Legge, in the Changes, used MEDLAR for (qi3) and GOURD for (gua1). In the Songs, for (qi3) he used both MEDLAR and WILLOW depending on the context.

The wolfberry fruit enjoys nowaday reputation of APHRODISIAC, with no issue of being from ancient data, but that's another story...

Soon more about GOURDS, not the dried and hollowed bottle-gourds, but those living and full of energy, strong, like the girl of GOU.

All the best,

Charly
 

charly

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...
I wonder if the tree of 44.5 is not a WLLOW but another tree ...
Legge... In the Songs, for (qi3) he used both MEDLAR and WILLOW depending on the context ...

Names for the Wofberry Tree:
  • 枸杞, gou3​qi3:​ wolfberry (Lycium chinense) / genus Lycium
  • , gou3: chinese wolfberry (Lycium chinense)
  • , qi3: chinese wolfberry shrub (Lycium chinense) / willow
  • , qi3: variant of , wolfberry shrub (Lycium chinense)
  • , jì: fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense), evergreen shrub
  • 杞梓之林, qi3 ​zi3 ​zhi1 ​lin2​: forest of wolfberry and catalpa (Lycium chinense and Catalpa ovata, idiom); fig. great quantity of talent
Source: MDBG.NET

About (qi3) in the Shuo Wen:

3508:
杞: 枸杞也。从 木 己 聲。
qǐ: gǒuqǐ yě。cóng mù jǐ shēng。
QI: MEANS GOUQI (STOP). SIGNIFIC TREE, JI PHONETIC.

3507:
檵: 枸杞也。从 木, 繼省聲。一曰監木也。
jì: gǒuqǐ也。cóng mù, jì sěng shēng。 yī yuē jiān mù yě。
JI: MEANS GOUQI(STOP). SIGNIFIC TREE, JI PHONETIC. ONE SAYS: «STRONG TREE INDEED!»
Source: CTEXT.ORG

In resume, for the Shuo Wen, (qi) or (ji), standing alone, mean 枸杞 (gouqui), say the WOLFBERRY TREE.

Must be said that (gou) is a compound of TREE (木) and ATTRACT, AROUSE, HOOK, AFFAIR (句, 勾, 鉤,钩). The QI is a tree with SEX APPEAL, a tree that bears de FRUITS OF TEMPTATION ... And the first variant is the protograph for the name of the hexagram 8, GOU3 in MWD manuscript.
SoGou.jpg
Charly
 
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charly

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The large family of Melons,
All persons with some air of mystery:

3134929.jpg

Source: ET Today. Link https://speed.ettoday.net/news/1120439


Of course it's only a litrtle sample. There are much more as can be seen in the following sample (1).

瓜 guā melon / gourd / squash
瓜农 guānóng melon farmer
瓜子 guāzǐ melon seeds
瓜果 guāguǒ fruit (plural sense) / melons and fruit
瓜脐 guāqí the umbilicus of a melon
瓜臍 guāqí the umbilicus of a melon
瓜菜 guācài fruit and vegetables
瓜葛 guāgé intertwined (as melon and vine plants) / interconnected / association (of two things)
瓜蒂 guādì stem or pedicel of a melon
瓜農 guānóng melon farmer
瓜子脸 guāzǐliǎn oval face
瓜子臉 guāzǐliǎn oval face
瓜拿納 guānánà guarana (Paullinia cupana)
瓜拿纳 guānánà guarana (Paullinia cupana)
瓜熟蒂落 guāshúdìluò when the melon is ripe, it falls (idiom); problems sort themselves out in the fullness of time
倭瓜 wōguā (dialect) pumpkin
傻瓜 shǎguā idiot / fool
冬瓜 dōngguā wax gourd (Cucurbitaceae, Benincasa hispida) / white gourd / white hairy melon / Chinese squash
南瓜 nánguā pumpkin
地瓜 dìguā sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) / yam (family Dioscoreaceae)
打瓜 dǎguā a smaller variety of watermelon, with big, edible seeds
木瓜 mùguā papaya (Carica papaya) / genus Chaenomeles of shrubs in the family Rosaceae / Chinese flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
瓠瓜 hùguā bottle gourd
甜瓜 tiánguā muskmelon
番瓜 fānguā (dialect) pumpkin
矮瓜 ǎiguā eggplant (Cantonese)
破瓜 pòguā (of a girl) to lose one's virginity / to deflower a virgin / to reach the age of 16 / (of a man) to reach the age of 64
笨瓜 bènguā fool / blockhead
糖瓜 tángguā malt sugar candy, a traditional offering to the kitchen god Zaoshen 灶神
絲瓜 sīguā luffa (loofah)
胡瓜 húguā cucumber
苦瓜 kǔguā bitter melon (bitter gourd, balsam pear, balsam apple, leprosy gourd, bitter cucumber)
菜瓜 càiguā snake melon / loofah
蒲瓜 púguā white flowered gourd or calabash (family Crescentia)
西瓜 xīguā watermelon / CL:顆|颗[kē],粒[lì],個|个[ge]
酱瓜 jiàngguā pickled cucumber
醬瓜 jiàngguā pickled cucumber
金瓜 jīnguā pumpkin (Gymnopetalum chinense) / a mace with a brass head resembling a pumpkin
青瓜 qīngguā cucumber
面瓜 miànguā (dialect) pumpkin / (fig.) oaf
香瓜 xiāngguā cantaloupe melon
黃瓜 huángguā cucumber / CL:條|条[tiáo]
黄瓜 huángguā cucumber / CL:條|条[tiáo]
南瓜灯 nánguādēng jack-o'-lantern
南瓜燈 nánguādēng jack-o'-lantern
地瓜面 dìguāmiàn sweet potato or yam noodles
海瓜子 hǎiguāzǐ Tellina iridescens (a bivalve mollusc) / any similar small clam
胡瓜魚 húguāyú smelt (family Osmeridae)
胡瓜鱼 húguāyú smelt (family Osmeridae)
脑瓜儿 nǎoguār erhua variant of 腦瓜|脑瓜[nǎo guā]
脑瓜子 nǎoguāzi see 腦瓜|脑瓜[nǎo guā]
腦瓜兒 nǎoguār erhua variant of 腦瓜|脑瓜[nǎo guā]
腦瓜子 nǎoguāzi see 腦瓜|脑瓜[nǎo guā]
滚瓜烂熟 gǔnguālànshú lit. ripe as a melon that rolls from its vine (idiom); fig. to know fluently / to know sth inside out / to know sth by heart
滾瓜爛熟 gǔnguālànshú lit. ripe as a melon that rolls from its vine (idiom); fig. to know fluently / to know sth inside out / to know sth by heart
佛手瓜 fóshǒuguā chayote or alligator pear (Sechium edule)
合掌瓜 hézhǎngguā see 佛手瓜[fó shǒu guā]
哈密瓜 hāmìguā Hami melon (a variety of muskmelon) / honeydew
哈蜜瓜 hāmìguā Hami melon (a variety of muskmelon) / honeydew / also written 哈密瓜
小黃瓜 xiǎohuángguā gherkin
小黄瓜 xiǎohuángguā gherkin
白兰瓜 báilánguā honeydew melon
白蘭瓜 báilánguā honeydew melon
腌黄瓜 yānhuángguā pickle
醃黃瓜 yānhuángguā pickle
鱼翅瓜 yúchìguā spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo)
顺藤摸瓜 shùnténgmōguā lit. to follow the vine to get to the melon / to track sth following clues
Annotated by MandarinSpot.com

All the best,

Charly
_______________________________________________________
(1) Some are wrong, many are missing, no sample is perfect!
 

steve

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Not sure if this is any help

I can think of two readings when I have received 44.5 but it has been in relation money.
The first time was when a large sale came out of nowhere, it really did feel like it dropped from heaven and was of course very useful.
The other was when I had cash flow issues and my business partner offered to pay a couple of small bills for me unexpectedly. They were only small bills but it felt big at the time.

Both times it felt like a gift from the heavens, a bit like Xmas when you were a kid,
Santa from the sky.

Steve
 

charly

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...

44.5
A melon covered with willow leaves.
Then it drops down to one from heaven.

A little bundle of joy is heading your way.
(Jade baton in your mouth? If you have any negative thoughts about this, bite your tongue and keep your mouth shut!) ...

Hi, Rosada:

There is a lot of truth in what you say although I had never thought so.

Your «little bundle of joy» is, of course, a beautiful image for being fixed in the mind.

But do you say that is the melon that falls from the sky? Or is it the jade baton? It might be something dangerous. In «Asterix» the Gauls feared that the sky itself would fall on their heads, it would have been worse.

But what is most striking is the jade baton contained in the mouth. The image can be disgusting for some sensitive people, let it stand by.

Of course I share the imaginary of pregnancy attached to the melon or gourd. Also the idea that Providence, while not throwing the baby from the heights, allows his coming into the world.

It's true that 章 means an object of jade, a baton of command or a card of identity, but here I believe that it means the baby. I'm affraid, a NOBLE BOY, a HEIR, not a HUMBLE GIRL.

JADE TOYS were not affordable for everybody and it was said that while boys played with jades, girls played with tiles. I believe that the 5th. line speaks of PREGNANCY in the context of DYNASTIC SUCCESSION. The Princess giving birth to a heir who will found a new dynasty.

Be said that often such noble mothers got pregnant through strange methods, like stepping on a footprint, eating bird's eggs, walking by the outskirts an having intercourse with a dragons. Those tales were about nobles, but it were told to commoners. And commoners were constrained to get pregnancy by common means.

Like in the marriage of the TREE with the CALABASH. If I'm not wrong! May be I have to bite my tongue.

All the best,

Charly

_____________________________________
Fore reference, 44.5:
[CENTRE]
以杞包瓜
yi3 qi3 bao1 gua1
ACCORDINGLY_TO WOLFBERRY HOLDING GOURD

含章有隕自天
han2 zhang1 you3 yun3 zi4 tian1
HIDDEN JADE_TOY HAVE FALLEN FROM HEAVEN

[/CENTRE]
yǐ: to use / by means of // according to / in order to / because of // at (a certain date or place)
qǐ: Chinese wolfberry shrub (Lycium chinense) // willow
bāo: cover / wrap / hold // take charge of / hold or embrace // container / bag / bundle
guā: melon / gourd / squash

hán: to keep / to contain // to hide / to suck (keep in mouth without chewing)
zhāng: chapter / section / clause // seal / badge // regulation / order // jade baton / jade toy
yǒu: to have / there is / there are / to exist / to be
yǔn: to fall // meteor
zì: from // self / oneself // since
tiān: sky / heaven

Ch.

P.D.:
Thinking it more, the HEIR sent by the Heaven could have been a GIRL. Maybe a girl born in a family with dynastic prerrogatives, under unusual circumstances, could have received from Heaven the right to rule. Maybe it never happened, but such a girl could arouse enough suspicion among the male pretendants that the mother prefer to mantain pregnancy in secret.
JADE applied to a GIRL means BEAUTIFUL and in some cases IMMORTAL.

含章, han2 zhang1 then shoud mean BUDDING BEAUTY or HIDDEN BEAUTY.

Applied to a BOY it shuld mean CUB of JADE PLAYER.

In both cases JADE adds the connotation of NOBLE PERSONS or PERSONS OF NOBLE CHARACTER, of course, in potence.

Ch.
 
Last edited:

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