Considered in China as also a bird. Symbol of conjugal bliss, of joy and of summer. From its homophony with the Chinese word die meaning "the age of seventy or eighty", it is also an emblem of longevity. In Straits Chinese porcelain specifically, a pair of butterflies symbolizes the spirits of the forefathers. A butterfly or bird approaching a peony = a young man and the woman he loves.
Butterflies are often included in Qing dynasty decoration in order to suggest duplication of an auspicious wish, since the word for butterfly in Chinese 蝶 die is homophonous with a word 疊- meaning to repeat. It also sounds like 耋 - a word meaning over seventy or eighty years of age, and thus expresses a wish for longevity. When combined with plum blossom, butterflies provides a rebus for beauty and longevity. Butterflies are also seen as symbols of happiness in marriage, as well as everlasting romantic love. The latter interpretation is due to a number of traditional Chinese stories in which butterflies play a significant part. The most famous of these is by the Ming dynasty writer 馮夢龍 Feng Menglong (1574-1646), in which the so-called ‘butterfly lovers’ 梁山伯Liang Shanbo and 祝英台Zhu Yingtai are transformed after death into butterflies. Additionally, in Daoism butterflies are associated with dreamlike reflection and the freedom of the soul.
See also:Bird
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