Step 6 of 6

The Pink Bat

Related Images

  • Collection Rijksmuseum - Li with gourd - Nr AK-RBK-15818-A
  • Double gourd - Sold at Duton's in 2018

With Iron Crutch Li come pink bats. In this scenery we count four of them, two on each side. In 2020 bats suffered considerable reputation damage as many believe them to be the source for COVID-19. But even before the pandemic, many saw the bat as “a sinister creature, associated with evil and the powers of darkness.” In China, however, the bat "has few rivals as a symbol of good luck and happiness.”

The above quotes, like the ones in the previous markers, come from Wolfram Eberhard’s 1986 authoritative work on symbols in Chinese thought and society, the Lexicon chinesischer Symbole. On page 30, Eberhard continues:

Again, the reason for this must be sought in a phonetic parallel: the word for ‘bat’ (fu) is identical in sound with the word for ‘good fortune’ (fu).

Eberhard's use of again here is understandable. To top it off: 'double gourd' in Chinese also resembles the pronunciation of the words that mean 'good fortune'.

A swarm of five facilitates the homophony (again) for the 'five good fortunes’, that include a long life and a natural death. But four? For imperial reasons, 'natural death’ is taken out of this abstinence plaque. We are thus settling for health, wealth, long life and peace.

The bats are reddish (taking pink as a form of red) and that is good. Eberhard:

A red bat is a harbinger of especially good fortune, not only because red is the colour which wards off demons, but also because the Chinese word for ‘red’ (hong) sounds the same as the word for ‘enormous’.

In conclusion, this plaque works well during the abstinence that is observed in the days before summer solstice. It was a time when people would fear disease. Therefore they put their faith in the hands of Iron Crutch Li. He will come with gourds filled to the brim with medicine, with clouds that will go after the demons of summer, and with an army of red bats that will bring us 'enormous luck'.