Quick Answer: What Does Liannian Youyu Mean?
The fish and lotus motif can express a wish for surplus year after year (連年有餘, liánnián yǒuyú). The fish supplies a sound for surplus, and the lotus suggests continuity. One fish with a lotus can convey the wish.[1][2]
- Fish. Its name sounds like the word for surplus.[1]
- Lotus. Its name sounds like the word for continuing or linking.[1]
- Catfish. In some designs the species name can suggest both year and surplus.[3]
A lotus or a catfish can carry the time element of the blessing.
On a Song pendant, a fish and the stem of a lotus form one small piece of jade. On a later dish, a fish carved outside the vessel appears to swim underneath its inner surface. Both compositions give physical form to the same kind of wish.[2][4]
How the Fish and Lotus Supply the Words
Fish (魚, yú) and surplus (餘, yú) sound alike. Lotus (蓮, lián) and continuing or linked (連, lián) likewise share a sound. The fish and lotus evoke the idea of abundance continuing from year to year.[1][2]
A related New Year blessing is surplus every year (年年有餘, niánnián yǒuyú). A catfish (鯰魚, niányú) can supply the sounds for year and surplus together. An eighteenth-century blue glass box with catfish decoration carries this version of the wish.[3]
A Fish on a Pendant and Under a Jade Surface
A Song jade pendant in the Palace Museum curves a long fish beside a lotus leaf. The long stem curls into a loop for a cord. That loop belongs to both the picture and the construction of the pendant.[2]
On a seventeenth- or eighteenth-century nephrite dish, petals around the walls evoke a lotus. The fish was carved in high relief on the outside of the thin vessel. From the inside, the silhouette makes it look as though the animal is swimming under water. The vessel wall serves as the apparent water surface.[4]
When the Picture Is a New Year Wish
Tang Guang’s Qing hanging scroll Red Lotus and Fish gives the composition room to unfold on paper. Red blossoms and fish can look like a pond scene at first glance. The pairing also lets the painting carry a New Year wish for abundance.[5]
The flower alone leaves the intended blessing open. An egret and lotus can instead suggest success in the examinations. The heron and lotus guide explains how the same plant can also work as part of a painted or woven pond.[1]
FAQs About Liannian Youyu Fish Motifs
Does the design need two fish?
No. The Song jade pendant has a single fish beside a lotus leaf. Repetition is one design choice, and the lotus can supply the idea of continuity without a second fish.[1][2]
Can the same lotus have a different meaning?
Yes. A lotus beside an egret can contribute to a career wish. The companion motif determines which combination of words the scene can evoke.[1]
Sumber
[1] Hong Kong Palace Museum. The Ways in Patterns: Natural motifs and auspicious wordplay
[2] Palace Museum. Jade pendant with fish and lotus
[3] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Covered Box with Catfish
[4] Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Dish with Overlapping Petals and Fish
[5] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tang Guang, Red Lotus and Fish