Pig 豬 / 猪
Last, and in no hurry
- Generous
- Sincere
- Easy-going
- Late
The Pig closes the cycle. It arrived last because it stopped for a meal and a nap on the way, which is the whole sign in one sentence: generous, sincere, fond of good company and good food, entirely unbothered about the standings.
In Chinese the pig is a prosperity animal, not a lazy one — 家, the character for home, is a pig under a roof. A household with a pig in it was a household that would eat through the winter.
The peach is the peach of long life, the doves are peace, and the piglet is laughing with its whole face. It is the most straightforwardly happy painting in the collection, and it is the last one in the cycle, which seems about right.
The name in the corner
Top right, in black: the old form of 豕 — a pig in profile, heavy in the belly, short tail down.
Why oracle-bone script →Give the Year of the Pig
Canvas prints, scarves, puzzles and more — from $14.
Two full-color hardcovers — 217 empresses, 413 painted characters.
Questions? Write to xiangliart@gmail.com