DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



This antithetical couplet is figured by butterflies flitting 

 above children playing with cicadas or dogs. 



A picture of children flying a butterfly-kite is also used to 

 symbolize joy below united with the much-loved " wind- 

 harp " above. The wish of the sender is, " May the happiness 

 of heaven and the joy of earth give you their united blessings." 



Another illustration is that of a " Pekingese " dog looking 

 up at butterflies floating above him. The dog is here 

 symbolical of joyful affection, and the butterfly of heavenly 

 bliss. 



Another illustration commonly found is that of an old man 

 with a dog pictured on one side of a snuff-bottle and a child 

 playing with two Pekingese dogs and a butterfly on the 

 other. The wish is, " May old and young live together in 

 happiness." 



It will be recalled that, according to Chinese custom, 

 probably a survival from tribal days, all the male line of a 

 family inhabits one house or collection of houses so long as a 

 parent or grand-parent of the family remains to link them 

 with the past. On account of the survival of polygamy in 

 China, and the slender years of the average Chinese bride- 

 groom, this custom is productive of frequent trouble in even 

 the best regulated of households, so that in the East a deli- 

 cately expressed hope that old and young may live together 

 in peace and happiness is even more often appropriately 

 auspicious and more intensely a heartfelt wish than in the 

 West, accustomed to the doctrines of monogamy and the 

 unit-home. 



Two other lucky couplets found on " Pekingese " snuff- 

 bottles throw a sidelight on this Chinese family custom. 



Chiu Shih Toong Chii. 

 Nine generations together live. 

 (" May nine generations live together in peace.") 

 192 



