Rice
Overview
Rice's reading is metonymic before it is symbolic: the bowl of rice stands for the means of living, and the plant carries that substitution.
Meaning
Rice is the staple whose name is bound to the word for livelihood — the loss of the rice bowl means the loss of the living.
Traditional Interpretation
Sources treat rice as the principal grain of the south and as the measure of a harvest, and the idioms built on it are among the most common in the language.
Related Concepts
FAQ
What does rice symbolize in Chinese tradition?
Rice is the staple whose name is bound to the word for livelihood — the loss of the rice bowl means the loss of the living. Rice's reading is metonymic before it is symbolic: the bowl of rice stands for the means of living, and the plant carries that substitution.
What does the rice stand for?
It is one of the standard plants with an agreed reading. Rice is the staple whose name is bound to the word for livelihood — the loss of the rice bowl means the loss of the living. The idiom is the whole reading — rice means livelihood by substitution rather than by any property of the plant.
How is rice read in Chinese tradition?
Sources treat rice as the principal grain of the south and as the measure of a harvest, and the idioms built on it are among the most common in the language. It is grouped under Earth (土) in the five-element system.
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