Symbols of China by George Birdsall
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From the Author This is a personal review and outline of my life experiences to date, about the nature of Symbolic China and its many aspects. It is not an exhaustive academic study, just an outline of my personal observations from life experiences over the last 50 or so years. My first recollections of the importance of symbols in Chinese belief systems probably first came to light in my holiday workings in the family tanning business where the wrapping paper of Birdsall Brothers P/L had the 2 “B”s turned into 2 intertwined symbolic birds. I was later told by my families’ Asian business partners, that this symbol was a sign for them that they were dealing with the right people and that the symbol of birds represented good luck for them and it helped forge a stable successful business relationship. My interest in all Asian philosophies and in particular Feng Shui which led me to write my first book “Feng Shui - The Key Concepts” ( has sold over 50,000 copies and is sold in 8 languages) reinforced these earlier experiences about the symbolic nature of China, its culture, philosophies and people.
Introduction Over many years of learning Asian concepts and principles, I finally decided to experience China first hand. I had been to Hong Kong a few times and seen the hotel with large glass windows at ground level coffee shop, the apartment building with the huge hole in the middle, the bank of China building with the sharp corners, the Richard Rogers designed Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building (pictured below) and many other Feng Shui principles being applied.
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building – Richard Rogers However I was hoping that mainland China may open the door to further understanding of the application of Feng Shui and other Asian philosophies in the built environment and how it can be applied within the buildings I see and work with in a western environment. Having grown up in a family with business connections to Asia, and being reminded regularly that the double bird symbol on the companies wrapping paper, had been widely accepted as a lucky sign to Asian businessman, hearing about the yin yang symbol, then learning about Feng Shui and its symbolism and writing 2 books on the subject and having had many years of acupuncture
treatments, it was time to check out Beijing, the Great wall, Xian and Shanghai.
Yin Yang Symbol – balance and two sides to everything Within my study of Feng Shui, the symbolic nature of its principles really resonated with me and it was a way of making sense of the built environment that I had never heard of before Feng Shui. I have previously outlined many of the concepts of symbols of Feng Shui in my books “Feng Shui - The Key Concepts” and also “How to Create Love, Wealth and Happiness with Feng Shui”. I am is also a diamond level expert author at e-zine articles and more articles can be found at his main website
The Journey to China I travelled to China, to experience the culture first hand and see the buildings, structures, natural environment, their symbolism and continue a personal journey of discovery. Beijing and its Olympic Buildings Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics and their main stadium (the birds nest) and swimming centre (the water cube) and the area surrounding them were reported to be designed and built based on Feng Shui principles. For example the Olympic Park is surrounded by a “Dragon” lake, with the Dragon head starting from the North and winding in curved forms past the main stadium so as to gently energise the areas along the way. In terms of Feng Shui, water symbolically is in the “north” and connects with the concept of your career and dragon breathes energy along these flow lines to uplift an area.
Map of Beijing Olympic Park You may also remember the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics was commenced at 8th August 2008 at 8:08 pm. In Chinese philosophy, Chinese astrology, numerology and beliefs, the number 8 is a very auspicious number, and is associated with great fortune. The symbolic journey begins immediately, as we visit the Olympic Park precinct in northern Beijing on our first day.
Sign at Beijing Olympic Park highlighting the Dragon Lake, Birds Nest and Water Cube The Square and the Circle Olympic Buildings The Yin Yang principles of Chinese philosophy always seek to find balance, and in the square, and the circle, that balance is found. The symbolic elements of the “Square” (Water Cube/ National Aquatic and Swimming Centre) and the “Circle” (Main Stadium / Birds Nest) are located either side of the main Olympic boulevard, which forms the North / South
spine of Beijing Olympics and was important to the way China presented their Olympics to the world.
The Main Olympic Stadium Beijing (The Birds Nest) The Birds Nest is oval in shape (almost a circle) and represents the “heavens” looking down and connecting with man. While the Water Cube Swimming Centre is square and represents man’s connection to the earth.
The Water Cube and Birds Nest from the air In Chinese philosophy the duality of man connecting with both heaven and earth is referred to repeatedly through thousands of years of literature and research. One of the basic precepts of Chinese philosophy is the idea that it is important to look after your ancestors in heaven as they will ensure an auspicious life for their relatives on earth. An extreme example of this is found with the terracotta warriors, which we will explore later in this eBook. For those people who honour and look after their ancestors, they will have more luck and life will flow well for them. There is an annual Ancestor day in China called Qingming where traditional families visit the burial sites of their loved ones, burn paper gifts and spend time cleaning them. This concept of heaven and earth was represented by the following “Elements of Chi” diagram from my book Feng Shui – The Key Concepts. In the design of the two major Olympic Buildings, this connection between heaven and earth is clearly represented.
Extract from my Book “Feng Shui- The Key Concepts’
Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal There are 5 major symbolic elements discussed in Chinese philosophy – Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Water. These elements are important as everything in
the physical world can be represented by these elements. They are inter wound within the design principles of the Olympic buildings. In the same way that the square and the circle are used to represent heaven and earth, the symbolism of the elements continues with the detailed design of the buildings. The main Olympic stadium (Birds Nest) has been likened to a “gold” ingot bringing in the metal element and also the auspicious natural qualities of gold from the earth. It is framed in square steel beams continue that theme.
The Birds Nest Its nick name as a “Birds Nest” connects it to the element of wood which is generated by auspicious birds coming to their nest in the trees to create new life and chi, which are seen as lucky symbols in Chinese philosophy (I knew my family’s business did well in Asia – maybe it was the double bird symbol of its packaging which helped even more) The birds also generate “chi” and movement, creating a perfect package in which athletes could strive for world records and personal best times.
The shape of the stadium also has a central “performance” area like a hole in a donut which is seen in the design of many older residential buildings in China where the rooms surround an open courtyard. Yes I know all stadiums are designed like this, however it helps from an Asian point of view that an empty space is available to the athletes to compete and that this empty space is seen as the central point of balance of the whole building structure. It follows the Chinese philosophy that this empty space at the centre of the “Ba Gua” symbol is the “tai chi” where everything is in balance and is left empty to allow everything surrounding it to be in balance. The symbol of the Ba Gua as shown in the next diagram goes back thousands of years and its central part is where everything comes into balance. (symbolised by a mirror)
Ba Gua Image The Water Cube Aquatic Centre is designed to amplify the nature of the water element, with its walls and roof being bubbles of “water” and having swimming pools and other water features to host water sports.
The Water Cube - Swimming and Aquatic Centre Beijing At the West of the Olympic Park, there is a new White Dragon hotel named Pangu Plaza. The building was designed as the Dragon head facing South and its tail facing North. This is a 7-star hotel in Beijing and was opened during the 2008 Olympics.
7 Star Pangou Plaza Hotel with dragons head.
Other interesting buildings in Beijing with symbolic meanings include: The Temple of Heaven which again symbolises using circular shapes reaching for the sky in the tower surrounded by external walls which are square in shape to ground the heaven energy to earth.
The Temple of Heaven, Beijing Grand doorways built into the walls around the temple of heaven amplify the significance of the entry way to any Chinese building. Door ways to any building or area are grandly designed as they symbolise the mouth or entry where the chi enters the space to enliven the building. In the west all successful Chinese restaurants have grand entrances which highlight where the chi enters the building.
Entrance to Temple of Heaven Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace also continue these themes
Forbidden Palace Buildings and Main Square
The Great Wall Leaving Beijing and heading to the countryside just outside Beijing, we find a section of the Great Wall of China. It is one of the most amazing structures built in the physical world. Symbolically representing the way Chinese people could come together to work for the good of the country, separate china from the rest of the world, repel foreign invaders and protect their heritage and people. It is reported to be over 8,000 kilometres (around 5000 miles) long and built over 14 centuries.
On the Great Wall of China looking at other sections on neighbouring Hilltops.
A section of the Great Wall showing its steepness and way it follows the terrain.
Xian and the Terracotta Warriors Next heading to the ancient Chinese capital of Xian home of the Terracotta Warriors is an area full of symbolism and connections between heaven and earth for Chinese emperors wanting to live a blessed after life. The old city of Xian (close by the warrior tombs) again shows the .way Chinese people valued the building of walls as protection from external forces. The walls protecting the inner city of the emperor are 12 m high (40 ft.) and
12-14 m wide and 14 kilometres long (8.5 miles). The city was the centre of the political and economic power in China for many years and also the start of the Silk Road.
Wall around Xian - Notice how high it is
Top of the Wall in Xian - showing the width and length on top of the wall ( they run marathons here). Terracotta Warriors However Xian would hardly be known outsdide of China if it were not for the terracotta warriors. The terracotta wariors were constructed to protect the emperor in the afterlife. This respect of ancestors in the afterlife is still a very powerful symbolic gesture carried out by many Asian people who celebrate their dead ancestors at elaborate festivals. The main ones being the Qingming festival in early April each year and also the hungry ghost festival in the 7th month of the lunar calender. At the site of the terracotta warriors, there are 4 main pits where they have found evidence of the warriors. Pit 1 contains over 6000 warriors which average around 1.8 m or 6 ft high. It has been suggested that over 700,000 people worked on preparing the tomb and the army of warriors, chariots and horses for the Emporer Qin , starting from the time he ascended the throne at 13. It is an extreme way to ensure your afterlife journey goes well!
Pit 1, Terracotta Warriors, near Xian
Some of the horses being restored near Pit 1
Shanghai Lastly to the modern business centre of Shanghai. The main symbolic gestures about Shanghai today are the focus on being western and all that entails. From multi storey buildings obsessively built to be the tallest , to a very fast TGV style train between the airport and city which travels at 430 kph and the basic symbols of a materialistic society. Hidden among this new Shanghai, are some of the old Shanghai, showing symbols of yesteryear. The image below shows a bridge within the Yu Garden designed in a way to not allow any straight lines where you could be followed my malevolent spirits. In Feng Shui terms it is important for pathways to be curved so a so control the flow of chi or energy rather than have paths which are straight and the chi would flow so quickly as to disturb the energy of a place.
Bridge in Yu Garden, Shanghai
Overview Having heard about how important symbolism is to Asian born people from an early age, then through many years of study and observation of Feng Shui principles and finally visiting some of the major cities and historical locations in China, it is obvious how physical man made symbols and also the unseen symbol gestures around ancestors, and the respect of the flow of energy and chi in every part of our environment is a key element of Chinese beliefs and culture. This eBook give a brief overview of my own experiences over more than 50 years about Chinese and Asian culture and the importance of symbols within that culture.
More information about George Birdsall can be found at www.georgebirdsall.com