What are the Symbols of China ?

[Jack MacKelly]

In New Zealand its the kiwi

From the French there is Marianne, perhaps bread/wine, 鸡 the rooster, maybe the lily

the USA its American bald eagle, UncleSam, the statue of Liberty...

In Russia its the bear

Ireland the shamrock, the Harp, perhaps the colour Green

India its the elephant & tiger - 虎

Israel - star of David

In England - Rose, George's cross & 3-Lions

What are the things which are used for China ?

plus do HongKong, Shanghai or Taiwan also have their emblems or special items which are unique ?

[marcopolo79]

I'm confused as to your post's question, are you asking about which emblem is used on the official state seal, or which images are intimately associated with China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong?

Furthermore, the symbol on Israel's state seal is not the Star of David

(מגן דויד), it's the menorah (the seven branched מנורה which is not to be confused with the nine branched חנוכיה which is used only for Chanukah).

Rooster = 公雞

The Fleur de lis has not been used on official French seals since the advent of the Second Republic in 1848.

Since Taiwan is not an officially recognized political entity (excluding the pathetically small contries whose allegiance it manages to purchase), Taiwan does not have an internationally recognized state seal, if Taiwan did obtain full soverignity, the state seal would be the white sun with 12 rays that appears on the KMT/ROC flag. Incidentally, this is why 華航/China Airlines has to use the 梅花 (plum blossom) on the tail of it's planes, the plum blossom is the official flower of the ROC but is not considered a concrete symbol of soverignity, at the insistence of the ROC, China Airlines had to replace the state seal with the state flower. Here is a brief description of the symbolic significance of the KMT/ROC flag:

青天、白日、滿地紅國旗的歷史，可說是一部中華民國的開國史，它所代表的含意如下：

國旗與國徽比例 青色代表光明純潔、民族和自由；白色代表坦白無私、民權和平等；紅色代表不畏犧牲、民生和博愛。白日的十二道光芒，代表著一年十二個月，一天十二個時辰；也象徵著國家的命脈，隨著時間的前進永存於世界；更鼓舞國人與時俱進，自強不息。

For further information, see http://home.educities.edu.tw/jinfang228/new_page_5.htm

[HashiriKata]

In England - Rose, George's cross & 3-Lions

I'm afraid to disappoint you that everyone living in England would say it's "fish & chips".

[confucius]

China's symbol is the panda.

[skylee]

The five-claw dragon, perhaps?

BTW, I have known this song since I was little -> 梅花

梅花梅花滿天下　越冷它越開花

梅花堅忍象徵我們　巍巍的大中華

看哪遍地開了梅花　有土地就有它

冰雪風雨它都不怕　它是我的國花

[Quest]

Traditionally

or

sometimes contemporarily

[skylee]

plus do HongKong, Shanghai or Taiwan also have their emblems or special items which are unique ?

Hong Kong's emblem is 洋紫荊 (Bauhinia blakeana) -> http://www.greenfun.org.hk/eng/special/bauhinia/introduction.html

[bluepoppy]

The Welsh national emblem is also a dragon

How could there be dragons in both places?

In Taiwan there's a debate about the validity of the KMT flag as a symbol of Taiwan, isn't there? Some people would prefer the flag which is second on the list in this link:

http://www.taiwandc.org/flags.htm

[Catdiseased]

I wouldn't say that the Welsh and the Chinese dragon are the same. The Eropean one is kind of a "mountain" dragon with wings, and the Chinese one has more of a "water" dragon. Different families long live fantasy...

[HashiriKata]

How could there be dragons in both places?

I think Vietnamese people also claim to be descendents of the (water) dragon, don't they?

PS: Quest, your 2nd image doesn't show up.

[Ian_Lee]

The State Seal of PRC is the Tiananman facade.

There is big perceptional difference between Chinese dragon and Welsh dragon. See this thread:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1006

Actually the national color of PRC is deep Red (the color is slightly redder than the Chinese traditional red that stands for happiness).

On the other hand, the color of KMT on Taiwan is Blue while DPP is Green.

Even for Hong Kong's regional flag designed by Beijing, it is still Red which is quite incompatible with the capitalist image.

(Maybe in order to make the territory look less Red, on July 1, 1997, HK government changed the color of all its mail boxes on street corners and every mail truck from Red to Green.)

On the other hand, Macau's regional flag which is also designed by Beijing is Green.

As far as I know, this is the only Green flag that PRC has.

Generally Chinese shun the Green color especially if it is the color of their hats.

So color means a lot to the Chinese!

[bluepoppy]

Ian Lee, you said in this post that:

In East Asia, dragon stands for strength, justice, spirit, wisdom,.....etc

In the West, dragon stands for strength, viciousness, cunningness,....etc.

But in Britain the Welsh dragon doesn't stand for 'viciousness or cunnigness'. It is an ancient Celtic symbol of strengh and protection. The dragon was the symbol of the Celts. After the Roman occupation, the Saxons of Denmark forced the Celts to Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland. The invaders are now represented by the cross of St. George, the 'dragonslayer'. But the Red dragon still survives in Wales, and it is associated with the Arthurian legends and resistance. E.g.,legend has it that one day King Arthur and the Red dragon will return and save England by driving away the Saxons, the blond-haired invaders. It's not really viscious or cunning.

Although one difference is that the Celts believed the whole world was a giant dragon, not that they were descended from them.

[Jack MacKelly]

On other China symbols, I suppose you could include ancient building/monuments and some of the Chinese tourist attractions

Ming porcelain, the Great wall- Wanli Chang-cheng 萬里長城, Sichuanese teahouses, Forbidden city - Zi Jin Cheng, Terracotta Warriors 秦陵兵馬俑, the Yellow river, Fujian-Fuzhou temples, Confucius sites and the Mogao Caves

[Jim]

It's a well-known fact that Chinese people are desended from earlier Welsh settlers who came east in the Shang dyansty, riding on dragons. Don't you people know any history?

[flyinghome]

it is quite ridiculous to say chinese are descendants of Welshes.

the Yellow River is said to be the mother river of chinese which indicate that Chinese lived beside this river from their start.

Chinese are said to be the descendants of the dragon which have four feet and a very long body and different the dragons in western countries.

as for the symbol, no a specfic one is related to China, however, dragon will be the most aproppriate candidate

[frozenmyth]

Yeah.

Based on the description, the kinds of materials, from the starting message of this topic Dragon is the symbol for China. At least the Chinese think of the Chinese dragon, symbolically, very highly. One can easily discern that trend in the Chinese culture. Aren't the Chinese like symbolically thought of as the descendants of the Dragon?

At least culturally and again symbolically they think, or once thought, of themselves that way.

[Homeward]

Well in the UK, dragons were considered evil and needed slaying. In China and other oriental countries, dragons are considered good luck and all things good in general.

There you go, another reason why there are 2 dragons in 2 different countries.

[frozenmyth]

Actually there are evil dragons in Asian cultures as well.

It's just most of the time dragons are considered as divine, mysterious, and maybe benign creatures.

[carrefour_fr]

the Great Wall

[iMm0rTaLBoi]

There can be several possible symbols: the dragon is for sure a symbol of china, but now that its a republic, it wouldnt be as strong. The Tiananmen is a great symbol too. Maybe Confucius or Buddha if China wasn't Communist...But one that definitely fits China is the Yin Yang Symbol which represents not only Taoism, but also Chinese Medicine, Art, Culture, and Philosophy and don't forget Feng Shui.