Animal represented by bat

Bat (mammal; also known as fairy squirrel, flying squirrel.) is shaped like a mouse, with membranes connecting its front and rear limbs to the body. It flies at night and preys on small insects such as mosquitoes and ants.

Yuan Zhen's poem "Scenery of the Mid-Autumn Festival" in the 15th chapter of "Changqing Collection": "When the curtain is broken, fireflies come in, and the window is bright and bats fly." Bat is called "bat" for short, because "bat" and "福" are homophones. , people use bats to express blessings, happiness, wealth, longevity and other auspiciousness. Five bats are painted in folk paintings, which means "five blessings come to the door".

In the old days, silk brocades often used bat patterns as patterns. The velvet flowers worn by women on weddings, birthdays and other festive occasions (such as "five bats holding birthdays", etc.) and some clothing and utensils are also often shaped like bats.

Feng Menglong's "Laughing House." "Bat Riding on the Wall": "The phoenix lives a long life, and hundreds of birds come to congratulate it, but the bat does not come." It said that it was not a bird but a four-legged animal. Later, it was Qilin's turn to celebrate his birthday, and all the beasts came to congratulate him, but the bats were not there. This time it said that it had wings and could fly, and that it was a bird, not a beast. This joke satirizes Bat as a cunning fence-sitter.

The Jingpo people in Yunnan Province generally believe that bats are a symbol of insidiousness and cunning. It is said that in ancient times, the temperature of the sun was so high that the animals on the ground were roasted intolerably and cursed one after another. The sun was very angry when he heard this, turned his head and went up to the sky. From then on the world was dark. So all the animals gathered together and agreed to raise some gold and silver to invite the sun to come out. When the bird raised money from the bat, the bat folded its wings and said that it was not a bird but a rat and was unwilling to donate. When the mouse found it, it flapped its wings again and said that it was a bird and not a mouse. No donations either. The bat just cheated and cheated without giving any money. Therefore, the Jingpo people call those who are duplicitous, adapt to circumstances, and do one thing in front of others but another behind their backs as "bat people."

In Chinese culture, bats are definitely a symbol of "blessing". Needless to say, bats can be seen almost everywhere in many preserved ancient buildings, brick carvings, and stone carvings. But if people are called bats, there is no auspicious meaning in it at all. The above legend has made it very clear. The original meaning of the name bat in foreign languages ??is the frivolous mouse. However, in my country, because the word "bat" has the same pronunciation as the word "福", it is still loved by people and its image is painted on New Year pictures.