Contents

Twelve Symbols national emblem: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:15, 27 November 2014

Twelve Symbols national emblem
Armiger	Empire of China (1915–16) Republic of China (1913-1928)
Adopted	February 1913
Crest	sun, moon
Shield	axe
Supporters	dragon, phoenix
Use	1913-1928

The Twelve Symbols national emblem (Chinese: 十二章國徽; pinyin: Shí'èr zhāng Guóhuī) was the state emblem of the Empire of China (1915–16) and the Republic of China from 1913-1928. It is based on the ancient Chinese symbols of the Twelve Ornaments.

History

The Empire of China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty did not have an official state emblem, but the flag featured a blue dragon on a plain yellow field with a red pearl in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred to as the "Yellow Dragon Flag" (simplified Chinese: 黄龙旗; traditional Chinese: 黃龍旗; pinyin: huáng lóng qí).

Following the fall of the dynasty, new national symbols were deemed necessary by the leaders to represent the changed circumstances. The renowned writers Lu Xun, Qian Daosun, and Xu Shoushang from the Ministry of Education were tasked with designing a new national emblem. It was presented on August 28, 1912 and was adopted as national emblem in February 1913. President-Emperor Yuan Shikai continued its use during his short imperial reign from 1915 to 1916.

Coins issued during this time feature the emblem.^[1]

The Northern Expedition led by General Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang party led to the fall of the legitimate Beiyang government in 1928. This ushered in a single-party state under the Kuomintang known as the Nanjing decade. The state emblem was therefore replaced with the Kuomintang party symbol Blue Sky with a White Sun.

Design

The emblem is based on the ancient symbols of the Twelve Ornaments (十二章). These are first mentioned as already ancient in the Book of DocumentsbyEmperor Shun, who was one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Oral tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BCE. ^[2] According to the book, the emperor wished for the symbols to be used on official robes of the state.

The symbols were considered most auspicious and therefore as a set were reserved only for the emperor to be shown on his ceremonial robes.^[3]

The national emblem arranges these symbols in such a way to reflect the order of achievement in western heraldry.

Symbols

• The supporter sinister is a dragon, which symbolizes strength and adaptability. The dragon already featured on the national flag during the preceding Qing dynasty and was a symbol of the emperor. Its use was therefore continued as a direct reference to the imperial past, and the new government and state being a direct inheritor of it.
• On the back of the dragon is fire, which symbolises light and brightness.
• The supporter dexter is a fenghuang (phoenix) and represents peace and refinement.
• The phoenix holds pondweed in its right talon, a symbol of purity and brightness.
• On its head are the three Fu Lu Shou stars, which symbolise happiness, prosperity, and longevity
• Both creatures hold in one of each claws the Cup of Solid Gold, which symbolises devotion and loyalty.

The dragon and phoenix represent the natural world. In yin and yang terminology, a dragon is male yang and the phoenix a female yin. Therefore the emperor was often identified as the dragon, while the empress was the phoenix. The inclusion of the phoenix into the national symbol, opposite but equal to the dragon, can be seen as reverence of women being equal to men and a visual and poignant representation of women's rights in China.

• Featuring as the crest on top is an abstract combined symbol of
  • the sun of the three-legged crow,
  • the moon with the moon rabbit who is constantly pounding the elixir of life, and

• In the middle functioning as the escutcheon is the iron axe, which symbolises courage and resolution, but also executive justice.

• Overlaid on the axe are grains of rice, which symbolise nourishment and the country's agriculture. It can also be seen as a symbol of the concept of a moderately prosperous society.
• The downward-pointing blade of the axe features a hardened edge in shape of the sacred mountains. These represent tranquility and steadiness.

The mountains represent earth, the cups metal, the pondweed water, the rice grains wood, and fire, which are all representations of wu xing.

• The figure 亞 fu underneath the axe represents two animals with their backside together. This symbolises the capability to make a clear distinction between right and wrong.
• The fu sign is in the middle of complex interlacing golden ribbons, which connect the dragon, the phoenix and the axe, which symbolize Great Unity and Harmonious Society.

See also

• Five Races Under One Union national flag
• Song to the Auspicious Cloud national anthem

References