Remember the post on Princess Frog?The gold toad in the Liu Hai folklore has been depicted by artists of different generations in various forms and shapes. However, regardless of the forms and shapes of these gold toads, they have two common features - (1) the toad is three legged; (2) the toad has a coin with it.
The object in the photo above is a Yixing purple clay teapot modelled on the mythical Liu Hai gold toad. Yixing is situated in the Jiangsu Province of China. It is the home of the unique red/ purple clay, from which clay the famous teapots are made.
I purchased this teapot from a shop in Beijing many years ago. I was attracted by the appearance of this strange teapot and decided to bring it home as soon as I saw it. I was curious about the identity of the animal but the shopkeeper was not able to tell me what the teapot denoted.
This teapot has been sitting in my cupboard for many years. It was not until I conducted some researches on the Liu Hai folklore, after a visit to the Temple of the Deity of Matchmaking in Hangzhou, did I finally discover the true identity of the creature.
A typical gold toad model has a coin in its mouth - superstitious people like to keep one at home with a view to attracting fortune.
My teapot toad is obviously not so money-minded. The coin is on its back, with a lovely baby toad sitting on the coin.
I don't mind if it does attract fortune.
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2 comments:
Liu Hai was the name of the sage who lured the toad out of a well with a string of coins. The toad's name is Ch'an Chu.
My friend, there is no such name as Ch'an Chu. "Ch'an Chu" is a transliteration of the Chinese term "蟾蜍", which simply means toad.
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