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Etta James: Willow Weep For Me
From Wolfgang Eberhard's "Dictionary of Chinese Symbols":
The willow, much valued as firewood, is a symbol of spring. As spring is the season
of erotic awakenings, the phrase ‘willow feelings and flower wishes’ means sexual
desire; ‘looking for flowers and buying willows’ means visiting a prostitute, ‘flowers and
willows by the wayside’ are prostitutes, and ‘sleeping among flowers and reposing
beneath willows’ is a term for visiting a brothel.
The waist of a beautiful woman is compared to the willow, her eyebrows to
the curve of willow leaves. A young girl is a ‘tender willow and fresh flower’ while
a woman who can no longer claim virginal freshness is described as ‘faded willow and
withered flower’. A woman’s pubic hair is ‘in the depths of willow shade’.
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In ancient China, the gourd was an essential ritual instrument used in ceremonies like the imperial ancestor ceremonies and wedding ceremonies. According to the Book of Rites, a gourd was used because it symbolized the nature of heaven and earth. Ancient scholars who studied the Book of Rites noted that the use of gourds in weddings signified the use of household utensils, marking the beginning of a husband and wife's life together.
According to the ancient Book of Etiquette and Ceremonies, a crucial part of ancient wedding rituals was wine in gourd ladles, where a gourd was divided into two ladles, each filled with wine for the bride and groom to drink. When these two ladles were brought together, they formed a complete gourd, symbolizing the unity of husband and wife who would share joys and sorrows for the rest of their lives. Over time, this tradition evolved into the modern practice of the wine-sharing ceremony at Chinese weddings.
The gourd was also a significant material for making musical instruments. In one ancient text, it is mentioned as one of the eight materials used for creating musical instruments. The eight materials in the text are gold, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, gourd, and bamboo.
In Daoism, the shape of the gourd represents the sky and the earth, the infinite, the universe, a magical world, a parallel universe, or an entry into another world, where immortals or persons practicing Daoism can travel to – signifying self-content and sufficiency. There are old Chinese stories describing people accidentally taking small and narrow paths to enter a magical world, where people enjoy peace and long life. In some Chinese parks and gardens, gourd shaped gates are common, along with other shapes with various symbols.
Out of the eight Taoist immortals (八仙 – bāxiān), the gourd personalises Tie Guai Li (鐵拐李), also known as “Iron-Crutch Li”. The story says that one day, Li left his body to visit Laozi 老子 on the sacred mountain Hua Shan (花山- huāshān). Before leaving, he asked one of his disciples to watch his body in his absence, and if he would not return in seven days, the disciple should burn his body. On the 6th day, the disciple found out that his mother was very sick and, as a good son, he returned home immediately, but not before burning Li’s body. When Li returned and found his ashes, he had no choice but to enter the first body he found, of a beggar who had just died. So, he transformed the beggar’s bamboo crutch into one of magic iron that could transform things. He then obtained the potion for immortality inside the gourd he had with him and used it to revive the disciple’s mother. When he wanted to sleep, he made himself extremely small and entered the gourd.
The two parts of the gourd also symbolise the immortality potion, obtained by refining the red cinnabar from the upper part into mercury from the lower part.