Asian Carp - in Chinese Culture

In Chinese Culture

There is a long tradition of carp in Chinese culture and literature. A popular lyric circulating as early as 2000 years ago in the late Han period includes an anecdote which relates how a man far away from home sent back to his wife a pair of carp (Chinese: 鯉魚; pinyin: Liyu), in which, when the wife opened the fish to cook, she found a silk strip that carried a love note of just two lines: “Eat well to keep fit” (first line) and “Missing you and forget me not” (second line).

The fish's jumping feature is set in such a proverbial idiom as "Liyu (Carp) jumps over the Dragon Gate (Chinese: 鯉躍龍門)," an idiom that conveys a vivid image symbolizing a sudden uplifting in one's social status, as when one ascends into the upper society or has found favor with the royal or a noble family, perhaps through marriage, but in particular through success in the imperial examination. It is therefore an idiom often used to encourage students or children to achieve success through hard work and perseverance. This symbolic image, as well as the image of carp itself, has been one of the most popular themes in Chinese paintings, especially those of popular styles. The fish is usually colored in gold or pink, shimmering with an unmistakably auspicious tone. One of the well-known scenic spots in Hangzhou (Chinese: 花港觀魚)is a big fish pond which has been alive with hundreds of carp of various colors. A three-character inscription, Yu-Le-Guo, meaning "fish’s paradise", set above one end of the pond, is the calligraphy of a famous gentry-scholar of the late Ming Dynasty named Dong Qichang (Chinese: 董其昌). Many tourists feed the fish with bread crumbs.

Among the various kinds of carp, the silver carp is least expensive in China. The grass carp is still a main delicacy in Hangzhou cuisine. Restaurants along the West Lake of the city keep the fish in cages submerged in the lake water right in front of the restaurant; on an order from a customer, they will dash a live fish on the pavement to kill it before cooking. The fish is normally served with a sweet-and-sour sauce (Chinese: 西湖醋魚).