3 Friends of Winter- Bamboo, Pine & Plum Blossom

Hey guys, welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast, where you'll learn Feng Shui from a classical point of view, taking out the myth and superstition. So if you're interested in learning Feng Shui, Chinese astrology, all things Chinese metaphysics, as well as the superstitions and myths that connect it all, you'll end up learning Feng Shui with me. Guys, if you like me and you like the idea of throwing in some nontraditional holiday decor, decorating with what are called the three friends of winter. So I've done this episode before or something like it, but the audio quality was honestly just pretty terrible. So today I'm going to revisit the topic of the three plants that comprise what are called the three friends of winter, the pine which is a traditional winter or Christmas decoration, bamboo and the plum.

Today we're going to talk about why they are called the three friends of winter and what they symbolize. The three friends of winter, I'm going to link everything in the show notes. This comes from Wikipedia. It says, the three friends of winter is an art motif that comprises pine, bamboo and plum. The Chinese celebrated the pine bamboo and plum together as they observed that these plants are not wither as the cold days deepen into the winter season unlike many other plants.

Known by the Chinese as the three friends of winter, they later enter the inventions of East Asian culture and Vietnamese culture. Together they symbolize steadfastness, perseverance and resilience. From Feng Shui.com it says, while there is no particular order in how they are prioritized, the Mandarin term song which I cannot pronounce puts them into the sequence of pine followed by bamboo and then the plum. The trio plants is grouped together as the three friends of winter because they show how well they stand up against the harsh cold of the winter seasons. Sometimes even thriving while other plants come to the environment.

While the three plants do have their own symbolism as a threesome, they represent friendship, ability, strength, arising above adversity, even scholastic ideals and resilience. Famous scholars have mentioned them in poems, celebrated artists, have painted them, great writers have written novels about them and the earliest mention of the term has been found in poetic writings from the 9th century. Even Confucius specifically reference them and because of this linkage to this great sage, the arrangement of plants is also said to be a symbol of scholarly ideals. So it does say here in paintings, they are often depicted with magpies or blackbirds, crows. I know they are migrating through right now and we have a lot in our yard, I like to feed them but they signify and symbolize happy, long lasting friendships.

So according to Feng Shui and this article, and if you happen to use Feng Shui as the art of placement or you do like to put those intentional reminders out, here does mention you can place it in the east, southeast because it represents the element of wood. You can put an assault to fuel the fire of the south or you can put it in the north to represent like growth. However, it does say here there's nothing wrong with being a little creative in interior furnishings, Feng Shui. For example, some people have these paintings on what wall tiles and have them installed in their kitchens, which would of course, some people represent the element of fire and the symbiosis and the relationship of the element of wood fueling. So you can definitely get creative with it.

My point of view, if you've listened to this podcast for any amount of time, I kind of subscribe to the fact that if you really want to use these items, they're more of an intentional reminder with little to do with actually creating that energy or creating a miracle, but more as an intentional reminder to remind you of what your goal is. So again, if you want to symbolize strength, resilience, friendships, these are definitely things you can place out or paintings you can place out if you like the way they look and you can serve view as a reminder of these things. Just kind of going through individually here, the pine tree can symbolize immortality, longevity, eternal life, and it's kind of says here that that's just kind of a universal thing. I just kind of googled it what it meant, what pine trees mean. And because of their ability to retain their leaves throughout the winter, they're seemingly ever greenness, it does represent the longevity and immortality.

The plum blossom is a little bit more different, I suppose, because the plum blossom is used a lot throughout, especially Chinese culture. You'll see it, especially throughout Chinese New Year celebrations, you'll see a lot of artwork and depiction of plum blossoms because they are actually a winter blossoming flower, much like cherry blossoms and peach blossoms, you know. So it does say here that they have the ability of course to withstand the harsh winter and have even known to bloom when their branches are seemingly dying. So of course, because of that, they do symbolize that resilience. It does say here it's also a symbol of beauty or like perpetual beauty, success, through adversity, nobility, and longevity.

Another one we see a lot throughout different Asian cultures is the bamboo of course, and of course being the three friends of winter, but by itself it does symbolize strength, flexibility, and growth. So when you're setting out your Christmas decor, no doubt it's probably done already anyways, but when you look at your Christmas tree, remember it is a symbol of resilience. The bamboo is that symbol of flexibility, so maybe put some bamboo out or get a little bamboo plant to put out too, and maybe if you could find some, you know, the silkers, the fake flowers, the plum blossom, but those in your little sprig of, you know, Christmas flowers or whatever, make a little table display with these three items. I think I might try that this year, I think that would be lovely. And think of it, remember that resilience that even withstanding some of the harshest conditions, these plants thrive, and so can you, you know, so can you.

So as we tend to kind of scatter and get all, you know, up in arms, and, you know, we do too much sometimes over the holidays, remember that you two are resilient, you made it through this year, congratulations, like you're doing good, okay, you're doing good. So remember that as you, you know, go through the holiday season and if you use some of these, use that as an intentional reminder. One of the websites that I look through, it did say to incorporate these in your garden, which I think is a lovely idea, because you could have them year round, you know, I've never actually tried to grow bamboo outside, but who knows, I was having a little bamboo plant inside. The one plant I will worry about is actually the plum tree. So sometimes occasionally a flowering tree, especially fruit tree, can cause certain issues within your home, and usually these indicate fire, or sometimes in a fair.

So, you know, I actually have a cherry tree outside my house. It's never caused any of these two issues, so I think it's fine. But it really is, when a very specific energy is visiting a very specific sector of your home, and again, that's kind of in relation to, you know, a bunch of different factors within your home. So if you want to put some flowering trees in, I would just suggest a consultation with a consultant that is familiar with where to place flowering trees. Let's take a real quick little sponsor break, and I'm going to come back with the legend of the plum blossoms from Feng Shui to calm, the legend of the plum blossoms.

During ancient time, the plant gained reputation as the flower that welcomed spring, as that flower is magnificently during the transition period from late winter to spring. This seasonal behavior associates it with hope, purity, and transition, as the Chinese New Year also marks the beginning of spring, this plant holds a particular significance in the culture. The five petals of its flower are believed to carry five different blessings, longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and peace and natural death. This association of the flowering plant and its five blessings is so deeply embedded into the Chinese culture that it often takes the form of paintings, which are arguably as infamous as the paintings of the A-horses and the Hundred Birds. The name given for this arrangement is called May Kai Woo Fu, it is translated as plum blossoms with five blessings.

This is why it's considered a very good omen to have the plant or painting in the house during Chinese New Year, and the guests who arrive for visiting will be able to benefit from those blessings as well. Many famous poets and scholars have references plant in their work for its cultural significance. A particular painting that can sometimes be found in Chinese homes is one with the magpie standing poise on the branch of a plum blossom representing the phrase, I hope don't push right guys. She sheigh May Xiao, which represents happiness up to one eyebrows. This is a little bit of a plan on words from the Mandarin name of plum, which can also mean eyebrow.

So this should not be confused with other depictions of magpie and plum trees. And I guess it's often confused with a different one. So if you see a magpie chipping away or pecking at a plum tree, this actually symbolizes the signifies the arrival of spring. So it's just two different paintings. This depiction is also often seen to bless married couples.

So bamboo sometimes is joined with these are plum tree or plum blossoms, and this arrangement is usually joined by a pair of magpies to signify and symbolize being happily married and double happiness. There's also a depiction of plum with a bird of paradise, and this is another little bit of a word play and it relates to blessing a couple with long lasting bliss, love and happiness. A lot of times the plum blossom or plum trees will be shown with other flowers, kind of like I talked about with the bird of paradise. So if it's paired with magnolia and peony, the plum blossoms are often associated all with natural beauty. If it's depicted with a peach blossom, it means a little friendship.

It does say here it was immortalized with the chrysanthemum and the narcissist, and it kind of represented like these three great poets from the past. If you see a narcissist alone with a plum blossom, that is an expression of the changing season as winter transits into spring. If it is paired with the sparrow, it means returning good news. Another thing that it does note, I'm just kind of a little tidbit here, and I don't know why I didn't think about it because I've actually taken two courses and something called Mayhua Yee-Shu, which is plum blossom tivination. So it does say here that the Yee-Jing Book of Changes does have a divination method called that.

Yeah, I like I said I took in two courses. I even took one over the summer. I don't know why I didn't just think to make the connection. It's called plum blossom divination and it actually uses a little bit of numerology to derive the hexagons of the Yee-Jing to make predictions. It's actually pretty accurate too.

I hope you guys are able to incorporate some of these decor items, especially the plum blossom. I'm really realizing how significant and what a beautiful symbol it can be for the Chinese New Year, which is coming up very soon. I think the Lunar New Year starts around the 25th, 27th of January. Don't quote me on that. And we quickly go into the year of the water rabbit.

Remember the year of the tiger is still going to go through the month of January. So into about February 4th, we enter what is called Lee-Tune and we enter the year of the water rabbit. So I'm going to have a lot of information coming up. Of course next month, I'm going to have January forecast right at the end of the month here in a couple of weeks. And I'm going to then do best and worst sectors of the year of the water rabbit and animal sign predictions.

So come back for that. Stay tuned. If you have not had your floor plan done and you don't know where to find these sectors in your home, especially since I'm going to be giving a lot of information about how you can really enhance and set it for the new year yourself. Shoot me over your floor plan. I'll do my best to work it.

And it's totally free for listeners. I want you to be able to follow along and listen. Do these activations with this and really see how impactful funchway can be. So if you want to set up for the new year, you know, shoot me that floor plan and I'll take care of it for you. I'll show you where I have things at.

And then around the beginning of February, I'll be starting off my funchway group chat. My Zoom call, I'm going to do my Zoom room just once a month for anyone who wants to kind of chat funchway. Bring your floor plan. Ask me some questions. I'm really looking forward to that.

If you haven't had done message me just to get a hold of me and we'll work it out. Okay. So you guys have an amazing holiday and I'll catch you or right around the beginning of January. For a free energy mapping of your floor plan, please check the link in the show notes to support today's podcast. I'm going to learn funchway.com.

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