By staff reporter HUO JIANYING

Little boys gazing at bats in flight is a traditional chinaware motif, expressive of the auspicious term "eager expectations of happiness." It is also a true depiction of life in old Peking.

A Lost Scenario

Older residents of Beijing cherish their childhood memories: of summer evenings when neighbors would sit beneath a tree in their common courtyard, enjoying a cool breeze while chatting and drinking tea, as children ran around chasing bats that swooped and flitted overhead. Some of these mischievous children would fling their shoes at the bats, in hopes of catching one, but always missed, and the bats seemed to enjoy this game of catch-me-if-you-can. The process of urban construction that has been ongoing since the-mid 20th century has drastically reduced the number of bats in downtown Beijing, but few people are concerned about this change, as bats have little impact on their lives. As for today's youngsters, they are more interested in Batman comics than bats, and there are some that have never even seen one.

According to modern science, the bat is just one of the millions of animal species on earth, but it has for centuries been a controversial creature, shrouded in mystery.

Blame and Praise

A Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)teapot with bat and cloud pattern.

In ancient times bats were subject to many theories as regards their odd appearance and habitat. People wondered how these rats with hairless wings came into being, and there evolved a belief that a rat would become a bat after eating salt or oil. This association with rats caused ill fame for bats for centuries.

Cao Zhi, a noted poet of the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), wrote a poem entitled About the Bat, which reads: "The bat is born of an evil spirit, shunned by beasts and rejected by birds."

In one of Aesop's Fables, during a war between birds and beasts the bat is portrayed as a "Jack of both sides," allying itself with whichever of the two species is victor. When the two entities eventually reached a peace agreement, the bat was despised and rejected by both, hiding by day and coming out only at night.

New Year Wood-cut Zhong Kui Leading Bat.

Later, the bat was used as a kind of medicine that could lengthen life and cure fear-induced epilepsy in children. According to ancient medical books, a 1,000-year-old bat is snow-white, and imbibing it after it has dried in the shade and been ground into fine powder may lengthen the life span to 10,000 years. This is obviously fallacious, and there has never been confirmation from anywhere in the world that longevity or any miracle cure can be obtained by eating bat. Also, if bat medicine genuinely were to have such a magical effect, bats would long-since have become extinct.

It was not until modern times that it became common knowledge that the bat is neither vampire nor knight-errant, but merely a mammal that can fly. Its radar-like ears, rather than its eyes, help it to navigate safely at night, as the phrase "blind as a bat" is based on fact.

A Reversal of Fate

Brick carving of five bats surrounding the character of longevity.

After thousands of years of being detested and feared by humankind, a few centuries ago bats experienced a change in overall attitude towards them. The Chinese word for bat is bianfu -- fu being a homophone for happiness, and around the 17th century bats began to feature in auspicious pictures as a symbol of happiness, a trend which soon prevailed. By the middle and late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) auspicious bat motifs had had become widely used on architecture, textiles, embroidery, paintings, chinaware, furniture, and brick and stone carvings. Thanks to artistic license, they are generally given a far more attractive appearance than is true in real life.

Happiness in Sight picture in a cupronickel, a Qing Dynasty saddle accessory.

Bats appear in many auspicious pictures. A depiction of five bats is called the "five blessings" ?¤ long life, ease, wealth, honor and joy. Five bats around the character for longevity in zhuan style means happiness and longevity, while a picture of numerous bats and peaches signifies a long and happy lifetime. The combination of a bat and a Chinese copper coin, whose central hole is called its "eye," is known as "happiness in sight." Zhong Kui led by a Bat is a traditional Chinese New Year picture. According to Chinese folklore, Zhong Kui is the god that drives away evil, captures demons, and brings good luck and happiness. In such pictures, Zhong Kui wields a sword as a little bat flies above him, thus indicating the full extent of his powers. The design featuring red bats is called "limitless happiness," as in the Chinese language red is homonymous with the character hong, which means great and grand.

Plays on Words

A 1645 New Year picture, Good Luck and Affluence.

Ancient Chinese people enjoyed punning, and paronomasia was particularly popular in literary and artistic works. Though this tradition has since waned, it still retains some influence on the Chinese people. For example, some people pay big money for "propitious" car license plates, which usually contain the number 8, whose pronunciation in Chinese is similar to that of the character for "making a fortune."

Such word juggling is also popular in auspicious pictures. The depiction of a bat and a deer connotes forthcoming happiness and a high official rank. Three halberds in a vase mean three smooth promotions. A magpie in a plum tree is a popular representation of great pleasure. The egret, lotus and pollywogs motif suggests sustained success in imperial examinations, and the picture of a boy standing among lotus flowers holding a big fish is interpreted as an ongoing annual surplus.

There are over a hundred auspicious patterns in China, created by virtue of homophony and trope, but not all of them are subtle or elegant. For example, a picture composed of three vats and five persons drinking alcohol, denoting the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues as specified in the feudal ethical code, is now defunct.

Mascots embody humankind's desire for and pursuit of a happy life. They bear the imprint of the era, and are symbolic of the roots of national culture. Chinese mascots have a history as long as that of the Chinese people, and are a part of the priceless heritage of Chinese ancients. Some are still in use, and help lift the spirits and add beauty to everyday life.

Auspicious bat patterns have a great variety and are still popular today. In any event, these days bats have a much "fairer press," regardless of their status as mascot, because Chinese people are now cognizant that humankind shares the earth with all forms of life, and that to treat other life forms in a considerate manner is bound to bring blessings to all.