The willow in the Confucian garden represents a soft form of strength. While its branches are flowy and its leaves sway in the wind like long locks of hair, it is a symbol of resilience and bending flexibility. Just as butterflies are considered feminine in Western culture, the willow embodies feminine grace. Chinese poetry often compares a beautiful woman’s eyebrows to willow leaves, and the curve of a woman’s waist to the curve of a willow tree trunk. Like its English name indicates, “weeping”, the willow is considered a highly emotional tree. Also, as its name in Chinese, “liu” is a homophone to “stay”, if one is presented with a willow twig, it is a gesture of friendship as one is invited “to stay”. Hence, the willow represents so-to-speak “staying power”. To read more about Chinese gardens in general, click here.
Lovely pictures!