A pair of peaches carved in fruit wood. Little else in Chinese art is as imbued with symbolism as the peach. It’s wood made bows and arrow shafts to keep demons at bay, its color was a symbol of a woman’s youth and beauty and its leaves cast spells on men. The peach itself is most often associated with Immortality. It is said that a miraculous peach tree stood deep within the forests of Kun-lun Mountains and that it bore fruit only once every ten thousand years. Once when this rare fruit was about to ripen, the Goddess Xi-wang-Muy in whose garden the tree grew, invited all the immortals to join her in feasting on this potent fruit . But before they arrived the Monkey King Sun broke into the palace and devoured all of the peaches. Needless to say, the Sun became immortal. In popular parlance there are many metaphors, puns and rubuses associated with the Peach. ”Peach blossom eyes” is used to refer to a young beautiful woman in the blush of youth while “Green Peach-Blossom” is a metaphor for a secret meeting place for lovers and to be a “peach blossom” means that one is mad.

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