Relational Continuity and Changing Meanings of the Eight Auspicious Symbols across Material Objects

Abstract

The Eight Auspicious Symbols comprise the parasol, pair of golden fish, treasure vase, lotus, white conch, endless knot, victory banner, and Dharma wheel. Although this grouping retains a recognizable identity, its arrangement varies across Buddhist art and objects produced in different materials. During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing periods, these symbols adorned metalwork, porcelain, enamelware, and woodwork associated with offerings, birthday wishes, and domestic use. Previous scholarship has examined their iconographic origins and religious meanings, but has paid less attention to how the grouping remains identifiable as vessel form, material, layout, and use change. Drawing on material semiotics and a cultural biography perspective, this article undertakes a purposive qualitative comparison of eight object records published by three museums. It distinguishes among the identity of the symbolic grouping, its material configuration, and its documented associations with use. The findings indicate that continuity does not necessarily depend on eight separately represented images, since the vessel itself may contribute to completing the grouping. They also show that the same symbolic repertoire can accompany offerings, birthday wishes, and domestic objects, while neighboring inscriptions and motifs supply specific interpretive cues. On this basis, the article proposes relational continuity as an analytical perspective that explains how group identity, material configuration, and associations with use can change at different rates. This perspective treats continuity as a relationship among these dimensions, rather than as evidence of a fixed symbolic meaning. Consequently, the persistent appearance of these motifs demonstrates neither that their meanings remained unchanged nor that their religious significance disappeared as their material settings and uses diversified.