Gifts for Prosperity

Gift giving can be a tricky thing; adding cross-cultural currents to the equation makes things even murkier. What if you give a bad gift? Or one that’s considered bad luck? You’ve probably heard not to give knives at a wedding or a clock for a birthday before. There’s plenty of advice about what NOT to give. But what should you give; what is a good gift? One that won’t offend or put someone on the spot.

Symbolic gifts, ones that represent prosperity go a long way in making an impression without risking offense. The key is to select something of fine quality without getting too extravagant. Something that's too lavish can be as off-putting as a thoughtless or unwanted gift. Birthday, wedding, anniversary and business gifts can all follow the same rule. Fortunately Asian art has centuries worth of symbolism for you to sort though to find a quality gift that will inspire and minimize the chance of insult.

Even when you know a person well, it can be difficult to choose the right gift. When the recipient is just an acquaintance or a business associate the nervous factor increases exponentially. That’s way we’ve compiled a short list of Asian arts with symbolic meanings of prosperity that make great gifts for any occasion. Each is a fine work of art, yet well within budget, even for office parties or Secret Santa events. Asian art allows you to give quality without going over the top.
We should also point out that at Reorient you can have your gift sent already wrapped and with a personalized gift message. There is a small fee for gift wrap but a personalized hand written note is always free.

So here they are, in no particular order, our five auspicious Asian arts for prosperity:

1. Chinese Feng Shui Coins for Wealth and Success: Less then $10 for two sets. These authentic bronze coins are modeled after those minted during the Qing Dynasty. Three are bound together with red string for good luck, wealth and prosperity. The coins have Chinese characters for the names of emperors forged on both sides. The three coins together represent a balance of Heaven, Earth and Humanity in Taoist philosophy and are thought to help attract prosperity to your door.

2. Flowers: Bloom represents impending prosperity. The fruits of your labor, the fruits of the harvest; the path from spring buds to autumn yields is abundantly clear. Before there’s fruit, there are always flowers. Depictions of flowers and floral motifs in Asian art have a symbolic dimension, representing wealth upon the horizon. You can find flowers in watercolor paintings, flowers on porcelains or flowers carved from stone. All make for thoughtful, inexpensive gifts.


3. The Five Blessings Buddha: In China there are thought to be 5 essentials for a happy life -health, wealth, longevity, virtue, and a peaceful passing. Our hand crafted ceramic figurine represents the 5 essentials with his colony of 5 bats. Why bats? In Chinese the word for bat has a similar pronunciation to the words for “blessings” or “riches.” So bats have become a common motif in Asian arts for good fortune and prosperity. The number 5 can also be auspicious as it has association with the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth and metal).

4. The Fingered citron or “Buddha's Hand” citron: It is a tangy juiceless citrus fruit. It has long finger like sections, which resemble the fingers of Quan Yin perched for prayer. In China the fruit symbolizes prosperity and longevity. When it is given as a gift it represents a wish for good fortune upon the recipient. Reorient has a small supply of vintage hand carved jade pieces fashioned in the shape of the Buddha’s hand. Not only are these beautiful treasures to bestow upon someone but as fine jade pieces they are also sure to increase in value.

5. The Butterfly: Butterflies are among the luckiest of Chinese symbols for prosperity. Due to linguistic similarities butterflies have come to represent not just prosperity and long life but a piling up, or accumulation, of both. Butterflies are used to decorate all kinds of wonderful gift items and arts in China. Reorient has some unique and affordable selections for gift giving that will impress your friends, family or associates without impairing your budget.

Jade Carvings

Jade carvings are among the oldest known art forms in the world. Jade has been mined in China for over 8,000 years with evidence of its ceremonial value dating nearly as far back as human history itself. Many Chinese connoisseurs consider jade to be of a value higher than gold or diamond. It’s green, cool to the touch and extremely hard, but what makes jade such a uniquely Asian fascination?



The traditions and high regard of jade and jade carving is rooted in the culture of China itself. Jade’s rarity and uniqueness lends itself to ideas of symbolic perfection and even magic. All stone in China embodies the idea of hardness representing reliability and jade is an exceptionally hard stone, harder than steel. Though its appearance can be almost glass like to the modern eye it is difficult to break or scratch. Jade is non-crystalline with interlocking fibers, making it one of the strongest natural minerals in the world. Ancient peoples discovered the stone’s exceptional strength and used if for both tools and weaponry. Perhaps an early Emperor’s secret to solidifying power was the potently lethal strength of jade blades, spear tips or even an invincible jade armor.



Jade’s hardness is part of the mystery and mastery of jade carvings. There is an element of the Taoist yin and yang in the hardness of the stone and the fluidity of the carved design. Jade is rarely carved with hard edges, instead having a fine polished feel of something that looks gentle and soft. Fish in water, dragons in clouds, running horses, laughing Buddhas… these are all common jade carvings with distinctly flowing elements. It’s harder than marble or steel and yet looks like liquid. It embodies the very essence of Taoist ideals. Neither gold nor diamonds can achieve quite the same balance of elements and thus do not appeal quite as strongly to a culture steeped in Taoist traditions.



Tributes to China’s Emperors were preferred rendered in jade, which was then carved by skilled artisans into everything from elaborate statues to belt buckles. In modern China carved jade is seen as a highly respectful and gracious gift evoking imperial traditions.



China’s emperors, like many ancient rulers, were thought (or self aggrandized) to be descendants of heaven and they communicated to their mythical over lords through a jade disk. Kings were buried in jade suits that were thought to preserve them in their glorious tombs. Ancient Taoist devised secret potions of longevity and immortality from a variety of sources (some we know today to be highly toxic) and always included jade among the ingredients.



In Chinese mythology the heist deity is the Jade Emperor, ruler of heaven and every thing beneath it. Some creation myths credit the Jade Emperor with fashioning humanity out of clay. On Chinese New Year the masses clean and tidy before the New Year arrives. It’s a nice tradition that might be rooted in myths about the Jade Emperor passing judgment on humanity each year and if they don’t clean up their act he’ll pull the plug on the whole existence party.



Perhaps jade’s most potent imagery in China is its close linguistic ties to sexuality. Many colloquial terms for organs and acts incorporate the word for jade. At the same time jade is a symbol for purity and is used in metaphors for both youth and beauty.



Reorient offers a classic selection of authentic jade carvings. Each is an entirely hand worked piece of Asian art. Typically with jade carvings the shape and inconsistencies of the individual stones determine both the subject and execution of the design. Odd shapes are transformed into mythical dragons, Fu Dogs or Buddhist symbols. The natural grains and markings in the jade are incorporated into the overall carving. For example a vein or fissure may become part of a horse’s mane, adding an illusion of wind and flow.


All the carvings in our current jade collection are vintage pieces carved in China during the end of the Cultural Revolution. Most include a hand crafted wooden stand for display.



Please browse our selection and feel free to contact us with any questions on individual pieces.