Chinese Love Tokens

China has had love tokens since ancient times. Love tokens are gifts young couples give each other, to show their affections towards each other. Chinese culture values the meaning意(yì)义(yì) of the love tokens rather than the material objects. A sachet, a jade pendent or even a hair clasp, all can be used to represent one’s personal affection爱(ài)意(yì). As time goes by, modern types of love tokens have changed a lot, but the meanings will always be the same. Here are some of the most famous love tokens in ancient times.

Sachets, also called aromatic or flower bags, were made of silk, with various kinds of strongly fragrant Chinese herbal powder placed in a bag. During the pre-Qin period (before 221 BC), young people had to wear sachets to show respect when seeing their parents父(fù)母(mǔ) or elders. Also since a sachet was something that young people of that day always carried with them, those in love also exchanged it as a love gift.

The beauty of jade is like the virtue of a gentleman.” Jade in ancient China was the symbol象征of a gentleman of noble character. A gentleman pursued a character of respect and gentleness, and a long-term warm love, which corresponds with the meaning of jade. As a result, in ancient times modes谦(qiān)虚(xū)and self-disciplined gentlemen liked to bestow their jade pendants on young ladies they loved. This was a way of revealing their unlimited affection in a controlled and polite manner.

In ancient China, when a girl姑(gū)娘(niáng)reached 15 years of age, she began to put her hair up into a bun, putting a hair clasp through her hair to keep it in place. This was a sign marking a girl’s first step of maturity成(chéng)熟(shú). It also showed that she was overflowing with youthfulness, had reached the height of her youth and vigor, and had arrived at the age of marriage. Even though hair clasps were small, they were full of meanings. In ancient China, hair clasp were often the love tokens a couple exchanged as a pledge of love, and giving a hair clasp expressed a deep love.

A true love knot is an interlacing knot in China that has an ancient history and a very rich meaning. Because of its unique characteristic of being two knots joined together, it has often been used as the symbol of love, having the meaning of “being together forever永(yǒng)远(yuǎn).” With its intricate ornate weaving of loops joined together, the true love knot was given by someone to the one he or she loved, carrying with it the meaning of deep affections.