“Longevity * Wealth * Health * Civility * A Natural Death
The Five Blessings can be symbolized by a peach—a very auspicious Chinese symbol, linked with wishes for long life (often expressed by the number 10,000, with is suggestion of infinity of immortality). An image of nine peaches and five bats (linked to a peach because they sound familiar) is therefore coloured with all sorts of suggestions about all these blessing.”
Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.
Mark's Text Terminal 