Pigs are generally considered loud, uncouth, filthy and fit for nothing better than being served as the southern Taiwan delicacy Wanluan pig knuckle, the Hakka dish pig intestine with ginger, or the night market favorite pig-blood pudding. Nevertheless, as Hu Zer-man, professor of textile and clothing at Fu Jen Catholic University, pointed out in "New Year Postage Stamp Zodiac Designs," pigs and humans have shared an intimate existence for generations; even the Chinese word for home and family--jia--is composed of pictures of a pig under a roof complete with chimney. He suggests that pigs were not just indispensable livestock but almost a member of the family.
As writer and folklore specialist Chuang Po-ho explained, in Taiwan's pre-industrial society, pigs were a symbol of affluence: the more pigs one has, the richer one is. Chuang pointed to the Chinese language idiom "fat pig knocks down the door," which means that pigs bring luck and wealth to families.
Before, and even since, being domesticated, the wild boar Sus scrofa was hunted for its meat, fur and other body parts. To this day, the boar is respected as a ferocious enemy, such as by Taiwan's mountain-dwelling aborigines. As Yu Yong-he wrote in the records to his 1697 visit to Taiwan, the boar had "smaller ears and tails than domestic pigs, and gray hair and jagged teeth sharp enough to fell the trees and defeat tigers. Irritated boars could resist people with their teeth and spring like a storm to make hunters afraid of shooting." In a traditional religious practice, aborigines still hang up the skull and jaws of a particularly worthy adversary, inviting the beast's spirit to assist them in future hunts.
Han Chinese people also worship the pig--see "Temple"--but in this case it is Jhu Ba Jie, one of the protagonists of the Ming dynasty novel "Journey to the West." As Chen Wen-wen, manager of Taipei's Siahai Temple explains, "pigs embody the idea of laughing and growing fat, as well as the spirit of tolerance and broadmindedness."
People born in the year of the pig have no choice in the matter. Some even make a big deal out of it, such as Wang Tai-hua. Both he and his wife, Lin Cing-cuei, "belong to the pig" and, since 1979 have been collecting pig ornaments. To date they have more than 2,000. Some, Wang said, pointing at a handmade wooden pig couple riding on a motorcycle, were collected during their travels around the world. Others Wang makes himself using skills learned from his job in the glass industry. Presently, he is making flying pigs to celebrate the lunar pig year.
Moreover, since his first pig was given to him by a senior staff member of the Post Museum, to celebrate Chunghwa Post Co. Ltd.'s launch of pig stamps--see "Stamps"--from Dec. 1, Wang has exhibited his favorite 600 examples from his collection for the world to see.
Lee Fong-mao of the Academia Sinica summed up the hopes of all pig lovers with the Chinese-language idiom "pig matters go smoothly," which is a commonly heard pun, at least once every 12 years, on the correct idiom "all matters go smoothly."