Cat and butterfly have the same pronunciation as "Old Age", and "Old Age" refers to being about eighty to ninety years old, which is very old. Therefore, cats and butterflies symbolize longevity and happiness in Chinese paintings, which are very auspicious and beautiful.
Auspicious paintings best reflect China’s traditional culture and aesthetic tastes, aesthetic concepts, and traditional customs of the Chinese people. It is an art form that displays the culture, life, ideals and pursuits of a nation. Wells are an important part of traditional Chinese plastic arts.
Different from other art forms, in auspicious paintings handed down from ancient times, the meaning of the content and the symbolism of the form are often unified. This is a major feature of auspicious paintings. As a visual art, the content and form of auspicious paintings exist side by side in the composition. The combination of the two simultaneously expresses the auspicious meaning of the painting.
The pictographic, general meaning and phonetic features of Chinese characters provide convenience for the selection of elements in auspicious painting content. Most of the symbols in Chinese auspicious paintings are similar in pronunciation, such as bat, which is homophonic to blessing. Some are derived from the characteristics of things. For example, the shape of Ganoderma lucidum is very similar to that of Ruyi; the flowers of peony are large and full, and the color is bright and rich. Using peony to symbolize wealth is to capture the posture characteristics.