Having children and continued lineage has always been a cultural desire of the Chinese.
This is why in the past, a pregnancy can often be met with joyous celebrations and festivities.
Understandably, married couples can often find themselves riddled with pressure when they are unable to conceive within a reasonable period of time after tying the knot.
This is no joke.
Grandparents especially, would like no better than to see their grandchildren have kids of their own, and become great grandparents during their lifetime.
And because there is a strong tradition of filial piety for Chinese towards their parents and grandparents, everyone wants to play their part in fulfilling the wishes of their elders.
To aid the fertility luck of young couples struggling to conceive, the power of oriental symbolism is often invoked to enhance the good luck of getting pregnant.
Fruits are one of the most common symbols meant to attract fertility luck.
Here are the most popular ones.
Before moving onto the list, be mindful that the use of these fruits are symbolic in nature. Nothing is mentioned about the consumption of them.
1) Pomegranate
The most popular feng shui fruit that is supposed to bring luck with getting pregnant is the pomegranate.
This is mostly because when the fruit is cut open, it shows a flurry of seeds inside.
This visual is likened to a female being extremely fertile.
There are also classical stories about why this fruit is associated with fertility and descendants, which can be found on the explanation on pomegranates.
2) Gourd
The gourd is used commonly in feng shui for dispelling negative energy.
But what many don’t know is that the gourd fruit has a secondary feature of enhancing pregnancy luck.
This is mostly attributed to the plant’s long and winding vines, and huge countless seeds.
These characteristics gives it an association with more children and grandchildren.
3) Melons
Melon is a very generic word as there are various varieties of melons that we know of today.
However, they all have winding vines and numerous seeds just like the gourd.
They are therefore also strongly linked to continued lineage.
The Zhou dynasty, which reigned for the longest period of time in Chinese history, attributed their success partly to their ancestors who ensured that there was proper lineage.
The metaphor they used to describe this is melon with it’s winding vines and plentiful seeds.
4) Lychee and longan
While the skin of lychee and longan can easily be told apart from each other, the two fruits can look totally similar to the untrained eye when peeled.
Their meat and shape looks the same.
The chief reason why these two fruits are also related to pregnancy luck is solely down to wordplays with their mandarin names sounding like common phrases that mean having children.
The same can be said of the chestnut.
5) Date
The date is one little fruit that is championed in Chinese culture.
So much so that famous scholars and poets even wrote literature and poems that gave the fruit widespread recognition.
It is also one of the items that is bound to be found available in a TCM store due to it’s medicinal properties.
In auspicious paintings, the date is often portrayed together with the longan and chestnut to call on the symbolism of celebrating the birth of a baby.