More positive is the combination of woman and child , which means good. The importance of agricultural production is greatly stressed when one looks at the sign meaning peace and harmony , which consists of millet and mouth put together. Millet combined with sun equals aromatic . That millet has played a large part in everyday life is apparent when one analyses the sign for year, which originally meant harvest, and is made up of millet and man, while autumn is millet and fire. The point that has been made is underlined by the origin of the sign for sexual intercourse which consists of the two words cloud and rain .
Rain is an obvious condition for fertility and the discharge of a cloud is an obvious metaphor.
Wine has since the beginning of time been very popular in China, and that is reflected in the sign for happiness and prosperity where the image of omen, prophecy is added to the one of a wine cask. The origin of the sign meaning immortal can be traced back to the old legend of a foolish old man called Yu Gong, who together with his sons started hacking away two mountains that blocked the way to his house. When a passer-by commented on the futility of the task, Yu Gong replied that when he was dead his sons would carry on and their sons after them, and so on for all eternity, until the mountains were demolished. The Ruler of the Heavens was so touched by this determination that he sent two immortals to carry the mountains away. Hence the sign meaning immortal is still today constructed of the combination of the sign meaning man and of the one meaning mountain.