The bat is a symbol of happiness from its name _fu_ having the same sound as _fu_ (happiness). Among insects, the cicada (at one time regarded as a symbol of life renewed after death) is a very ancient motive; and the praying mantis who catches the cicada is an emblem of courage and perseverance.[511] Fighting crickets are the fighting cocks of China, and supply a sporting motive for the decorator; and butterflies frequently occur with floral designs or in the decoration known as the Hundred Butterflies, which covers the entire surface of the vessel with butterflies and insects. Flower painting is another forte of the Chinese decorator, and some of the most beautiful porcelain designs are floral. Conventional flowers appear in scrolls, and running designs, especially the lotus and peony scrolls and the scrolls of “fairy flowers,” the _pao hsiang hua_ of the Ming blue and white. But the most attractive designs are the more naturalistic pictures of flowering plants and shrubs, or of floral bouquets in baskets or vases. The flowers on Chinese porcelain are supple, free, and graceful; and, though true enough to nature to be easily identified, are never of the stiff copy-book order which the European porcelain painter affected at one unhappy period. A long list of the Chinese porcelain flowers given by Bushell includes the orchid (_lan_), rose, jasmine, olea fragrans, pyrus japonica, gardenia, syringa, several kinds of peony, magnolia (_yü lan_), iris, hydrangea, hibiscus, begonia, pink and water fairy flower (_narcissus tazetta_). Many more no doubt can be identified, for the Chinese are great cultivators as they are great lovers of flowers. In fact, the word _hua_ [chch] flowery is synonymous with Chinese, and _chung hua_ [chch 2] is China. Plate 126 is an example of the Hundred Flower design, known by the French name _mille fleurs_, in which the ground of the vase is a mass of naturalistic flowers so that the porcelain looks like a bouquet. There are special flowers for the months[512]:--(1) Peach (_t’ao_) for February, (2) Tree Peony (_mu tan_) for March, (3) Double Cherry (_ying t’ao_) for April, (4) Magnolia (_yü lan_) for May, (5) Pomegranate (_shih liu_) for June, (6) Lotus (_lien hua_) for July, (7) Pear (_hai t’ang_) for August, (8) Mallow (_ch’iu k’uei_) for September, (9) Chrysanthemum (_chü_) for October, (10) Gardenia (_chih hua_) for November, (11) Poppy (_ying su_) for December, (12) Prunus (_mei hua_) for January. From these are selected four to represent the seasons--_mu-tan_ peony for spring, lotus for summer, chrysanthemum for autumn, and prunus for winter--which supply charming motives for panel decoration or for the sides of quadrangular vases.