It’s common knowledge that the Chinese are a superstitious bunch. Superstitions underlie their whole culture and society: red, for example, the colour of blood, is for the Chinese the colour of life – it is considered very favourable and is commonly used in weddings. The semi-precious jade stone is thought to bring luck and ward off evil spirits and is therefore a popular jewellery choice. Strangely, many Chinese customs and superstitions appear to be based on phonetics – the Chinese word for fish is yu, which sounds like the Chinese word for ‘lucky’, and so fish are considered lucky and feature highly in traditional Chinese art.