桑 sāng mulberry tree
How it came to be
A tree with three hands reaching into its crown. It is the one tree everybody picked by hand every year, because silkworms eat nothing else. The hands are the whole trade.
How it is used
- The mulberry tree (桑树 sāngshù), whose leaves feed silkworms.
- 沧桑 (cāngsāng), from 沧海桑田 (seas turning to mulberry fields), evokes the vicissitudes of time: 饱经沧桑 (bǎojīng-cāngsāng) means weathered by life's hardships. Also 桑拿 (sāngná) = sauna (loanword).