The Bagua (pa kua); literally "eight symbols") are eight diagrams used in Taoist cosmology to represent a range of interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken," representing a yin line or a yang line, respectively. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as "trigrams" in English. The trigrams have correspondances in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, and elsewhere. The eight trigrams are: "Heaven;", "Wind;" "Water;" "Mountain;" "Earth," "Thunder,", "Fire;" and, "Lake."

In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are generalized descriptions of the antitheses or mutual correlations in human perceptions of phenomena in the natural world, combining to create a unity of opposites in the theory of the Taiji. The concept of yin and yang describes two opposing and, at the same time, complementary (completing) aspects of any one phenomenon (object or process) or comparison of any two phenomena. They are universal standards of quality at the basis of the systems of correspondence seen in most branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy.

The Chinese word for bat is “fu,” which is a homophone of the word that means “good fortune.” The bat is thought to bring good fortune, happiness and longevity. The patterns of China's jadeware have rich connotations. Bats and gourds were used as subjects for more than 100 patterns because the Chinese words "bat" and "gourd" sound like "good fortune" in Chinese.