Made by hand in our partner workshop in China  ·  Shipped worldwide  ·  Every symbol comes with its sources
Atlas  /  For good health  /  The gourdNo. 16
Plate IEast Asia · ChinaThe gourd, drawn by Wishlore
Pl. IThe gourd. A bottle gourd tied with a red cord. Drawing: Wishlore.
No. 16  ·  For good health  ·  East Asia

The gourd

A bottle gourd hung at a medicine seller’s stall — the old sign of a doctor in China.

Earliest record
Hou Hanshu story of the herbalist
Source
People’s Daily, on the Hou Hanshu story (9 October 2020)
Region
East Asia · China
Wish
For good health
Layers
Record Folk Modern · No early record
Keep this symbol · from £2.99Read the sources
The story · three layers

The story, in three layers.

Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.

I
Record
Book of the Later Han

The herbalist’s gourd

The Book of the Later Han tells of an old medicine seller who hung a gourd over his stall. From the story comes the phrase “hanging the gourd to help the world”, said of doctors.

II
Folk
China

A doctor’s sign

The gourd became the traditional sign of a doctor’s practice.

III
Modern
Shops, today

“Draws out illness”

Some shops say a gourd draws illness out of a room. We found no early record of that idea.

The gourd
Hou Hanshu story of the herbalist
Story and sources on the reverse
Pl. IIThe story card. Every printed piece carries the story and a code that opens the full source list.
Keep it close

How would you like to keep it?

Add to bag · £8
  • Pendants are whole symbols, drawn from this plate. Pictures are design drawings, not photos, until the piece is made and photographed
  • Printed cards and pendants are made in our partner workshop in China and shipped worldwide
  • Delivery: [UK/EU/US days TBC]; duties shown at checkout
Watch the story

The story, in a minute.

It opens with the pencil construction, then follows the record, how people used it, and the piece we make today. Every fact in it comes from the sources on this page.

Length
0:55
Narration
English, with subtitles on screen
Images
Pencil construction and the atlas drawing on this page, animated; no AI images; jewellery shown as a line drawing
Sources
Listed at the end of the film
Story film · 0:55 · Drawn from the atlas plate · no AI images
In one breath
A gourd hung over a medicine stall, two thousand years ago. Who would you keep it for?
Also for good health

Other symbols to keep

See all symbols for good health

No. 15
Eye of Horus
Wedjat amulets, The Met
No. 46
Ankh
Egyptian hieroglyph for ‘life’
No. 58
Five-colour thread (Changming lü)
Ying Shao’s Fengsu Tongyi, Eastern Han
No. 67
Milagros
Medieval Spanish votive custom
No. 87
Forty-key bowl (tās-e chehel kelid)
Science Museum bowl, 1751–1900