Question

When a son was born to Confucius, the king of Lu sent over a carp as present. Confucius named his son Carp.

The wise say a carp leaping over the dragon gate is a very lucky sign. My father says he named me Cloud because I was born in the year of the dragon: there are always clouds following a dragon. Confucius’ son died an early death. My father has only three daughters.

Knowing the carp is a symbol of luck, perseverance, and success in Chinese culture, what can be inferred from this excerpt from Wang’s “The Carp”?

Answer 1

It is ironic that Confucius's son died an early death. We can infer that the death of Confucius' son, Carp is ironic, he suffered an early death when the symbolism of the carp fish is longevity, because carps can get very old, it also represents the dragons due to big scales on the body of a carp. According to the meaning of the carp Confucius' son, Carp, should have a long live which did not happen.