Water, Heart, and Sun: Eternity
The Chinese character for eternity, Yǒng héng,
has two parts: Yǒng is forever, created with strokes
for water, with ripples and foam. Ten thousand years
past, a snowcapped peak melted beneath a summer sun,
and water meandered down the mountain, branching
into a network of streams and dispersing into the sea.
Returning to the heavens as vapor rising, billowing out
into clouds pregnant with rain, the water freezes and
snow falls onto mountain tops, and begins again the
timeless journey, the cycle of life and resurrection.
Two characters combine for the second part: héng
means permanent, and begins with the heart, the essence
of life. Centered on the right is the warm sun, framed
by heaven and earth. Ten thousand thousand years ago,
an explosion in the heavens transmitted brilliant light
throughout the universe and ignited life on earth.
Water and sun, earth and heaven, yin and yang, the unity
of life and death, the balance of the universe, the wisdom
of East and West, life tamed by the lessons of symmetry--
Each cycle a step in our destiny as suns in Yǒng héng.