18TH-19TH CENTURY

When shown with a dragon, the carp represents the scholar who strives to be successful in his civil service examinations and become a jinshi, allowing him to gain a good official position. Legend tells of the carp swimming upstream every Spring to the Dragon Gate on the Yellow River. If it succeeds in leaping over the gate, it is transformed into a dragon. Hence a scholar is often depicted standing on the back of a fish, which is in the process of turning into a dragon.