The ancient motifs found on Chinese Carpets are decorative in only a small way, since by nature they are fundamentally symbolic. In China, the artistic language is composed primarily of symbols common to all the artistic genres and techniques. Their meaning has remained unchanged over the centuries, but interpreting them successfully is not at all easy, in part because they are a great many of them. Some have been drawn from the natural world, other from ancient local myths, and yet others from the Buddhist and Taoist religions: a small number are composed of more or less complicated abstract designs. The most common symbols are the dragon (union of the earthly and celestial forces and the emperor), the phoenix (immortality and the empress), the Fo-dog (protection from evil), lotus flower (purity and summer), the peony (respect and wealth), the stag and stork (longevity), the cloud (divine power), the mountain and water (stability on a stormy sea), the bat (fortune, since its name phonetically resembles anfu, "fortune"), the swastika (cosmic rotation), and the ideograms Shou and Fu (fortune). Typical of column carpets are the eight Buddhist symbols: the canopy (royalty), the lotus (prosperity), the umbrella) authority, good government), the shell (victory), the wheel (the route to salvation), the vase (harmony) two fish (happiness and utility), and the endless knot (longevity and destiny). There are also eight Taoist symbols: the sword (victory), the staff and gourd (healing), the fan (immortality), the basket of flowers (magic), castanets (soothing music), the flute (miracles), the lotus (prosperity), and bamboo and staffs (foresight and fortune).