Dreaming of a mermaid in Chinese dream interpretation: meaning
Chinese tradition has its own mermaid-like people of the sea, the jiaoren, whose tears turn into pearls. A dream of such a figure is read through the sea as a place of hidden riches and through pearls and silk.
Within this tradition
Early Chinese collections of marvels, among them the Soushen ji and the Shuyi ji, describe the jiaoren, sea-people who live under the water, weave a silk that does not get wet and weep pearls. The stories are tender rather than frightening. They tell of a woman of the sea who pays for a night's hospitality with a dish of pearls.
Dream interpretation in the Zhou Gong tradition is a matter of lists of everyday images, and a mermaid is not a standard entry. A reading therefore follows the parts. Water is read as wealth and movement, a fish as surplus because the word yu sounds like the word for abundance, a pearl as something precious that has been hidden or has come to light.
The sea itself is a place of hidden value in Chinese thought. Divers brought up pearls and the sea held what the land did not. A mermaid in a dream is then easily read as a gift or a talent that lives below the surface and comes to light in time.
Popular readings also look at the state of the water. A clear, calm sea is favourable, a stormy or murky one is read with more caution. Tears are a particular point. In the old tales the tears become pearls, so sadness in the dream can be read as something that will turn into value. It is a way of reading your situation, not a promise.
Common variations
A mermaid weeping
Recalls the jiaoren, whose tears become pearls. A sad figure is read as sorrow that will in time turn into something valuable.
Receiving pearls
A favourable image of value or a talent coming into view, in the Chinese tradition.
Silk or cloth from the sea
The jiaoren weave a cloth that does not get wet. Read as skill and craft that last.
A mermaid in a stormy sea
Rough water asks for caution with money and with promises. It is read as a mood, not as a prediction.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
Is there a mermaid in Chinese tradition?
The nearest is the jiaoren of the early collections of marvels. The stories are older and quieter than the European mermaid.
Does a mermaid dream mean wealth?
Pearls and a calm sea are read favourably in the folk tradition, but a dream is not a promise about money.