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Pattern locks get their names
from the various, peculiar shapes of the
locks. Not only they are equipped with
the functions of protection and security
but they are also of artistic value. Most
of the pattern locks, especially the
earlier ones, were made in the shape of
fish. The book Zhi Tian Lu from the
Han Dynasty mentions: "Door locks
must take after the shape of fish, for
fish sleeps with eyes open and so it
guards the house at night." Therefore,
the splitting spring padlocks with the
shape of fish appeared no later than
the Han Dynasty (206 BC ~ 220 AD).
With the progress of the society, the
outer shapes of pattern locks became
versatile. For example, the shape of
Maitreya (a Buddhist messiah) and
the shape of the Eight Ferries; the
shapes of musical instruments, like the
balloon-guitar, the three-string guitar,
two-string Chinese violin; the shapes of
letters, "fu (good fortune), lu (richness),
shou (longevity), xi (happiness)"; the
shape of a bottle gourd or a pillow,
… etc. Many patterns locks came in
fanciful shapes of lucky objects, such
as fish, dragon, kirin, bat, butterfly,
tiger, panther, horse, dog, monkey,
turtle, scorpion, … etc., all of them
made the world of ancient locks more
colorful and beautiful.
花旗鎖的稱呼，來自於其
特殊且多樣化的外形，除具有
保護、防護的作用之外，亦深
具藝術價值。花旗鎖最早、最
多的外形為魚形，漢代《芝田
錄》載有：『門鑰必以魚，取
其不瞑目，守夜之義』。依此
推斷，魚形的簧片掛鎖，最遲
出現於漢代 ( 公元前 206~ 公元
220 年 )。其後，隨著時代的演
進，花旗鎖的外形逐漸多樣化，
有彌勒佛、八仙等人物造形，
有琵琶、三弦琴、胡琴等樂器
造形，有福、祿、壽、喜等字
體造形，亦有葫蘆、枕頭造形。
綜觀之，花旗鎖的外形多為吉
祥物，如魚、龍、麒麟、蝙蝠、
蝴蝶、虎、豹、馬、狗、猴、
烏龜、蠍、…等，不僅爭奇鬥
豔，多姿多彩，同時其上大多
還刻有特殊含義的吉祥圖案。
‧花旗鎖 - 魚
120x37x10mm 78g