Dedicated to those that died at Tiananmen Square

This photo is a tribute to all the people who were killed 20 years ago in Tiananmen Square. View On Black
The Crane is legendary in China for being the prince of all feathered creature on earth. Next to the Phoenix, the Crane is the most favored all Chinese bird symbols. The Crane is the ancient symbol for longevity because of its exceptionally long life span. In many legends, the spirits ride on cranes, which are also said to bear the souls of the departed to the heavens.

The Chinese and Japanese attach much symbolic meaning towards cranes considering them as auspicious and denoting longetivity and peace. Chinese believe that the cranes live up to 1,000 years and hence, beautiful paintings of the cranes and the use of the crane symbols were revered and respected in Chinese culture. Those who were granted immortality were taken to the heavens atop the back of a crane. The Celts consider the herons and cranes as messengers of the Gods and possessing superior intelligence. According to the Celtic mythology, cranes predicted the storms and are thought to be the first birds to greet the sunrise. The Celts also believed that cranes were humans who were redeeming themselves for committing wrong doings in their human lives. There are also references to the Celtic Father God of the Sea, Lir, who made his bag from the skin of the crane.