Three hares
The three hares (or three rabbits) is a circular
It is viewed as a puzzle, a topology problem or a visual challenge, and has been rendered as sculpture, drawing, and painting.The symbol features three
Origins in Buddhism and diffusion on the Silk Road
The earliest occurrences appear to be in cave temples in China, dated to the
The three hares appear on 13th century Mongol metalwork, and on a copper coin, found in Iran, dated to 1281.[13][14][15]
Another appears on an ancient Islamic-made
One theory pertaining to the spread of the motif is that it was transported from China across Asia and as far as the south west of England by merchants travelling the Silk Road and that the motif was transported via designs found on expensive Oriental ceramics. This view is supported by the early date of the surviving occurrences in China. However, the majority of representations of the three hares in churches occur in England and northern Germany. This supports a contrary view that the three hares occurred independently as English or early German symbols.[1][9][10][17]
Some claim that the Devon name, Tinners' Rabbits, is related to local
In Western Europe
The motif of the three hares is used in a number of medieval or more recent European churches, particularly in France (e.g., in the
Where it occurs in the United Kingdom, the three hares motif usually appears in a prominent place in the church, such as the central rib of the
In Judaism, the
כנשר יעיר קינו על גוזליו ירחף. יפרוש כנפיו יקחהו ישאהו על אברתו
— Deuteronomy 32:11,The Song of Moses
This may be translated: "As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions (...thus is God to the Jewish people)."[2]
The hare frequently appears in the form of the symbol of the rotating rabbits. An ancient German riddle describes this graphic thus:
Three hares sharing three ears,
Yet every one of them has two.[2]
This curious graphic riddle can be found in all of the famous
Not only do they appear among floral and animal ornaments, but they are often in a distinguished location, directly above the Torah ark, the place where the holy scriptures repose.[2]
They appear on
As an optical illusion or puzzle
The logo presents a problem in topology.[17] It is a strange loop rendered as a puzzle.[28]
The secret is not great when one knows it.
But it is something to one who does it.
Turn and turn again and we will also turn,
So that we give pleasure to each of you.
And when we have turned, count our ears,
It is there, without any disguise, you will find a marvel.[17]
One recent philosophical book poses it as a problem in perception and an
- The Community of Hasloch's arms[30] is blazoned as: Azure edged Or three hares passant in triskelion of the second, each sharing each ear with one of the others, in chief a rose argent seeded of the second, in base the same, features three hares. It is said, "The stone with the image of three hares, previously adorned the old village well, now stands beside the town hall."[31] Hasloch is in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany.[32]
- Hares and rabbits have appeared as a representation or manifestation of various Rabbits in the arts.
- Tinners' Rabbits is the name of a Border Morris dance of many forms involving use of sticks and rotation of three, six or nine dancers.[37][38]
- The hare is rarely used in British armory; but "Argent, three hares playing bagpipes gules" belongs to the FitzErcald family of ancient Derbyshire.[39] Parenthetically, in heraldry the "Coney", that is the rabbit, is more common than the hare.[39] Three coneys appear in the crests of the families: Marton, co. Lincoln; Bassingthorpe co. Lincoln; Gillingham co. Norfolk and Cunliffe co. Lancashire.[40]
- Ushaw College (St Cuthbert's College, Ushaw) is a Roman Catholic seminary which includes "Three coneys" in its crest. This adornment is from the family coat of arms of William Allen.
- The French crest of the family Pinoteau—dating from the first Baron Pinoteau (1814–1815) and which includes historian .
- Other coats of arms of English and Irish families have three conies or hares.[42]
- "Three Conies Inn" was the name of a 17th-century inn, and three rabbits feeding was used as a motif on the obverse of its trade token.[43] "The property is believed to date from at least the 17th century; the stone sundial above the former front door shows the date 1622. One of the earliest documented references to the property is an advertisement for the sale of a dwelling in the Northampton Mercury in September 1738. The 1777 Militia List also refers to the 'Three Coneys'".[44]
- Among hunters, a collection of three hares ("a
- The cover art for alternative rock band AFI's album Decemberunderground features three hares, albeit in a different configuration.
See also
- Borromean rings
- Flag of Sicily – Flag of the Italian region of Sicily, a similar flag with a triskelion
- Flag of the Isle of Man – National flag
- List of fictional hares and rabbits
- Moon gazing hare– Genus of mammals in the family Leporidae
- Moon rabbit – Mythical creature in Asian folklore who lives on the Moon
- Polycephaly – Condition of having more than one head, sharing of heads, body parts
- Rabbit rabbit– Superstition pertaining to the first day of a month , a British superstition
- Rabbits in the arts– Presence of rabbits and hares in the visual arts
- Rabbits in culture and literature – Mammals of the family Leporidae
- Reuleaux triangle – Curved triangle with constant width
- Sator Square – Word square with a Latin palindrome, a rotating palindrome meme
- The Three Rabbits – Animation studio in Budapest, Hungary, a Hungarian animated short film
- Three Rabbit Islands – group of three uninhabited small islands off the north coast of Sutherland, Scotland in Tongue Bay , in Scotland
- Three wise monkeys
- Three Wolf Moon – T-shirt with three wolves howling at the Moon, triptych of wolves
- Triple deity – Three deities that are worshipped as one
- Yin yang symbol– Chinese philosophical symbol representing two opposites combined as one
References
Footnotes
- ^ At the Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, above the northern door, is a small stained glass roundel, only a few inches in diameter. "The three hares window: a medieval mystery". 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-56871-312-0.
- ^
Arms Family Pinoteau:
- Rietstap gives: Quarterly, 1st silver, a lion sable armed and langued reds; to 2e gules, a silver sword adorned with gold and 3e gules, a sword of gold band and a rifle gold bars, in saltire; to 4e Silver, a chevron azure, with three rabbits sand stream.
- Borel Hauterive gives, in the Yearbook of the nobility of France and the royal houses of Europe, T. 21, Paris, 1865: Quarterly, 1st silver, a lion sable armed and langued reds; to 2e gules a sword high silver barons fair district military-3e gules, a sword and a rifle gold necklace set with (weapons of honor) to 4e Silver, a chevron azure, three rabbits with sand, which is Brumauld.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Chapman, Chris (2004). "The Three Hares Project". Retrieved 21 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Wonnenberg, Felice Naomi. "How do the rabbits get into the synagogue? From China via Middle East and Germany to Galizia: On the tracks of the ROTATING RABBITS SYMBOL". googlepages.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ "Miniature sculptures of Tinners' Rabbits, ca. 1300)". Finestoneminiatures.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Tinner's Rabbits sculpture, Art that Matters". Artmatters.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- ^ Celtic knot Tattoo: border encircling Triple knotwork Hares by "WildSpiritWolf".
- ^ The "three hares motif from a window of the Paderborn cathedral cloister (Unity and Trinity as a symbol of the Trinity, the central mystery of faith of the Catholic Church and the whole of Christendom)". Coat of Arms, Bishop Paul-Werner Scheele, Bischof von Würzburg 1979–2003. See Ecclesiastical heraldry.
- ^ Summer, Thomas (17 March 2013). "Three Hares Window: I visited the 1200 year old University and Cathedral city of Paderborn, the second largest but most beautiful city in the East Westphalia-Lippe region" (video). Thomas Summer Production/YouTube. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ a b Greeves, Tom; Andrews, Sue; Chapman, Chris (26 October 2006). "From China to Widecombe: The Extraordinary Journey of The Three Hares". Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Chapman, Chris; Wei, Zhang; Rasmussen, Peter (August 2004). "The Three Rabbits in China". Adapted from a presentation at the International Conference on Grottoes Research. Dunhuang China. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ^ a b c The Travels of the Three Rabbits: Shared Iconography Across the Silk Road, International Dunhuang Project Newsletter No. 18. Archived 2010-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2.
- ISBN 9781932476132.
- ^ "The Three Hares". Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ "Chasing Hares". BBC. 16 November 2004. Archived from the original on 12 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ Tom Greeves. "The Three Hares". Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d Chapman, Chris. "What does the Symbol Mean?". Three Hares Project. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012.
- ^ a b c d Singmaster, David (August 2004). "The Three Rabbits and Similar Puzzles". threehares.net. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ Sandles, Tim (23 November 2007). "The Tinner's Rabbits". Legendary Dartmoor. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ "The archaeology of Cheshire West and Chester in ten objects".
- ^ "Three Hares at Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, four hares, and three hares and three wolves, elsewhere. photographs and drawing". Fourhares.com. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- ^ Terrier, Michel; Greeves, Tom; Andrew, Sue (9 September 2007). "Trois lièvres à oreilles communes" [Three hares and their ears commune] (Blog) (in French). Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ Shackle, Eric (2006). "Three Hares Share Three Ears". Sydney, Australia. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Three Hares as representation of the Trinity". Threehares.blogspot.com. 25 February 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ISSN 1357-4442. Archived from the originalon 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- ^ "Do rabbits really chew their cud". Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ^ Gruber, Ruth Ellen. "A Tribe of Stones: The Sataniv Cemetery". Web.mac.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ Gruber, Ruth Ellen. "The Power of Jewish Tombstones". Travelling with Ruth Ellen Gruber (Blog). Centropa.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Three hares puzzle". Southwestcrafts.co.uk. 20 July 2007. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ISBN 978-2-08-081603-0. p. 134.
- ^ Wappen Hasloch from source.
- ^ "Wappen Hasloch". Hdbg.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
- ^ Detail on Hasloch.
- ^ Simon, Terri. "Finnish Magic and the Old Gods" (pdf). The Nomadic Chantry of the Gramarye. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ Windling, Terri (2005). "The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares". Endicott Studio. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "The Great Hare". Community-2.webtv.net. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Nanabozho". Accessgenealogy.com. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Choreography, Tinners Rabbits dance" (PDF). Breathless in Berthoud Border Morris. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Video, Tinners Rabbits dance". Weblo.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-60239-001-0.
- ^ Burke, John; Burke, Sir John Bernard (1851). Encyclopædia of heraldry: or General armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ Hervé Pinoteau. French Wikipedia.
- ^ Papworth, John Woody; Morant, Alfred W. (1874). Coats of Arms Belonging to Family in Great Britain and Ireland: An alphabetical dictionary of coats of arms belonging to families Ordinary of British Armorials. Vol. 1. London: T. Richards. p. 159. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ ingen Briain meic Donnchada, Mari (Kathleen M. O'Brien) (9 February 2009). "English Sign Names From 17th Century Tradesman's Tokens". Medieval Scotland. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ "Three Conies Inn". Thorpe Mandeville: Thorpe-Mandeville yesterday. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ Noah Webster, "Leash" Dictionary, 1828.
- Merriam Websteronline.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition.
Further reading
- Dunhuang Research Academy (2006). Jinshi Fan. ed. China Dunhuang. Nanjing: Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House. ISBN 7-5344-2082-2. Photography by Wu Jian, including Caves #305 and #407.
- Goepper, Roger. (1996) Alchi: Ladakh's Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary: The Sumtsek. London: Serindia Publications. ISBN 978-1-57062-240-3. Photos of the three hares on Maitreya's dhoti.
- Goepper, Roger. The "Great Stupa at Alchi" in Artibus Asiae, Vol. LIII 1/2 (1993), pp. 111–43.
- Dunhuang Research Academy (2005). Wenjie Duan; Fan, Jinshi. ed. 敦煌石窟全集. 1, 再现敦煌. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (H.K.) Ltd. ISBN 962-07-5299-6.
- Shackle, Eric, Eric Shackle's e-book: Three Hares Share Three Ears.
- Simpson, Geoffrey (6 February 2018). The Three Hares: Bloodline. Three Hares Series. Vol. 1 (Illustrated ed.). Canton, Georgia: thewordverve Incorporated. ISBN 978-1948225182.
- Ueckermann, Erhard: Das Hasensymbol am Dom zu Paderborn, im Kloster Hardehausen, in der Kathedralkirche St. Paulus in Münster und der Klosterkirche Haina. In: Zeitschrift für Jagdwissenschaft 41 (1995), S. 285–29.
- Tan Chung, Editor. (1994) Dunhuang Art: Through the Eyes of Duan Wenjie. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. ISBN 81-7017-313-2.
- Whitfield, Susan. (2004) The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. London: The ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2.
- Windling, Terri. The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares.[usurped]
- Xizang Zizhiqu (1991) wenwu guanli weiyuanhui. Guge gucheng (The Site of the Ancient Guge Kingdom). Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, with photos of four hares and other impossible shared-body images.
External links
- Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe.
- Glyph of four hares sharing four ears at Basilius Valentinus's alchemicalworks and his Venus image.
- Painting of three hares
- Painting by Charlie Farrow of the three hares, Terri Windling benefit auction 2011
- Jackie Morris water colour painter/illustrator/author and winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and Tir na n-Og Award, Painting of three hares Archived 21 April 2013 at archive.today.
- Three deer knot (sharing legs in a rotational logo)
- Three hares radio program. BBC Radio.
- Wikimedia commons, Hares in heraldry