The Chinese Unicorn

The time has come that our beloved logo needs some fresh inspiration. We wanted to express our dedication to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, the Five Elements and Dr. Wendy’s mixed Asian-American heritage.

We chose a Chinese chop (aka seal) with a unicorn along with the Chinese characters for Animal Doctor. As a nod to Dr.Wendy’s font loving father, we chose 2 cool fonts we knew he would love.

Why the Unicorn ? Who doesn’t love Unicorns ? but we chose it for the symbolism of the Chinese unicorn, the Qilin. 

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The Qilin symbolizes the fire element and is a chimera with gem-like scales on a horse shaped body, with a horned dragon like head, a lion’s tail and long hooved legs. They are heavenly creatures and have healing powers. 

The Qilin is the ancestor of all terrestrial mammals and along with the dragon, tortoise and phoenix resided in the garden of the Yellow Emperor. It is gentle and benevolent. It is said to walk just above the ground so as not to harm a blade of grass or any living creature however they can be powerful in the presence of evil doers to protect the innocent. 

Like the western unicorn, they can sense someone with a kind spirit and their horn can neutralize toxins. 

The Qilin symbolizes long life, joy, wisdom, fertility and successful children. Many Chinese families will have a Qilin statue in their house to bring good fortune and it should face towards the door to ward off negative energy. 

The Qilin are thought to assist souls on the journey between heaven and earth. Like the symbolism of the stork, they bring babies down from heaven and they can act as guardian angels to help guide the spirit to heaven after death. A Qilin was said to be seen just before the birth and death of Confucius.

We hope in our practice of TCVM, that we can bring long life, happiness and success to our patients and their families. 

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150521-meet-the-ten-real-life-unicorns