pla kooy (ปลาโค่ย)

Thai name for the koi, a hybrid species of fish belonging to the family of Cyprinidae. It is a variety of carp (Cyprinus carpio), but with usually white and other, bright colour pigmentations (fig.). There are many different types, divided into 13 colour groupings, and each is known by its specific Japanese name. The most popular is disputably a white Tancho, i.e. a white carp with a red circle on its forehead, resembling the Japanese national flag. The word koi (鯉) is Japanese and simply means ‘carp’. Carp are seen as a symbol of success, as they gracefully swim upstream, and they have an average lifespan of 70 years. The term koi includes both the dull grey fish, as well as the brightly coloured varieties. The latter are often referred to as koi carp, but this is actually a combination of two words with the same meaning. In Japanese, the homophone koi (恋) means ‘love’ or ‘affection’ and koi carp are therefore seen as symbols of love and friendship. Due to this, they are frequently represented in iconography, often in pairs. Kuan Yin, the Mahayana Buddhist goddess of mercy, has a huge Koi Carp (fig.) as one of her mounts (fig.), which allegedly is able to subdue demons and malicious beings. Like this goddesses' compassionate nature, in Buddhism fish are generally likewise seen as symbols of eternally active compassion, which is represented by their ever-open eyes. In Japan, traditional country homes often have a built-in pool or water tank, that lies partly inside and partly outside the walls of the house and which contains ornamental carp. The pool is connected to an outdoor canal or stream that flows along the house and allows for a continuous input of fresh spring water that is piped straight into the basin. People clean their freshly picked vegetables in the pool and rinse out their cooking pots, allowing the carp to scour out the greasy or burned pots and eat the food leftovers. If the villagers would simply poor the food scraps back in the water, they risk polluting the whole village supply, yet this traditional filtering procedure, known as the riverside method, prevents them of doing so. See also goldfish. See also WILDLIFE PICTURES. 回