Gourd is the fruit of a kind of liana.When fresh and tender,it could be eaten as vegetable;when dried,it makes an ideal container of water or wine.Northern Chinese farmers have the habit of cutting a gourd in two to be used wine containers or ladles.Our ancestors fashioned the gourd into a wind instrument known as sheng,and the wayfarers loved to carry drugs in a gourd.This gave rise to the old platitude:"I don't know what he has got in his gourd."Meaning somebody is wondering what's up somebody else's sleeves.
Because the gourd liana is prolific in bronze mirrors from a Han tomb dating back to 3,000 years ago.This is a rare case in which gourds were used as burial objects.
In some areas,men and women in love are still observing the Mid-Autumn Festival tradition to steal gourds from the fields with the desire to have as many children as possible after they get married.
