Plums have always been a special symbol within Chinese culture, associated with social and cultural aspects, ethics, beliefs and traditions. This article delves into the figurative motivation and symbolism of plums in Chinese idioms, proverbs and lexicon. We base our study on Dobrovol'skij and Piirainen’s Cognitive Theory of Figurative Language (2005). To accurately understand these figurative expressions, it is necessary to look into where they came from and the culture they were born from.