Chinese language may be easier for learner of beginners, but if you really want to understand Chinese culture, you must know these 5 words. If you can understand the meaning behind these words, your Chinese friends will admire you very much.
What are these 5 words? They are“福Good Fortune”、“祿High Salary”、“壽Longevity”、“喜Happiness”、“財Wealth”. Did your teacher introduce you to these Chinese characters when you were learning Chinese?
Auspicious culture is one of China’s unique traditional cultures, representing the blessings and expectations of the common people for a better life. There are many auspicious cultures in China, praying for the prosperity of the family, health and longevity, successful career, seclusion of evil and disaster, and peace and smoothness, etc.. These are the combination of various good intentions, and the favorite of Chinese people.
福Good Fortune
“Good Fortune” culture has a long history in China, and it is also the most commonly used auspicious language. Everyone likes blessings, and everyone hopes to have good luck. Many common objects also have blessings written on them, and every Chinese New Year family pastes blessings on their doors.
In addition to expressing blessings intuitively in the form of words, it also has some typical symbolic patterns, the most representative of which is the bat (蝙蝠 bian fu) . The bat (蝙蝠 bian fu) has the same pronunciation as the word “福 Fu”, it means blessings are everywhere. You can see it on many royal items.
祿High Salary
“High Salary” refers to fame and fortune. In ancient times, it was mainly to bless candidates to be named in the emperor list in the imperial examinations, and to be promoted to rank in the officialdom.
The symbol of “祿High Salary” is the Sika deer, the Sika deer is an auspicious beast, which is a metaphor for “祿High Salary”. Because “福Good Fortune” and “祿High Salary” Salary often appear together, gourd is often used to imply “福祿 Fu Lu”.
First, because the homonym of the gourd is similar to “Fu Lu”, and at the same time, the gourd belly is large and full, and it is filled with many things, which is in line with people’s expectations of more blessings.
壽Longevity
“壽Longevity” is the most common blessing other than “福Good Fortune”. From emperors to ordinary peoples, they all have a persistent pursuit of longevity. In today’s society, healthy and longevity is the greatest expectation children have of their parents and elders.
There are many symbols of longevity, and the commonly used intentional images are Turtle (longevity Turtle), Red-crowned crane (longevity fairy bird), Peach (longevity peach), Pine tree (everlasting green), and longevity stone (auspicious decorative stone).
喜Happiness
“Happiness” is auspicious and festive. The newlyweds, the housewarming, being named on the emperor list, having a son… There are many things in life that are worthy of congratulations. Festive means joy and celebration, along with happiness and laughter, everyone likes a festive atmosphere.
Dragon and phoenix are the most ancient symbols of celebration. “Prosperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix” means auspicious and festive, and are often used to celebrate weddings. If the word is used in marriage and love, it is usually written as “囍”, which is said to originate from Wang Anshi. (Click here to see the article about “囍”). In addition, the common symbol of happiness is the Magpie, which means that a happy event is coming.
財Wealth
“Wealth” can be said to be a national culture regardless of race or belief. Living in the secular world, food and wealth, wealth and glory are the goals of many people’s hard work.Wealth is a secular and real necessity, it can guarantee our daily life, and then we can have more ambitious and high-level pursuits.
The direct expressions of “wealth” include Copper Cash, treasure bowl, Cash Tree, etc. The traditional Chinese mythical animal Pixiu (貔貅) is also a typical symbol of wealth. Pixiu (貔貅) is a common auspicious pattern that can promote wealth and prevent wealth leakage.
“福Good Fortune”、“祿High Salary”、“壽Longevity”、“喜Happiness”、“財Wealth”. They have rich cultural and artistic value, and is also a unique Chinese auspicious belief. If you can understand these cultural connotations and use them in daily life, you will be more and more popular with Chinese friends.
