Pasting the word \”福\” upside down means \”luck has arrived\”? After reading this, please post it again

When posting the Chinese character \”Fu\” on New Year\’s Eve, should I post it upright or upside down?

This issue has always been controversial. Some folklore experts believe that the word \”福\” should be pasted upright. The so-called \”posting the word \”Fu\” upside down is homophonic to \”福来\”\” is a New Year custom that has only become popular in recent years; if you want to trace back to the old tradition, you should also affix the word \”福\” upright. The word \”blessing\”.

Packing peach charms and spring cards made of red paper on doors became popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties. \”Meng Liang Lu\” of the Song Dynasty has records of \”drawing peach charms\” and \”spring greeting cards\”; \”Yutang Miscellaneous Notes\” of the Song Dynasty also records the text content of the \”spring cards\”, including the words \”Fu Lu Shou\” and \”One Wealth and Two Happinesses\”. Of course, these peach charms, spring cards, etc. are all posted directly. Usually, it is posted on the eve of the New Year, so there is a poem that says, \”Thousands of households always replace old talismans with new peaches\”.

So, why should we post it directly? One of the reasons is that \”horizontally, vertically\” and \”uprightly\” are the characteristics of Chinese characters, and the Chinese character \”福\” is affixed during the Spring Festival, which means \”welcoming the spring and receiving blessings\”. It represents a very solemn wish, so it is natural to affix it correctly. In particular, the word \”福\” on the door must be posted dignifiedly and generously. Usually, the word \”福\” on the door is also the largest.

Of course, in the folk customs of some areas, there are also some places where the word \”福\” needs to be pasted upside down, such as water tanks, trash cans, etc. Because when using these two items, there is a \”pour\” action. In order to avoid pouring out the blessings, the word \”福\” is pasted upside down to homophonize \”blessing arrives\”.

In some areas, \”positive blessing\” is posted on the door, while \”bad blessing\” is posted on the door, cabinet door, etc. inside the house, which means that all the blessings have come to the home. It\’s a bit like \”don\’t let the rich water flow to outsiders\’ fields\”.

However, judging from actual life, nowadays the word \”福\” posted on the front and the character \”福\” posted upside down are very common, especially in commercial places. It seems that the word \”福\” which is homophonic to \”福来\” is more common. Many, is this a misunderstanding of folk customs?

Tian Zhaoyuan, a professor at the Institute of Folklore of East China Normal University, expressed his understanding of this phenomenon and believed that the word \”福\” reversed has become popular in recent years. It is a diverse expression and a unique phenomenon of Chinese phonetic homophony. It is a more straightforward expression of New Year’s wishes, “Folklore is an expression of people’s wishes and a reflection of creativity. Just like on Christmas Eve in the West, many people are now popular in giving apples, which is homophonic to \’peace\’, but this is not popular and impossible in the West. It is only because of the homophonic meaning in Chinese that a new carrier has been found for expressing holiday expressions. \” Therefore, he feels that there is no need to worry too much about whether the word \”福\” is posted directly or backward. \”In short, these are all expectations for happiness.\”

Column editor: Ren Chong Text editor: Ren Chong Source of title picture: Da Xi Photography

Source: Author: Ren Chong