Courtney and Tony have decided to move from Washington DC to Singapore. Check out our profiles for more blogging!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Moving to Singapore
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This Chinese character - "Double Happiness" - is composed of two characters for "happiness" side by side. It is supposed to bring a double dose of happiness to all around it.
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The Legend of "Double Happiness"
The Chinese character above as well as the blog title - "Double Happiness" - is a traditional symbol for weddings and was the theme for ours. Two characters for "happiness" are placed side by side. It is supposed to bring a double dose of happiness to all around it.
The association of the "Double Happiness" symbol with weddings is tied to an ancient Chinese story that involves a student traveling to the capital to take exams. He falls ill and takes refuge with an herbalist with a beautiful young daughter. They fall in love. As he leaves for exams, she gives him a poetry couplet to match that deals with a natural topic. The young man leaves. He gets the top scores on the exam and meets the emperor. The emperor chats with the young man and asks him to help him complete a poem. His girlfriend's couplet perfectly completes the emperor's poem. The young man is rewarded with a senior government position and the couple can have a gala wedding. To salute their luck they create a wall hanging with the happiness symbol doubled to show everyone their good fortune. You might even find that the ideogram resembles two people holding hands.
The association of the "Double Happiness" symbol with weddings is tied to an ancient Chinese story that involves a student traveling to the capital to take exams. He falls ill and takes refuge with an herbalist with a beautiful young daughter. They fall in love. As he leaves for exams, she gives him a poetry couplet to match that deals with a natural topic. The young man leaves. He gets the top scores on the exam and meets the emperor. The emperor chats with the young man and asks him to help him complete a poem. His girlfriend's couplet perfectly completes the emperor's poem. The young man is rewarded with a senior government position and the couple can have a gala wedding. To salute their luck they create a wall hanging with the happiness symbol doubled to show everyone their good fortune. You might even find that the ideogram resembles two people holding hands.
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