What is "fu"?

http://english.people.com.cn/200601/25/eng20060125_238295.html

      What is "fu"? 
               


           
            A big decoration bearing Chinese character "Fu", meaning blessing 
or good fortune, is suspended in a shopping center in Shenyang, capital of 
northeast China's Liaoning Province, Jan. 15, 2006. 
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      When it comes to the Chinese lunar New Year big, red Chinese characters 
of fu (which means happiness and blessings) are posted outside each house 
whether in the bustling cities or remote villages. So what is fu? Several 
interpretations can be given. 

      Fu is being affluent 

      People look forward to being affluent and loathe being poor and this has 
been the case from of old. Liu Xi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) explained 
in the book Shiming (explanation of terms) that fu is being rich. 

      The character fu was once regarded as a family's amulet to keep clear of 
the god of poverty in folklore. It is said Jiang Taigong (Lu Wang) who had the 
power to apotheosize people had been snubbed and abandoned by his wife for 
being poor. She then came back to him after Jiang ascended to power not for 
reunion but for a place among the deities. Jiang made her the god of poverty 
and forbade her from visiting houses posted with the character fu. Learning 
this on the eve of New Year people posted fu outside each house to keep her 
from entering the house. 

      In more recent times people tried to derive the meaning of affluence from 
the structure of the character. A breakdown of the character into several parts 
can mean well clothed, well housed, employed, not worried by clothing and food, 
which together make for affluence or happiness. In this sense, the standard of 
fu (happiness) is that those wishing for shelter have the house, those wishing 
to cultivate have the field; that people have enough clothing and food, living 
a well-off life. Now that people have basically reached or surpassed the 
well-off level and can be said to have fu. 

      Fu is being able to avoid misfortunes 

      Another intention of posting the character fu is to ward off misfortunes. 
This custom can be traced back to the first emperor of Ming Dynasty Zhu 
Yuanzhang. 

      When traveling incognito in plain clothes one day Zhu spotted a crowd 
surrounding a painting. Looking at the painting closely he saw a bare-feet 
woman holding a big watermelon. For some reason he suspected people in the town 
were mocking his empress Ma and ordered a town-wide investigation on returning 
to his palace. 

      The painter as well as those watching the painting must be registered and 
were to be arrested for execution. To distinguish them he ordered "fu" be 
posted on the houses of those who did not watch and laugh at the painting. 

      The kind-hearted empress Ma learned of this and let all households in the 
town post fu on the door. A massacre was thus avoided. From then on people 
began to post fu when it is the lunar New Year not only on the door but also on 
the windows, trees and barns for luck. 

      Fu is health 

      The custom of posting "fu" has much to do with wishing for the arrival of 
"wu fu" (five kinds of fu). According to the Book of History fu means 
longevity, wealth, health and safety, belief in virtue and good end of life. So 
the so-called "wu fu", in the final analysis, is health. 

      The saying that health is not all, but the loss of health is the loss of 
all is absolutely right. Without health anything else, no matter how many one 
has them, is meaningless. Only those with a healthy body and mind can have a 
good start and good end of life. 

      Fu is having wine 

      According to some textual research the character fu is an associative 
compound. The oracle inscription form of the character fu is that of a man 
holding a vessel of wine with two hands. It is perhaps hard nowadays for people 
to understand why fu is having wine. However, in ancient times wine was very 
precious that only the high officials could afford to drink it. 

      Moreover, wine is closely related to festivals and celebrations, 
something festive. So when was the wine invented? Archeologists discovered 
4,000-year-old raw material and vessels for brewing beer in the Egyptian 
pyramid. China's Book of Songs records the ancestors brewing rice wine and 
drinking in celebration of harvest and longevity. Therefore, wine has taken a 
very important place in people's life and it makes sense that having wine is 
regarded as happiness. 

      By People's Daily Online 
     





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