Fai chun
fai chun traditional chinese 揮春 simplified chinese 挥春 pinyin huīchūn chunlian 春聯 春联 chūnlián traditional decoration frequently used chinese new year people put fai chun doorway create optimistic festive atmosphere since phrase written refer good luck prosperity customarily written hand convenience printed version massproduced may either square rectangular shape popularly used greater china also korea japan vietnam fai chun originated taofu 桃符 peach wood charm ancient time peachwood charm long piece wood hung peach tree seven eight inch long slightly one inch wide according legend peach tree east china sea gate ghost passed underworld world living two god shentu yulei responsible guarding gate ghost traveling world night time required return underworld early morning believed two god could dispel demon harm human night time people therefore used peach wood make two puppet two god put entrance home order protect family early han dynasty people found hard complicated make puppet simplified puppet two peach wood board drew portrait god later people simply wrote name god piece peach wood hung side door around tang dynasty commoner longer wrote name god add blessing symbolize good fortune well express hope best wish new year since ming dynasty piece peach wood replaced square red paper another story related fai chun history according legend monster lived deep sea lionlike head oxlike body named nian 年 around new year scared villager eating crop livestock even villager one time rampage nian seen running away house red shirt hanging outside later light consequently villager discovered monster afraid red color loud noise flaming light since every new year people paste red couplet outside house let firecracker firework order scare monster away nian went back sea people would come celebrate new year became tradition every year people keep pasting red couplet every year called fai chun traditional fai chun bright red color black gold character inscribed brush similar color fire red color chosen scare legendary fierce barbarous beast “nian” ate villagers’ crop livestock even villager eve new year past fai chun presented xuan paper fine soft texture enables vivid dynamic artistic expression chinese calligraphy age technology city dweller seldom write fai chun instead purchase stationery store shopping mall wide diversity style offered thanks advancement technology fai chun printed multiple color commercialization fai chun seen animated character used attract child sparkling decoration used attract adult moreover material fai chun limited mere paper fai chun made cloth plastic layer cardboard quite common nevertheless practice writing fai chun continues traditional area particularly walled village type fai chun follows doufang 斗方 square angle point four cardinal point owing limited space type fai chun display one character “chun” 春 spring “man” 滿 full “fu” 福 good fortune “man” stuck rice bin refrigerator hoping abundant food “fu” always hung inverted center door purpose reason behind superstition homonymy mandarin word “inverted” 倒 “arrival” 到 suggests arrival happiness good fortune combined word nonexistent word encompasses part chinese character also common chuntiao 春條 vertical horizontal rectangle carry two four chinese character auspicious phase expressed based various context example “gōngxǐ fācái” 恭喜發財 ubiquitous phrase wish people become affluent seen occasion regarding workplace “cáiyuán gǔngǔn” 財源滾滾 merchandise turn like wheel term suggest prosperity home “niánnián yǒuyú” 年年有餘 surplus yearafteryear deemed wish excess family possession end year child usually paste “xuéyè jìnbù” 學業進步 progress study bedroom door hoping higher form position coming academic year elderly hang “lóng mǎ jīngshén” 龍馬精神 spirit dragon horse conceived able shelter disease chunlian 春聯 duilian typically seven character two side door frame whose content related chinese new year lexical tonal rule always adhered though strictly chunlian transformed metrical poem sometimes concurrently horizontal scroll four five character hung crosspiece door content express wish homeowner upcoming year besides hung door frame chunlian necessary item unfurled end dragon dance