Menu
Who doesn’t want to be “lucky”?
Every culture, in their search for special “lucky charms”, has their own symbols that they believe will bring them good fortune.
There are tons of Chinese words and phrases that mean “lucky”, “auspicious”, or “happiness”: 吉祥如意 (jíxiáng rúyì), 喜气洋洋 (Xǐqìyángyáng), 福气 (fúqi), 吉利(jílì), just to name a few. 吉祥(jíxiáng) can be translated into “auspicious”, and you can easily find the word 喜(Xǐ) in weddings and 福(fú) in couplets in almost every house in China! In fact, you can hear lots of these lucky words especially on Chinese New Year, when people wish good luck to their family and friends.
Today, let’s take a look at five Chinese “lucky aspects” that are seen as bringers of good fortune in Chinese culture. We will discover lucky colors, animals, puns, and numbers. We will also help you know how to express and understand these lucky images in Mandarin.
Animals figure prominently in feng shui and in Chinese lore. Although the dragon is widely known, there are other animals that are less well known but whose influence creates great luck and good fortune. Below is a listing of animals and their feng shui meanings. Placing one of these animals in your home or office can often bring you business opportunities, improve your health or help you. In fact, you can hear lots of these lucky words especially on Chinese New Year, when people wish good luck to their family and friends. Today, let’s take a look at five Chinese “lucky aspects” that are seen as bringers of good fortune in Chinese culture. We will discover lucky colors, animals, puns, and numbers.
1. The color Red (红色 / hóngsè)
Red is seen as a national color. Bovada connection issues. The preference for red is deeply rooted in Chinese culture; it represents power, status, and confidence to ancient Chinese royalty, while to ordinary people, red means happiness, wealth, prosperity, and good luck.
The traditional Chinese wedding (婚礼 / Hūnlǐ) dress and decorations are all in red since weddings represent happiness. Also, you can see “double Xǐ” (双喜, or 囍 / shuāngxǐ) red papercuts taped everywhere during the wedding, even in the newlyweds’ room!
Nowadays, however, Chinese weddings tend to be more “western”. Brides may wear a white dress instead of traditional red ones, but red is still an important element. It’s a norm, for example, that the guests invited to the wedding would give out red envelopes (红包/ hóngbāo) to the newlyweds. The amount of the money in red envelops should also be an even number that includes six or eight (more on lucky numbers later).
If you’ve ever visited a Chinese-speaking country, you may notice there also are long red papers taped along the doors with Chinese words on them. These long red papers are called Spring Festival couplets, or “春联 (chūnlián)” in Chinese. The sentences on the couplets vary, but they pretty much all express wishes for a happy, prosperous, and safe year. They often sound like blessings (expressed as phrases or words) such as safety (平安 / píng’ān), good wishes (如意 / rúyì), or family happiness (全家福 / quánjiāfú).
Chinese Good Luck Animals
2.Dragon (龙 / lóng)
We know that in many western countries, dragons are portrayed as evil, feral, and cruel monsters. In western movies or artwork, dragons are usually “villains”, trying to kill people by breathing fire on them. However, in Chinese culture, dragons have a totally opposite image. Juegos de diamond.
“In the Ancient East there is a dragon, her name is China.
In the Ancient East there is a group of people, they are all the heirs of the dragon.”
The classical Chinese song “The Heirs of the Dragon” (龙的传人 / lóng de chuánrén) shows the Chinese people’s reverence toward dragons; they see themselves as descendants of dragons. Dragons in Chinese culture represent the greatest royalty, strength, prosperity, and auspiciousness. The ancient Emperors of China were identified as the sons of dragons.
You may have heard of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, in which the “Dragon” is one of them. Although dragons are imaginary creatures, their images and values mean a lot to Chinese people. The concept of “dragons” still deeply influences modern Chinese culture. As an example, the birth rate in every “Dragon year” always increases and is relatively much higher than other zodiac years. The reason is that parents always want to have “dragon babies”, born during the Year of the Dragon. What’s more, people just love the word “dragon” (龙 / lóng)! It has become a popular name, especially for boys. For instance, famous Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan’s stage name is “Sing Long” (成龙), and Bruce Lee’s is “Lee Siu Long” (李小龙).
3. Tortoise (乌龟 / wūguī)
The tortoise or turtle is known as a long-lived animal, so it has an image of both longevity (长寿 / chángshòu) and also auspiciousness. As you can see in the Chinese-featured animation film Kung Fu Panda, the character “Master Oogway” is super old and intelligent, and is highly respected by others.
There are “Four Benevolent Animals”(四灵 / Sì Líng) in Chinese culture, which includes the Qilin (麒麟/ qílín), the Dragon, the Turtle, and the Phoenix (凤凰/ fènghuáng). Interestingly, among these four benevolent animals, only the turtle is an actual animal, while the others are imaginary.
In addition to longevity, turtles are believed to have spiritual powers, and since they can live in both water and on the land, they are considered practical and closer to ordinary people. It’s also common for Chinese fortune tellers to use turtles’ shells to practice divination.
![Chinese Good Luck Animals Chinese Good Luck Animals](https://img.17qq.com/images/fjhbboipifz.jpeg)
4. Chinese Puns
In the Chinese language, there are loads of interesting homophonic or double-entendre words. Chinese people love to use these puns in their daily lives, and it has become an important part of the culture. In particular, people love to take homophonic meanings and connect them as lucky words.
For example, during Chinese New Year, there are many lucky words and blessings all around. One of the lucky phrases, “年年有余” (Nián nián yǒuyú), means “the hope to have surplus wealth or good things every year.” 余 (yú) means “surplus”, and has the same sound as 鱼 (yú), which means fish. Therefore, to have fish on the table for meals during Chinese New Year means greater luck.
This is the same for 团圆 (tuányuán), meaning “a reunion of loved ones.” The word 圆 (yuán) means “circle or round”, so in Chinese culture, dining tables are usually round tables. To celebrate New Year, Chinese family members would thus have a reunion meal called 团圆饭 (tuányuán fàn). Also, the fruit “orange (桔子 / júzi)” has similar sound to luck (吉/ jí), so you will often find oranges on the table during Chinese festivals.
5. Lucky number
Just like the “lucky 7” in western culture, Chinese culture has lucky numbers, too. 6 and 8 are commonly recognized as good numbers. Why? It’s all about homophones again.
The Chinese pronunciation of six (六 / liù) sounds like “flow”(流 / liú), so the blessing phrase 六六大顺 (Liùliù dà shùn) means “everything flows smoothly”. Eight in Chinese, 八 (bā), rhymes with 发 (fā), which means prosperity and wealth. Therefore, it’s popular among companies or individuals to apply for phone numbers or car license plates to include the number 8.
9 is also seen as a lucky and auspicious number as. Nine, or 九 (jiǔ) in Chinese, has a similar sounding phrase: 长长久久 (Zhǎng cháng jiǔjiǔ), which means “forever, ever-lasting, and longevity”. Therefore, it’s common to see people prepare 99 roses to give to their lovers, which symbolizes “ever-lasting love”.
To sum up, there are many aspects and interpretations for good luck in the Chinese culture. They are mostly derived from ancient times and still take on an important role in people’s daily lives today. The lucky colors, numbers, animals, traditional customs, or use of language, are quite unique and interesting, and they contribute to the culture’s charm.
Here’s wishing you good luck!
Feng Shui can be defined as the art of improving the general outlook of your home or the office, and it is typically a combination of Chinese art, science as well as intuition.
Photos By: Summer Thornton Design, Inc.
This is a decorative work that has gained popularity in China, and it has the ability to improve your view of life by making your interiors appealing thereby triggering positive energy. It not only deals with adding features into your interior space but also gets rid of any unnecessary clatter and downsizes the home in a perfect way that’s guaranteed to leave it more appealing.
Some of the common Feng Shui animal symbols for luck and protection are the Feng Shui Dragon, Foo Dogs, Chin Lin, a tortoise, an elephant, Dzi beads, eyes, a lucky cat and a Feng Shui Ganesh.
The Feng Shui Dragon is an auspicious and powerful traditional Feng Shui animal symbol of male or yang energy. In the claw of the Feng Shui dragon, a crystal or pearl symbolizes plenty of opportunities, power and wealth.
Foo Dogs are one of the best protection symbols of Feng Shui. They are also known as Imperial Chinese Guardian Lions. The Chinese Foo Dogs were in the past placed in front of government offices, temples and imperial palaces. This meant that these places were highly secure, holy and anyone who came around was assured of being safe. The Foo Dogs are also traditionally used as a Feng Shui symbol which means social status, family and wealth. They’re mostly placed in the front before you enter any stunning home. Whenever you see this symbol outside of a home you know it’s an extravagantly decorated home and is very secure.
Chin Lin is a mythical Chinese creature which has the scales of the carp fish, the body of a horse and the head of the dragon. This creature is also called the Chinese unicorn and a dragon horse. The Chi Lin is meant to bring protective and strong Feng Shui energy
The tortoise is one of the four guardian or celestial animals in the Feng Shui symbols. These are used as a symbol of protection.
The elephant is traditionally used as a Feng Shui symbol which means fertility, wisdom, good luck and protection. The elephant trunk had a unique language of its own. When the elephant’s trunk is facing up that symbolizes good luck and can spread positive energy throughout your home or office.
Dzi beads mean splendor, clearness, brightness and shine. In the interpretation of the Chinese Dzi it means the heaven’s pearls.
Chinese Good Luck Animal Symbols
The eye image has been one of the powerful and strongest symbols in many of the traditional creatures. Many people see the eye as a protective, all-seeing and a vigilant symbol that’s often in front of offices and homes. Is today my lucky day horoscope. Some people will wear jewelry which has the design of an eye meaning they’re safe and protected.
![Chinese Chinese](https://www.theastrologyweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Bee-Symbolism-Spirit-Animal-Dream.jpg)
In Feng Shui the lucky cat can be compared to the Ganesh. Both of these symbols were from the cultures outside the Chinese community since the Ganesh is from the Indian culture while the lucky cat is from the Japanese culture. These two symbols have become famous among the enthusiasts and practitioners of the Feng Shui symbols.
Chinese Bad Luck Animals
Feng Shui symbols not only improve the appearance of your space but also have a way of helping you out of your stagnating lifestyle, love life and even career through the provision of energy. You will find that the bad energy goes away as soon as these symbols are placed in your home or office. They have helped many people get over the negative situations they feel are becoming too much for them to handle.