Double Happiness (; ) sometimes translated as Double Happy, is a Chinese traditional ornament design, commonly used as a decoration symbol of marriage. Outside of China, it is also used in the United States, Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia by members of the Overseas Chinese and Vietnamese communities.
Characteristics Double Happiness is a ligature, "" composed of – two copies of the Chinese character () meaning joy, compressed to assume the square shape of a standard Chinese character (much as a real character may consist of two parts). It is pronounced simply as or as a polysyllabic Chinese character, being read as ().
Typically the character "" is written in Chinese calligraphy, and frequently appears on traditional decorative items, associated with marriage. The double happiness symbol is often found all over wedding ceremonies, as well as on gift items given to the bride and groom. The color of the character is usually red, gold, and occasionally black.
Since 2017, the version 10 of the Unicode Standard features a rounded version of the character in the "Enclosed Ideographic Supplement" block, at code point .
In popular culture Nowadays (Wade-Giles: ) is used as a brand name for things like fashion, jewelry, cigarettes, matches, soy sauce, etc. It is also featured as decoration on many items by Hong Kong luxury brand Shanghai Tang.
Hong Kong lifestyle retail store G.O.D. designs many products themed with the double happiness symbol, including scented candles, accessories and Ming-inspired tableware and tea sets.
Gallery
See also Fu character (), also a common good-luck decorative design Lu character (), a Chinese character symbolizing prosperity Shou character (), a Chinese character symbolizing longevity Xi character (), a Chinese character symbolizing happiness
References
External links
The Story of the Chinese Character: Double Happiness