Customs of Spring Festival: Reversed Fu 春节民俗之贴“福”字

每逢新春佳节，家家户户都要在屋门上、墙壁上、门楣上贴上大大小小的“福”字。春节贴“福”字，是中国民间由来已久的风俗。
During the Spring Festival, the Chinese people paste various sized reversed Fu on the door, wall and door head. This custom has prevailed in China for a long time.
“福”字现在的解释是“幸福”，而在过去则指“福气”、“福运”。春节贴“福”字，无论是现在还是过去，都寄托了人们对幸福生活的向往，也是对美好未来的祝愿。民间为了更充分地体现这种向往和祝愿，干脆将“福”字倒过来贴，表示“幸福已到”“福气已到”。
Now, Fu is interpreted as happiness, while it referred to good luck in the past. Either in the past or now, pasting Fu in the Spring Festival represents people’s wishes for a happy life and best wishes for the future. In order to fully express these aspirations and wishes, people directly paste reversed Fu to represent the arriving of happiness and luck.
民间还有将“福”字精描细做成各种图案的，图案有寿星、寿桃、鲤鱼跳龙门、五谷丰登、龙凤呈祥等。过去民间有“腊月二十四，家家写大字”的说法，“福”字以前多为手写，现在市场、商店中均中出售。
Chinese people design all kinds of Fu patterns, such as God of Longevity, birthday peach, jumping carp, good harvest, prosperous dragon and phoenix. In the past, there was a convention writing Fu on the 24th of the 12th lunar month. In the past, Fu was written by hand. Now, there are plenty of Fu patterns sold in the market and stores.
据说，“福”字倒贴的习俗来自清代恭亲王府。一年春节前夕，大管家为讨主子欢心，照例写了许多个“福”字让人贴于库房和王府大门上，有个家人因不识字，误将大门上的“福”字贴倒了。
It’s heard that the convention of reversed Fu originated from the mansion of Prince Gong. One year, on Chinese New Year’s Eve, to please the master, the butler of Prince Gong wrote plentiful Fu characters in pieces of red paper as usual, which were to be pasted on the doors and warehouses. An illiterate servant made a mistake. He pasted a reversed Fu on the main door.
为此，恭亲王福晋十分恼火，多亏大管家能言善辩，跪在地上奴颜婢膝地说：“奴才常听人说，恭亲王寿高福大造化大，如今大福真的到（倒）了，乃吉庆之兆。”
The wife of Prince Gong was annoyed when she found that. To protect the servant, the witty butler kneed down and said to his mistress: “Madam, I often hear people saying that the gods bless Prince Gong. And now Fu is reversed which means the blessings are arriving. It is an auspicious omen.”
福晋听罢心想，怪不得过往行人都说恭亲王府福到（倒）了，吉语说千遍，金银增万贯，一高兴，便重赏了管家和那个贴倒福的家人。
The word reverse (倒) in Chinese pronounces the same with arrive (到). At his flattering words, the mistress thought: “Then that’s why all the passersby say Fu (blessings) is arriving (reversed) in the mansion of Prince Gong. The more auspicious words I heard, the more wealth I would attain.” She felt pleased and rewarded both the servant and the butler.
事后，倒贴“福”字之俗就由达官府第传入百姓人家，并都愿过往行人或顽童念叨几句：“福到了，福到了！”
Later, the convention of reversed Fu spread to ordinary households from official mansions. People liked to hear the passersby or naughty boys saying “Fu is arriving (reversed).”