THE CHINESE CHARACTER 福 (FU) SHOULD NOT BE PASTED UPSIDE DOWN
Caller: As Lunar New Year approaches, many people paste the Chinese character 福 (‘fu’ which means blessings or fortune) and Spring Festival couplets as a tradition. Is there anything to note in particular?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Yes. The Chinese character 福 (fu) should not be pasted upside down.
Caller: Can we not paste it?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Well, that’s fine too. You may as well do away with it if you choose to paste it upside down. The reason being, there will be ‘proper’ blessings only when the character is written upright.
How did the upside-down pasting come about? In the past, the Cantonese regarded by doing so as ‘the arrival of fortunes’, because the Chinese characters for ‘upside down’ (倒 dao) and ‘arrive’ (到 dao) are homophonous. Think about it, when you paste it upside down, you are literally ‘overturning’ your entire fortune simply for the sake of the auspicious pun, which will not even be vocalised. Just take a look at those who do so, how many of them are actually making a fortune?
Caller: So it’s not good?
Master Jun Hong Lu: That’s for sure.
Source: Wenda20120115 77:07, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program