Pun design: Spider + descending from the sky Punning mechanism: ‘Zhi zhu (蜘蛛, spider)’ has a nickname ‘xi zi (蟢子)’ or ‘xi zhu (喜蛛)’ meaning the ‘lucky one’ or ‘lucky spider’. Its first character ‘xi 喜(蟢)’ for ‘happiness (good luck)’ …
The flying mammal bat is called bian fu (蝙蝠) in Chinese. Image of the bat including its various stylised forms are often used in Chinese art to express an auspicious meaning, as ‘蝠 fu’ in ‘蝙蝠’ puns on ‘福 fu’ …
Pun Design ： Writing brush + Ingot + Kui Xing Punning Details： -Writing brush 笔 bi is a pun on 必 bi meaning ‘certainly’ or ‘necessarily’; -Ingot 锭ding is homophonous with 定 ding meaning ‘surely’ or ‘inevitably’; – ‘kui’ refers …
Continue reading “You will certainly come out first in the imperial examinations”
Pun Design: Five + Bat + auspicious character of ‘Longevity 寿 or 壽’ Punning Details： – ‘蝠 fu’, the Chinese name for bats, puns on ‘福 fu’, meaning ‘good fortune’. – ‘wu fu 五蝠 five bats’, is homophonous with ‘wu …
Continue reading “May five blessings come your way on your birthday”
Pun Design ： Five + Boy + Fighting over + Helmet Punning Details： – The action of five (more or fewer) boys fighting over something refers to ‘夺 duo’. ‘Five’ is a function word. – ‘kui 盔 helmet’, is a …
Continue reading “May your five sons come out first in civil examinations”