Upside down fire

[dgk3188]

hello friends!

i would just like confirmation that the upside down Chinese character for "fire" means "control" or "patience"

thank you!

[muyongshi]

That would not be true.

Fire is 火. Patience/Control would be 忍

[dgk3188]

so does that mean this middle sign means nothing?

http://www.wahlumpai.us/idx_images/the_altar.jpg

[muyongshi]

Well it is quite simply an upside down 火... don't know what the significance is though.

[dgk3188]

i see.

well, thank you very much for the clarification!

[smalldog]

Interesting post... many times here in Singapore I've gone past a sign pointing to something called "风火院" but with the 火 written upside down. Inspired by this thread, I cycled over this afternoon to check it out and take some photos (attached). A kind lady in the temple told me a bit about the place but seemed unsure why the 火 was upside down. She said something about it being a special place so the gods gave permission for it to be upside down. I can't find much on the web except for this which says it might be upside down to stop the fire coming alive.

Photos here:

[dgk3188]

very interesting. thank you for sharing that!

maybe it's a symbolic thing? showing an upside down fire sign as a means to represent control of the fire?

i study Wah Lum northern praying mantis and the picture i posted is the altar at my school