pendant has writing that I would like to know what it says

[William_]

I have a nice pendant that I've been wearing for about a year now, but I have no idea what the inscription on the back says - help please?

It's a pendant with a very nice 4-toe Dragon on the front. I'll be posting a pic of the inscription, and hope someone can tell what it says . . .

Thanks, William

[somethingfunny]

福

[Kamille]

Or, just to finish the job somenthingfunny started: 福 

 

good fortune / happiness / luck

[William_]

Thanks very much - I'm happy to know that it's a good inscription. Are there any traditional rituals I'm supposed to do or follow to receive the benefit from wearing this pendant?

William

[imron]

Every second full-moon, face North East, then walk in a circle once clockwise, twice counter clockwise, drink a mouthful of green tree then howl at the moon while making a wish*

 

*may not be true

[edelweis]

It is traditional to suspend this character upside down on your entrance door, during the Chinese new year. But generally this is done with the character written on red paper.

Not aware of any tradition associated to a pendant.

edit: also, since you said there is a dragon on the front side, I assume that's your Chinese zodiac animal. Don't forget to wear red underwear during the Year of the Dragon.

[William_]

Thanks for both replies. Not sure how serious you were but, no, I don't believe in "wishes", and won't be howling at the moon.

Also the Dragon is not my Chinese zodiac animal, nor do I intend to wear red underwear for a year. What is the thinking behind hanging the character upside down?

If this was also in jest then no need to reply again, as the humor is without merit and useless to me, tho I'm sure you had to chuckle at your own creativeness.

William_

[Kamille]

What is the thinking behind hanging the character upside down?

 

福倒了->福到了

It's based on a pun. Basically it means that "happiness is coming".

 

Chinese people have a lot of beliefs based on word play. The most famous is based on the near-homophony between 四 (four) and 死 (death/to die). They're only near-homophones but hey, let's take no risk, elevators shouldn't stop at the 4th floor, too dangerous.

And there are many more. For example my girlfriend's mom refuses to eat bitter melon because she doesn't want to eat bitter (吃苦 : to bear hardships). True story.

[edelweis]

So the Dragon is not your Chinese zodiac, too bad! I see no point in wearing it then, unless you want to induce people in error. Or you like Dragons.

You can Google "Chinese zodiac red underwear" and "Chinese new year upside down 福". Have fun.

[imron]

Not sure how serious you were

As I mentioned in my post, what I said 'may not be true', in other words it was totally made up

 

The red underwear thing in your zodiac year is however completely true - and followed quite strongly even among those who 'are not superstitious'.

[edelweis]

ah yes, but wearing a pendant honoring a zodiac animal other than your own seems tricky enough without adding the underwear thing on top of that... William was quite wise to discard the idea imho.

edit: oh I see William has been wearing the pendant for a year already. Have you been lucky this past year William?

[Shelley]

Post #3 in this topic explains the upside down thing very well, thanks to xiaokaka.

 

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/49716-can-someone-please-translate-older-chinese/#comment-381120

[William_]

Kamile - thanks to you for explaining that for me.

Imron - I did not mean to challenge anyone's beliefs, just answering a suggestion made to me. Did seem much more plausible that your first reply . . .

Edelweis - my personal year has been fairly good since making a sixty dollar purchase of a chain and pendant I like . . . Turned out to be 24k and weighs 34 grams (pendant is 17gm, chain is 17gm), or basically an ounce of gold. True story.

Also, I hadn't even thought of the design as a zodiac symbol, just liked the dragon. Certainly had no intention of trying to fool anyone, nor make any claims about what I wear stands for . . .

Thanks again to all for helping me with my questions.

Aloha, William_

[889]

And a reminder that whenever anyone asks you translate a charm or the like, the inscription will very very likely contain 福  祿  壽  喜 .

[edelweis]

@William

Thank you for the story and picture

Sounds lucky indeed, I can understand that you like it.

(regarding the zodiac thing, nevermind, don't be surprised if people ask you whether it's your zodiac animal, but that's no big deal.)