Meaning of a hanging decoration (?)

[mrcaco]

Dear all,

My grandmother got this hanging Chinese decoration. The person who gave her this present couldn't explain its meaning (apart from that it was nice).

I'd greatly appreciate your help with translation of the Chinese symbols (including the small print, if possible - visible on the two close-up photos). By the way, do you know if it's supposed to have a spiritual meaning? And what is the meaning of these little red fish with plastic eyes?

Thanks in advance!

 

[陳德聰]

招財進寶

青龍為東方之神

朱雀為南方之神

白虎為西方之神

玄武為北方之神

驅邪降福

[mrcaco]

Thanks a lot for transcribing the symbols!

So, what Google Translate says is:
 

"Lucky treasure

Dragon is the god of the East
Suzaku is the god of the South
White tiger is the god of the west
Xuanwu for the northern gods

Reduce evil"

 

Does anybody have any corrections to the translation?
And, well, I guess the object obviosly has a spiritual meaning of some kind. Is this associated with any partiocular religion?
And what are these funny fish? ;)

I'd be very grateful for any further suggestions.
 

[Lu]

It's for good fortune and to ward off evil. Fish in Chinese sounds the same as 'plentiful', and thus is a symbol of abundance. (The plastic eyes are just to make it look nicer.)

[dwq]

福，not 幅。

[mrcaco]

Thank you all for your replies, you've been very helpful!

[陳德聰]

whoops