Terms in Chinese

There is no common Chinese word for 'pun' in the oral language, although
the phrase y y shung gun may sometimes be used.
shungguny has the same meaning as a pun but has a more formal or
literary register, such as 'double-entendre' in English. It typically refers to the
creation of puns in literature. Homophonic puns in particular are called
yn y shung gun or more simply xiyn 'homophones' while
homophonic characters are called tngynz.

Spring Festival traditions

Chinese New Year, known in China as Spring Festival, has an abundance of
unique traditions associated with it. Some of these traditions are more
widespread than others. Among the many New Year's customs are a few
whose meaning is derived from puns of Mandarin words.

Nin nin yu y - "There will be an abundance every year"

homophonous with "There will be fish every year." As a result,
fish are eaten and used as common decorations during Chinese New
Year.

Nin go -

"niangao" and from nin nin goshng

or "raised higher each year," leading to the belief that those who eat
niangao should have greater prosperity with each coming year.

F do le - "fortune has arrived" and "fortune is upside

down", the latter simply referring to the ubiquitous character , which
when displayed upside down denotes one's good fortune has arrived. It
is common practice to hang the character upside-down on doors during
the Spring festival

*Shengcai - Traditionally the first meal of the New Year is vegetarian

with a variety of ingredients. The meal is served with lettuce (,
shngci) because the word is near homophonous to "" (shng
ci), "to make money". Lettuce shows up in other New Years customs
as well. In the traditional New Year's Day lion dance lettuce and red
envelopes of cash are offered to the lion.

*T-n-yuan - At times of reunion, such as Spring Festival, it is customary

to eat sweet round dumplings called tangyuan (). The tangyuan are
traditionally eaten during Lantern Festival, which is the last day of the
Chinese New Year celebration. The roundness of the tangyuan and the
bowls they are eaten out of emphasize unity in addition to the similarity
of their name with the Mandarin word for reunion, "" (tunyun).

*F ci (), a thin black hair-like algae, is a feature of Spring Festival

cuisine because its name is a near-homophone of "" (f ci),
meaning "prosperity."

Gifts
In Chinese culture the giving of certain gifts are traditionally avoided because
of unfortunate homophony or near homophony.

*Si - While it is common to give gifts in even number increments, giving

four of something is associated with very bad fortune because in
Mandarin the word four (, s) is pronounced similar to the word death
(, s), see tetraphobia. This taboo exists in Japanese and Korean as
well, where the words are exact homophones shiin Japanese and sa in
Korean. This phobia was exploited for comic effect in episode 11 "Very
Superstitious" of Fresh Off the Boat.

L - Pears (, l) are also uncommon gifts as they sound like separation

(, l).

Sng zhng - Giving a clock (, sng zhng) is taboo, especially to

the elderly as it is homophonous with attending another's funeral (,
sng zhng). A UK government official Susan Kramer gave a watch to
Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je unaware of such a taboo which resulted in
some professional embarrassment and a pursuant apology.

Objects of good fortune

A symbolic language of prosperity and good fortune has evolved over the
centuries from the similarity in pronunciation between some every day objects
and common lucky words. Examples are especially common in the decorative
arts.

*Ping'an - In some localities it is customary to always place a vase (,

png) on a table (n) when moving into a new home for good luck,
because the combination sounds like "" (png'n) meaning peace
and tranquility.

*Kuaizi - A traditional wedding custom involves bride and groom

exchanging chopsticks, because the word for chopsticks, " " (kuizi)
puns with "" (kuiz) which means to quickly have a son.

F - Bats are a common motif in traditional Chinese painting, because

the word for bat, "" (f) is homophonous with the word for good
fortune, "" (f).

*Li, y, and lin - A more complex example involves the common

image of carp swimming through lotus flowers which conveys the wish
for continuing profits. Carp (, l), fish (, y), and lotus (, lin) are
near-homophonous with "profit" (, l), "surplus" (, y), and
"successive" (, lin) respectively.

Snyun - In the eleventh century in the Northern Song Dynasty men

who scored first in all three levels of the civil service examination were
distinguished with the title "Sanyuan" () meaning simply "three
firsts." Immediately following the appearance of this term in Chinese
literature, the motif of the three gibbons pursuing egrets appears in
Chinese painting. In Chinese the scene could be described as "
" (san yuan de lu) a pun on "" meaning "a triple-first gains
one power." Soon, the gibbon became a more generalized symbol,
praising those who participated in the civil service exam regardless of
whether they achieved three firsts. Thus, the image expresses a wish

that its recipient do well on his exams and become successful. Later a
variation on the gibbons and egret motif appears through the
substitution of deer for egrets. In mandarin the word "" (l), meaning
deer, is homophonous with "" (l), meaning egret, and so the image
achieves the same pun.