The mascots are very popular in Taiwan now. No matter where people go, their attentions are drawn by those noticeable auspicious symbols. In some activities, like running a election, celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, sitting for the exams, and setting up a shop, mascots are easily found there. Why are the mascots normally used to present the auspiciousness in Taiwanese culture? The reasons are as the following: the homonymic in Chinese language is very flexible. That means, in Chinese, one single pronunciation can present many Chinese words and express a wide range of meanings. Many mascots are regarded to be auspicious because the pronunciation of their names is close to the Chinese auspicious words. For example, the use of radish (luo bo) in the activities of political election, and the pineapple (feng li) for the setting up a business. All of these terms are concerned with the homonymic. In this report, several examples about mascots in Taiwan will be mentioned to discuss this topic.
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Election campaigns
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Radish (luo-bo)
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The pronunciation of radish (cai-tou) in Taiwanese sounds like the
phrase "hau-cai-tou"in Mandarin, which means good luck.
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Garlic (da-suan)
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The homonym of garlic in Taiwanese sounds like "dong suan, which means
that the candidate will be elected in the campaign.
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The Chinese New Year
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Nian-gao
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The homonym of sticky pastry in Mandarin is nian-gao, which means a
person will promote to a higher position year by year.
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Fish (yu)
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The pronunciation of fish in Mandarin is yu. The homonym of fish (yu) in
mandarin means surplus. Therefore, people usually say "Nian nian you yu"
in Mandarin, which means everything is sufficient more than needed.
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Setting up a business
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pineapple
(feng- li) |
The pronunciation of pineapple in Taiwanese is"wang-lai", and is always
used to expressthe wish of good luck and flourishing in one'sbusiness.
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Entrance exams
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Sticky-rice(rou-zong)
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The pronunciation of sticky-rice in Mandarin is"rou-zong", and the
meaning of the word "zong" in mandarin means "hit the target." When
being used in exams, it means passing the exams by the higher scores.
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First school days
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Celery(qin-cai)
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The pronunciation of celery in Mandarin is "qin-cai" and the homonym of
the word "qin" means diligent.
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Spring onion(cong)
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Spring onion is pronounced as "cong" in Mandarin, which express the
meaning---wise.
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Birthday celebration
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Bat(bian-fu)
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The pronunciation of bat in Mandarin is "bian-fu", the homonym of the
word "fu" is used to express a person with great blessing.
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Deer
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The pronunciation of deer in mandarin is "lu". The meaning of its
homonym is salary, which is usually used to express the good wish of
getting well paid.Sometimes we can see pictures drawn with deer and bats
in Chinese culture. As we mention about deer and bats in Mandarin
pronounced as "fu" and "lu" respectively. Once these two words are put
together like the four-letter phrase "fu lu shang zhi", it means a
person is with both blessing and success.
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