Sunday, February 7, 2021

The Three Wise Men

Image credit - https://www.instagram.com/reggietoons/?hl=en

Haha! This cartoon of the Chinese *Three Wise Men practicing social distancing and wearing masks puts a smile on my face. 

For the uninitiated, the Chinese New Year is just round the corner and the trio is one of the most auspicious symbols of the lunar new year.

On a sombre note, the cartoon is pretty sad actually.

It means that Chinese New Year 2021 is essentially cancelled for some of us.

We are lockdowned for the second time (MCO 2).

I can't visit my parents, in-laws, relatives and friends in my hometown as interstate travel is banned.

It means there will be ....

No reunion dinner...

No cookie exchange...

No ang-pow exchange...

Fu, Lu, Shou

* The Three Wise Men (Fu, Lu, Shou) are used in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of the ultimate good life.

Fu for prosperity, Lu for ambition/career and Shou for longevity.

According to legend, Shou was carried in his mother's womb for ten years before he was born, and already an old man when delivered!

Traditionally, the three statues are arranged close together from right to left, just as Chinese characters are traditionally written from right to left.

41 comments:

  1. How interesting with the 3 wise men! I had not heard of this custom before. Are they on display for the whole year or just brought out for the celebration of the New Year? It is sad that another time of celebrating and getting together with family and friends has to be canceled yet again. You wonder the long term effect it will have on people and their relationships going forward and I worry a lot about the young kids, what this is doing for them seeing everyone in masks, not being able to enjoy sharing a smile with a stranger, etc. (You know what I mean because I would smile at young children if they were in line in front of us at the store, etc). Now they can't see that smile. Stay safe Veronica!!

    betty

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  2. Happy Chinese New Year! Ah, the Year of the Ox. I hope you can still celebrate with your immediate family. I know it is not the same, but we have to find a way to find happiness.

    I write the employee newsletter for the company I work for and we have many Chinese employees. That is how I know about the celebration and red envelopes and such. My Chinese translator sends me cookies every year and this year was no exception--the only sad part is that I had to give them to a neighbor as I am allergic to gluten now. :( BUT...I shared with her the tradition and told her all about it so that she could enjoy her special treat.

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  3. Thanks for sharing the information about Chinese characters that are written from right to left. The three wise men are also interesting.
    Stay safe, stay strong, Veronica!

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  4. Happy Chinese New Year, Veronica. Thanks for sharing the info about the 3 wise men. I didn't know that.
    Have a good new week and stay safe!

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  5. Happy Chinese New Year, I'm a pig so here's hoping this year is going to be good for me.

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  6. The Chinese New Year begins in 4 days. Happy New Year!
    I like some Chinese traditions, including those about New Year. I "know" the three wise men and I'm sure they wouldn't have presented themselves as in the cartoon. 😊
    I wish you as good as possible week, Veronica, in these depressing conditions.
    All the best!

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  7. COVID has affected just about everything it seems. I don't think that any of us thought it would go on for so long.

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  8. It IS sad, but hopefully we will begin to gain victory over this virus.
    Thank you for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2021/02/mmmmm.html

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  9. Even though you cannot visit your relatives, but you have your family, so a Happy New Year to you and to your family! Also, think of a way to do a cookie exchange with each other (or with your neighbor:) These three wise men do not compare to what the three Magi in the Christian story were, because they travelled for some months guided by the star to see thee the newborn King Jesus.One frightening thing about one of the three you showed, that he was old when her was delivered, eek, poor mother. My son (lived in china for 5 years) told me "don't take away the fireworks from the Chinese!" So, I hope fireworks is considered essential! Sorry you have to go through this Veronica. Jesh

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  10. IT is interesting to know these things and, indeed, the caractures of the 3 wisemen did make me smile! Thank you!

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  11. Thanks for the information about the 3 wise men - I'd never heard about them. I'm sorry your new year is spoiled by the pandemic but hope it is over soon.

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  12. I'm so tired of limitations. I want to do what I want.

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  13. ...things will continue to be different for a while, stay safe.

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  14. Happy Chinese New Year Veronica best wishes from London

    What an interesting post and sad it's been cancelled we are in lockdown too :shock:

    Those 3 wise men were interesting too :-)

    Have a newyeartastic safe week 😷😷😷

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  15. Sorry to hear that you will not be able to spend New Year with your family. These are very trying times and the return to normalcy seems too far away.

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  16. I am sorry you won't get to celebrate the New Year this year. Better to lockdown, wear a mask, and social distance now so we have lots more New Years to celebrate in the future! Thank you for teaching me about the Chinese 3 Wise Men.

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  17. It’s hard to believe that it has been about a year since this whole thing began. It’s interesting that there are 3 wise men in Chinese tradition and also 3 wise men in Christian tradition. It is my belief that we are all connected in love.

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  18. The whole virus thing is just too sad. It is ruining everything people know and love and creating even more anger in the world with more lockdowns. Such a sad mess.

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  19. Hope the new year will bring in good tidings!

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  20. That was really interesting to read, dear Veronica! The cartoon is funny indeed, but the background for it isn't. I hope you can at least celebrate the New Year celebrations together via Skype or something similar! It will get better again, but at the moment we all have to "bite the bullet", even the three wise men ;-))
    Best wishes from Austria,
    Traude
    https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/02/ausflug-in-den-nationalpark-neusiedler.html

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  21. Things are so different for everyone around the world. I agree it's sad.

    Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥

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  22. I didn't know anything about the three wise men and I found it very interesting.
    Thank you for sharing with us! ♥

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  23. Thank you, Veronica for sharing something completely new for me!
    I am always surprised of these figurines and their details.
    Sorry to hear about the lockdown. I hope that it will end soon.
    Even so, I wish that you'll find a way of spending these moments not thinking at sadness!
    All the best, Veronica! Happy WW!

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  24. Cute! I am going to miss our New Year yummies and dancing lions and dragons at work this year - darn!

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  25. I didn't know about the Chinese three wise men. Everything has been cancelled for so long now, but at least by being very careful we have avoided getting the coronavirus.
    https://allatseawithme.blogspot.com/2021/02/wordless-wednesday-alaska.html

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  26. Gung hay fat choy! I had forgotten about the 3 wise men! Last year we missed the festivities in Vancouver and Richmond. Alas this year there are no celebrations. We are looking forward to Friday night homemade Chinese food! We hope you have an AWESOME time!

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  27. We've just come out of our third lockdown and have missed every major holiday this year. I'm sorry you'll be missing this celebration. Next year will be better!
    Amalia
    xo

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  28. Dear Veronica,
    you make me smile ;-) and thanks for the Information. Happy Chinese new Year and greetings from a cold Germany
    Kirsi

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  29. oh no another lockdown, I hope it's not hurting your country's economy too much, I think if we went into a 2nd one if would be devastating. As for the Chinese new year I hope the year of the ox will be kind to this pig.

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  30. Interesting three wise men!

    I'm so glad to see you at 'My Corner of the World' this week!

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  31. Funny Little Cartoon There - Happy Year Of The Hard Working Ox - Be Well

    Cheers

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  32. I am very sorry about that. All the best to you and your family.

    Happy Chinese New Year!!

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  33. I really hope you can see your family soon Veronica. These are troubling times but I believe things are now improving for all of us.

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  34. So sorry to hear you are on lockdown again. :( Hope things get better for all soon.

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  35. I had never heard about the three Chinese wise men before. You always have such interesting things on your blog. The cartoon of them wearing masks at the beginning made me smile, even though the reason behind it is sad.

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