Text:
Informant: “When people get married, friends and relatives help prepare for the wedding. They cut out the double happiness character, ‘双喜 (shuāngxǐ),’ using scissors. It means double happiness. They cut the character out of red paper, it has to be red paper. The character is 喜 (xǐ) for happiness, and the wedding version combines two of them to make double happiness. People only do this for weddings, they make both small and big ones and place them everywhere in the house of the bride and the groom, like entry doors, windows, gates, the bed board, and furniture.”

Context:

The informant is from China and and explained that this practice of cutting the 双喜 out of red paper is widely performed in China and considered a cultural tradition and blessing associated specifically with marriage. The informant also shared that they personally participated in this custom when they got married and when their friends and family married.

Analysis:

Wedding decorations like the double happiness character (双喜) are a form of customary folklore tied to an important life transition. Weddings mark the beginning of a new stage of life, and symbolic objects are often used to express hopes for the couple’s future. The repetition of the character for happiness represents the union of two people and the wish for joy and prosperity in their marriage.

The decoration also has elements of material folklore, since the character is physically created by cutting it out of red paper. In modern times, people tend to buy the paper pre-cut, but there are still people who cut it by hand. The process of preparing and displaying these decorations is often done collectively by family members and friends, which reinforces the communal nature of wedding celebrations and an overall community emphasis in China. Placing the symbol throughout the home not only signals to others that a wedding is taking place, but also symbolically invites happiness and good fortune into the new household.