There is a short story behind the origin of the Chinese symbol for double happiness.
During the period of Tang dynasty in ancient China, a young boy was on his way to appear for an examination to become a minister.
The boy fell ill while he was traveling through a mountainous region. A herbal practitioner and his daughter took care of the boy, after which he recovered quickly. When the boy had to leave, he found it difficult to say goodbye to the girl as he fell in love with her. The girl thus wrote down the right hand part of an antithetical couplet for the boy, which was as follows. "Green trees against the sky in the spring rain while the sky set off the spring trees in the obscuration."
The young boy took it and left for the capital to attend the examination. During the examination, he was asked by the emperor to complete the right hand part of couplet which said, "Red flowers dot the land in the breeze's chase while the land colored up in red after the kiss."
The boy instantly realized that the sentence written by the herbal practitioner's daughter was a perfect match for the one given by the emperor.
Thus, he gave the right answer and stood first in the examination.
Impressed by the performance of the boy, the emperor adjudged him as the new minister.
After becoming the minister, the young boy married the herbal practitioner's daughter. On the occasion of their wedding, the HAPPY character was doubled and put on a red paper.
The symbol was used to mark the happiness of the Chinese weddings and it signifies happiness.
In Chinese culture, it means that the couple and their families would live together...
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR IN A FEW DAYS
