Tonight I'm attending a wedding dinner after receiving my first ever 红色炸弹 (Red Bomb, a Taiwanese derogatory term for Wedding invitation). It is termed as a 红色炸弹 due to the damages cause to the financial well-being after giving the obligatory red packet. I'm all for giving red packets as it go a long way helping the newly wed to allay their wedding costs. However being the poor chap that I am, and how superstitious we Chinese are to numbers, contribution to the red packet
You know how Chinese like the number 8, as it remotely sounds like 发, a Chinese term for "striking it rich". Given what an auspicious sounding number it is, one would think that packing an 8 dollar red packet would suffice. However giving a meagre 8 dollar red packet would probably get you hauled to the kitchen and become a dish on the night's dinner menu. So some smart asses decide than since 8 sounds auspicious, having more 8 will amplify the auspiciousness. As such, it became somwhat a tradition that 88 is a might auspicious number for wedding, likely due to the idiom 双喜临门 (good things come in pairs). Apparently no one told them greed is not a virtue.
Oh oh then some guys also think that the number 168 is auspicious, as it rhymes with 一路发, which kind of meant "being wealthy all the way". Given how auspicious the numbers 88 and 168 are, I figure $8.80 and $16.80 will not diminish its aura either.
You know how Chinese like the number 8, as it remotely sounds like 发, a Chinese term for "striking it rich". Given what an auspicious sounding number it is, one would think that packing an 8 dollar red packet would suffice. However giving a meagre 8 dollar red packet would probably get you hauled to the kitchen and become a dish on the night's dinner menu. So some smart asses decide than since 8 sounds auspicious, having more 8 will amplify the auspiciousness. As such, it became somwhat a tradition that 88 is a might auspicious number for wedding, likely due to the idiom 双喜临门 (good things come in pairs). Apparently no one told them greed is not a virtue.
Oh oh then some guys also think that the number 168 is auspicious, as it rhymes with 一路发, which kind of meant "being wealthy all the way". Given how auspicious the numbers 88 and 168 are, I figure $8.80 and $16.80 will not diminish its aura either.
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