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Tuesday 8 January 2008

圓斗 Yuan-tou

What is 圓斗 (Yuan-tou)?
Apparently it's the end of a series of Taoist worships at temples. The written format is actually a Mandarin word-play on the character 圓 (yuan) in Taiwanese, and should be read in Taiwanese. The term refers to "the end of 斗 (tou)" - 斗 (tou) being the series of Taoist worships. As the character 圓 (Yuan) literally means circular, and symbolizes perfection, peace and quietude, and all that is good in general, the Mandarin transliteration uses 圓 (yuan) instead of the character 完 (wan) for good luck.
This won't make a lot of sense unless you can speak both Mandarin and Taiwanese and English! A bit of a specific post - but I love these fascinating details about Taiwanese culture.

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