ക WhyAskWhy¿ (9) ~ SEVENs

Thanks to Jingle for the 'Versatile Award' to tell 7 random facts about yourself and also to Mariuca for the 'Stylish Blogger Award' to share 7 things about yourself. Sorry for the delay to recollect my thoughts to fulfil the requirements. Could not take it any longer as the guilt has been haunting and bugging Bananaz for quite some time. A blessing in disguise that the tags gave me the inspiration to share 7 Good, Bad & Ugly of Bananaz into seven separate posts. Will have to wait for my next post before I can embark and begin to peel off the 7 yellow skins after I get over with this SEVEN thingy. Why*Ask*Why the significance of this number 7 is so common in fairy tales, advertisements, trade marks, various religions, folklore and casinos etc.

Why does this recurring #7 so magical and mystical to be selected and obsessed by so many? To kick off shall start with The 7 colors of the Rainbow ~ Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet famously abbreviated as 'vibgyor' or the mnemonic “Roy G. Biv.” To keep the ball rolling there is this 7-UP; 7 Eleven; 7 Dwarfs; 7 Seas ~ The Arctic and Antarctic, North & South Pacific, North & South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean; 7 classical planets ~ the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn; 7 chakras ~ Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye & Crown; 7 cardinal sins ~ pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth; 7 wonders of the natural/ancient World; 7 basic musical notes do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti; 7 days a week; 7 heavens; 7 directions ~ north, south, east, west, up, down and center; 7 spot ladybird; 7 ~ the neutral pH value between acidity and alkalinity; 777 Jackpot and lastly the often over used lame excuses, the 7-year Itch (probably there are more but will have to stop here else its never ending).

Bananaz is typing and scratching the head trying to figure out how and why the #7 gets all the limelight shinning radiantly head and shoulders above the rest? Could it be based on science and technology or superstition or because 7 is the most spiritual of all numbers and considered most 'lucky' that's why they used 777 for jackpots? It beats me, your guess is just as good as mine. Anyone to throw in some light please?

Click here for more details of seven

Now what will the Chinese people got to say about #7七 in their very own way? Heard of 7 early 8 early? 七早qī zǎo 八早 bā zǎo, cracking up your brains early in the morning hey! Here you go:

1. 七情qīqíng  : 7 effects of traditional Chinese medical theory and therapy ~ joy 喜xǐ, anger 怒nù, anxiety憂yōu, thought 思sī, grief 悲bēi, fear 恐kǒng, fright 驚jīng;

2. 七方qīfāng : 7 kinds of Chinese medicine prescriptions 大方dàfāng, 小方xiǎofāng, 缓方huǎnfāng, 急方jífāng, 奇方qífāng, 偶方ǒufāng and 重方chóng fāng or 複方fùfāng;

3. 亂七八糟 luàn qī bā zāo : everything in disorder (idiom);

4. 七上八下qī shàng bā xià : perturbed state of mind (idiom);

5. 七仙女qī xiān nǚ : seven fairies

6. 七七八八qīqī bābā : 7788 ~ Its our slang for 'almost complete' or 'near completion'. To make it a complete 7 have to add one more which is quite timely with 清明節 QīngMíngjié (lit. pure brightness or tomb-sweeping) festival, beginning of April in China, September in Japan in relation with souls.

7. 七七 qīqī : (seven sevens equals 49), a Daoist services for the auspicious reincarnation of the departed. Chinese of the Daoism faith believed in 三魂sānhún three (immortal souls) and 七魄qīpò (seven mortal forms). So both these four words will go together forming 三魂七魄sānhúnqīpò. It is believed that when a person dies his/her soul would return on the 7th day. Special prayers and chanting will be conducted every week until seven sevens ie 49 days then all prayers and chanting will come to an end and that the soul has reincarnated. Strangely enough both these two Chinese words 魂hún & 魂pò have got a radical ghost 鬼guǐ in each word. o.O

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இ Hair Combing Ceremony 上頭

Image courtesy of Uncyclopedia.wikia.com

Traditionally an auspicious time will be chosen to perform the Hair Raising Combing Ceremony 上頭 [ shàngtou, pinyin, lit. 'Up Head'], a ritual conducted at the residence of the bride and the groom respectively which is normally scheduled closed to mid-night on the eve of the wedding day. Before the ritual begins, both the bride and groom should bath with water infused with pomelo leaves (Chinese believed that pomelo leaves will cleanse the body and ward off evil spirit) and put on brand new underwear and pajamas. In response to [SK] post Bananaz has commented that its once in a lifetime affair which is sort of mandatory in the past (not too sure about the latest Y Generation) for the newly weds wearing pajamas or pyjamas. The bride will usually dress in pink or red pajama (red is the lucky color for festive occasions, especially for Chinese). The head of both bride and groom will be comb three times by their parents both holding the comb together reciting positive words with auspicious meaning during each stroke.

Video courtesy of www.shaolin.org

Hair Combing Ceremony with the three auspicious strokes as below:

1. 一梳梳到尾 ~ yī shū shū dào wěi (Pinyin) / yat1 so1 so1 dou3 mei5 (Cantonese)
lit. First comb to comb until the end [meaning ever lasting love].

2. 二梳梳到白发齐眉 ~ èr shū shū dào bái fà qí méi (Pinyin) / yi6 so1 so1 dou3 baak6 faat3 chai4 mei4 (Cantonese)
lit. Second comb to comb till until white hair all equal [meaning to bring love and respect till old age].

3. 三梳梳到兒孫满堂 ~ sān shū shū dào ér sūn mǎn táng (Pinyin) / saam1 so1 so1 dou3 ngai4 syun1 mun5 tong5 (Cantonese)
lit. Third comb to wish for lots of children and grandchildren.

This whole Hair Combing Ceremony symbolizes the coming-of-age of the bride and the groom thus claiming them man and woman and no longer boy and girl. This would explain why most Chinese parents only consider their children grown ups when they get married.

Mummythree 林峰山

In almost all Chinese wedding ceremony there is one outstanding and conspicuous figure besides the bride and groom. Guess who? Its none other than the 'wedding organiser' better known as 大妗姐 daai6 kam5 je2 (Cantonese) who would usually the wife of the mother's brother taking up the role back in the ancient days. But as time goes by it became a highly professional job which requires the gift of the gab and well versed with rhyming poems.

All along for many generations the job has been dominated by only women but of late during the last wedding function Bananaz was struck with an overwhelming shocking amazement to discover the 大妗姐 is actually a "He" whom we addressed in Cantonese as 大妗爷 daai6 kam5 ye4 (grandpa wedding organiser). Phew! My goodness it was beyond my wildest dream for men to have a break through into this profession and not only that they are doing pretty well gaining popularity with bookings one year ahead. For those who are planning their wedding soon or curious to know what a man is doing in a woman's world can check this out at Mummythree. Heard his professional fees is not going cheap for he can sing, dance, do magic shows and more like an entertainer. He is positioning himself with his very own trade mark donning his 'uniform' in a typical ancient colorful 大妗姐 attire with head gear and red Chinese wooden clogs. Looks kinda cool.

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இ Woman Is Always Right ¿

A Salute to All Women on International Women's Day on March 08 and to add here ~ "Woman Is Always Right". Kinda tough to explain here regarding the 'left' from the 'right' due to the mirroring effect and hope the right which Bananaz is mentioning is not the left wrong that you are thinking. To simply make it very clear the correct 'right' position would be the lady must stand on the right hand side of her spouse regardless facing out or in except in temples as explained later.

We often hear this Chinese saying 男左女右 nán zuǒ nǚ yòu [boy left girl right] and just how right is this phrase all about? It is unknown on the true origin as it could be related to Chinese Medicine, accordingly the left part of our body is Qi, right part is blood. Qi is Yáng阳 because it’s active while blood is Yīn阴 because it’s passive. Or it could have some connection to I Ching where philosophers of ancient China based on the two opposites. 乾 [qián] one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦symbolizing Heaven as in Yáng阳 (male) and 坤 [kūn] one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦symbolizing Earth as in Yīn阴(female). Yáng阳 is associated to masculine, active, creative, positive and LEFT, bright and hard. Yīn阴 is the opposite of Yáng阳 which is feminine, passive, receptive, negative and RIGHT, soft and dark. Would appreciate any comment towards the origin to seek enlightenment on the truth. Whatever it is the tradition and culture of 男左女右 [boy left girl right] stays on until today and a gentle reminder: Rule#1~ Woman is always Яight. Rule#2~ What if woman is wrong? Refer to Rule#1. Oops the men gonna peel and deep fry Bananaz for this.

Well not too sure if it’s the Chinese culture and tradition that men are always said to have a higher social status thus 大男子主義 dà nán zǐ zhǔ yì [male chauvinism]. We always hear 男女 nán nǚ [boy girl] but never 女男 nǚ nán [girl boy]. Another common Chinese saying its left and right, instead of right and left. Not just in Chinese but English would said the same as well as for Malay too with its kiri [left] kanan [right] and probably many other languages. But why left first then right? Any answer(s)?

Some Daoist and Hindu temples would apply this rule where the ladies would sit on the left hand side facing the altar and the men on the right hand side, that means from the altar facing out its boy left girl right. [RЯight is wrong, left is ЯRight..which is which? Not confused yet? Continue then haha..]

More wedding photos of the 'woman is always right' from cake cutting to wine pouring and toasting, courtesy of suituapui. Was it coincidental or pre-planned by the event organiser? Chinese men would wear the wedding ring on the left hand and the women on the right..wonder other races would do the same? Interestingly does this 'rule' 男左女右 [boy left girl right] sort of applies to buttons in jackets and shirt for men and women?. Why do men's shirts always button-up left-over-right, while women's shirts right-over left? WHO decided this, and WHY? {Know some readers might be checking their buttons right now..}

If you have watched any Chinese television variety shows, ever noticed if there are two hosts of different sex the male host would normally stand on the left with his lady partner on his right? Guess 男左女右 nán zuǒ nǚ yòu [boy left girl right] is deeply rooted in our Chinese culture right from cradle to grave. Go dig out your group photos taken in a photo studio with your parents or any friends wedding photos to check out the standing position. Even on the Chinese tomb stones, there is no exception..男左女右nán zuǒ nǚ yòu [boy left girl right]

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