Today, 2011-11-11 asmanyChinesenotatethedate, bachelorsinChinahavetwomorereasonstocelebrateorbemoantheirfate - or, rather, twomoresticks.
Tofindoutwhy, you'dhavetoknowthestoryofGuanggunFestival. Guanggun, inChinese, referstoanadultsingle, usuallymaleandoftenreluctantlyunattached.
Literally, itmeansastickthatisunvarnishedordoesnothaveanycovering. AstheArabicnumeral 1, lookslikeanerectstick, ithascometosymbolizethisstatusofunwillingcelibacy.
Nov 11, writteninnumeralsasistheChinesenorm, offersfourconsecutive 1s, and, therefore, hasevolvedoveradecadetobecomeanoccasionforgrassrootscelebration. Thisyear, itisprecededbytwoextra 1sintheyear 2011, astheChineseorderfordateslistsyearfirst, andthenthemonthandtheday.
Ifthegovernmentrecognizedthisdayasaholiday, restassuredtherewouldbesixgiantpolesstickingoutofTian'anmenSquare.
ForthoseofyouwithFreudianflightsoffancy, youhaveguessedright: Guanggundoescontainanot-so-subtlephallicconnotation, aswithmanyfolksytermsofthisnature.
However, fewareawareofthisetymologicalnaughtiness, whichhasbeenwashedoutfromoveruse. Eventhemosthideboundwouldnothesitateusingthewordintheirdailyconversation.
Butyoumaynothearitontelevisionnews.
Guanggunisself-deprecatingintone. AndtheGuanggunFestivalismarkedbythosewhocallattentiontotheireligibilityandyetarenotproudofit.
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