When do you have double happiness? When a man marries a woman, of course; the man is happy and the woman is happy. So, it's not unusual to see the word Double Happiness 囍 which is made up of two 喜 s being pasted on the walls of Chinese homes on the big day when couples tie the nuptial knots. 喜 , read as xǐ, means joy; and two 喜s, that is 喜喜 , compressed to form a new character 囍, read 双喜 shuāngxǐ, undoubtedly means double joy or double happiness. One gets to see the auspicious word in Chinese wedding cards and probably during a Chinese wedding reception. Once, I saw the word in, of all places, among the ruins of the ancient city of Ayutthaya, Thailand. Surprise too, yeah?
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