Unique Shape of Pawn Shop Signs
In Hong Kong, almost all pawn shops have signs of similar shape. Did you ever wonder why? What is the meaning behind this iconic shape? Let's find it out!
THe Yau Sang Pawn Shop sign.
The unique shape of pawn shop signs actually depicts an upside down bat holding a coin. In Cantonese, this shape is known as fuk syu diu gam cin (蝠鼠吊金錢). It has a special meaning in the chinese culture. In both Cantonese and Mandarin, the pronunication and tone for 蝠 (traditional character for 'bat') and 福 (traditional character for 'good fortune') are exactly the same. They are pronounced as fuk in Cantonese and fu in Mandarin. Also, the words 倒 (traditional character for 'upside down') and 到 (traditional character for 'arrive') are pronounced the same as dou or dao for Cantonese and Mandarin respectively. Therefore, the upside down bat has a meaning of 'good fortune has arrived'!
The Tak Tai Pawn Shop sign.
Similarly, the pronunications of 錢 or 'coin' in Cantonese and Mandarin are cin and qian respectively. These are the same as 前, which is the traditional character for 'before'. Since coins in ancient China had a hole at the centre known as an eye, a bat near the eye of a coin implies fuk zoi ngaan cin (蝠在眼錢) or "Happinese before your eyes"!