Although not the most auspicious day for weddings according to the lunar calendar, more than 2,800 couples across the country registered their marriages on Friday, because the Mandarin pronunciation of the number “201314” phonetically resembles that of “love you all my life” in Mandarin.
The numbers that represent Friday’s date, “201314,” are pronounced as er ling yi san yi si in Mandarin, which resembles the Mandarin pronunciation of the phrase ai ni yi sheng yi shi (愛你一生一世, “love you all my life”).
“We picked Jan. 4, 2013, to register our marriage, because the numbers representing the date say: ‘Love you all my life,’ and we think it’s a lucky and romantic day for marriage,” said Hsu Chien-hui (許千蕙), who with her husband, Liu Te-wen (劉德文), completed their marriage registration on Friday at the Datong District (大同) Household Registration Office in Taipei City.
“Besides, the fourth day of every month is significant to us, since we started dating on Nov. 4, 2009, and have celebrated the fourth of every month ever since,” she added.
Asked if she had consulted the Lunar Calendar Book — according to which last Friday was not the best day for a wedding — like Taiwanese traditionally do to pick their wedding day, Hsu said: “No.”
“It wasn’t that important, because I think ‘201314’ rules,” she added, laughing.
According to official figures released by the Ministry of the Interior, 2,827 couples completed their wedding registration on Friday, making it the day with the fourth-highest number of marriage registrations in recent years.
Ministry figures show that Jan. 1, 2011, with 7,050 registrations, was the day with the most marriage registrations, since it marked the beginning of the 100th year of the Republic of China (ROC), and it is common for people to wish marrying couples to be a “good match for 100 years.”
The second-most popular day for marriage registration, according to the ministry, was Sept. 9, 2010, with 6,774 couples, since it was the “ninth day of the ninth month of the year 99 of the ROC,” and the Mandarin pronunciation of “nine,” jiu, is the same as the word “久,” meaning “long time.”
The third-most popular day for registering a marriage was Oct. 10, 2011, with 5,634 couples, ministry statistics show, since it was the national day of the ROC’s 100th year.
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