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Fuwa

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This article is about the 2008 Summer Olympics mascots. For the district in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan, see Fuwa District, Gifu. For the surname, see Fuwa (surname).

From left to right: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini
Fuwa
Chinese福娃
Literal meaningdolls of blessing
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinFúwá
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingfuk1 waa1
Olympic rings
Part of a series on
2008 Summer Olympics

The Fuwa (Chinese: 福娃; pinyin: Fúwá; literally "good-luck dolls", also known as "Friendlies") were the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The designs were created by Han Meilin, a famous Chinese artist.[1] The designs were publicly announced by the National Society of Chinese Classic Literature Studies on 11 November 2005 at an event marking the 1000th day before the opening of the games.

There are five Fuwas: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini. Together, the names form the sentence "北京欢迎你", or "Beijing huanying ni," which means "Beijing welcomes you". Originally named 'The Friendlies', they were promoted as 'Fuwa' when concerns arose that the name could be misinterpreted.[2][3]

While originally given artistic licence in his commission, Han Meilin was subsequently requested by officials to include various Chinese designs and fauna in the Fuwa. Han Meilin drew 1,000 models of possible Fuwa (including a dragon and an anthropomorphic drum) before settling on the five characters. He has since disowned the Fuwa and did not include them in his museum.[4]

Mascots

Beibei

Beibei (Chinese: 贝贝) is one of the two female Fuwa who represents the blue Olympic ring of Europe.

She took her motif from traditional Chinese New Year decorative picture of lotus and fish and the fish design from Neolithic artifacts. Her element motif are the sea and water. She is a friendly leader (though the title of leader belongs to Huanhuan) who brings prosperity.

In traditional Chinese culture, the fish represents prosperity, as the character for fish (鱼 / 魚; yú) sounds the same as that for surplus (余 / 餘; yú). The "carp leaping over the dragon gate" is a traditional allegory of following one's dreams and achieving them. The pattern from Beibei's headgear comes from artifacts unearthed at Banpo, site of a Neolithic village of the Yangshao culture.

She is an expert at aquatic sports.

Jingjing

Jingjing (Chinese: 晶晶) is one of the three male Fuwa who represents the black Olympic ring of Africa.

He took his motif from the giant panda and the Song dynasty lotus-shaped porcelain. His element motifs are the forest and wood. He is honest and optimistic Fuwa who always spreads happiness.

As an endangered species, the panda is both a national symbol of China and an international symbol of environmentalism. Jingjing's forest origins also symbolize the harmonious coexistence of humankind and nature.

He is an expert at weightlifting, judo, etc.

Huanhuan

Huanhuan (Chinese: 欢欢) is one of the three male Fuwa who represents the red Olympic ring of the Americas.

He took his motif from the Olympic flame and the fire design from the Mogao Grottoes. As such, his elemental motif is fire. He is an enthusiastic extrovert filled with passion.

He represents the passion of sports, the Olympic spirit of "faster, higher, stronger", and the passion of the Beijing Olympics. Huanhuan's headgear comes from a fire design in the Mogao Caves, the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes.

He is an expert at ball sports/racquet sports.

Yingying

Yingying (Chinese: 迎迎) is one of the three male Fuwa who represents the yellow Olympic ring of Asia.

He took his motif from the Tibetan antelope and Tibetan and Xinjiang ethnic costumes. His elemental motif is earth. He is a lively and independent Fuwa who had an interest in health.

The Tibetan antelope is an endangered species native to the Tibetan Plateau, known for its swiftness. Yingying's headgear incorporates elements of Tibetan and Xinjiang ethnic costumes.

He is an expert at track and field.

Nini

Nini (Chinese: 妮妮) is one of the two female Fuwa who represents the green Olympic ring of Oceania.

She took her motif from the swift bird and Beijing's sand martin kite. Her elemental motifs are sky and metal. She is a just but also kind Fuwa who spreads good fortune.

The swallow is a messenger of spring and happiness in Chinese culture, and is seen as a symbol of good fortune. The Chinese character for swallow (燕 yàn) is also used in Yanjing (燕京), an old name for Beijing; thus the swallow alludes to Beijing. Nini's headgear uses the design of Beijing's sand martin kites, which are colourful cross-shaped kites modeled after swallows.

She is an expert at gymnastics.

Media

TV series

The Olympic Adventures of Fuwa (福娃奧運漫遊記)
福娃オリンピック漫遊記
(Fuwa Orinpikku Manyūki)
GenreSports, Comedy, Supernatural
Anime television series
StudioKAKU TV
CCTV
NHK
Original networkBTV
NHK
Original run 6 February 2007 – 1 October 2007
Episodes100
Anime television series
Fuwa: Beibei's Promise[Note 1]
StudioCCTV
NHK
Original networkCCTV
NHK
Original run 1 October 2007 – 2008
Anime television series
Fuwa: the Five Rings[Note 2]
StudioCCTV
NHK
Original networkCCTV
NHK
Original run2008

A 100-episode Olympic-themed anime series featuring the Fuwa was released in China, primarily on BTV (Beijing's municipal television network), on 8 August 2007. Titled The Olympic Adventures of Fuwa (Chinese: 福娃奥运漫游记; pinyin: Fúwá Àoyùn Mànyóujì), it was jointly produced by BTV and Kaku Cartoon. It ran from 8 August to 1 October 2007.[5]

There are also two sequels created by CCTV, Beibei's Promise and the Five Rings.[6][7]

Video game

The characters made a cameo appearance in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games video game.[citation needed]

China Environmental Awareness Programme

The China Environmental Awareness Programme program, started in 2001, has the Fuwa raising public environmental awareness by spreading clean, green messages.[8]

Fuwa theater show

A large-scale fairy-tale drama entitled Friendlies (or Fuwa) has been directed by Beijing Children's Art Theater Cooperative to promote the five mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As ambassadors of peace, the Fuwa would make a world-tour, visiting all seven continents.[9]

Parodies

Groups seeking to raise political issues in tandem with China's hosting of the Olympic Games have used the Fuwa or have created similar mascots.

In addition, Beijing residents have allegedly created their own Fuwa set consisting of a duck, a dragonfly and a taxi. Collectively their names—"Ya", "Ting", "De"—spell out "bastard" in Beijing slang.[4] (Note that among friends, "ni ya ting de", which means "you bastard", is a common term of endearment but is considered crude by many.)

Superstitions

Wuwa

File:BeijingOlympicFriendlies.jpg
Mascots on display in Beijing

In the months leading up to the Olympics, coincidental similarities between the characters and several events became were noted on the internet blogs under titles such as "Curse of the Fuwa".[13][14] Some Chinese citizens have taken to calling the characters "Wuwa" (巫娃, witch dolls). Online criticism of the dolls has frequently been censored.[4]

Killer barracuda

Beibei is represented by a Chinese sturgeon.[15] Five sturgeons were presented by China to Hong Kong[16] with each fish representing an Olympic ring, in addition to the "motherland's love" for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.[17] The smallest of the five sturgeon (1.1 meters) was bitten by one of the barracudas housed in the same aquarium, and died the day after being publicly released into the city's theme park aquarium Ocean Park.[16][18] Necropsy showed that the bite was not aggressive, but a reflex action from contact between the fish.[19] Ocean Park said no one is at fault since in the almost 10 years the eight barracudas had been with the park, they had never showed any signs of aggression.[19] Feng shui experts were divided about the death of the sturgeon, there were some that said this event may imply misfortune, and there were some that said 'the public did not need to worry too much because all fish die' and 'Can I say it's a bad omen for the Olympic Games if, for example, my five tadpoles—which I say represent the Olympic rings—die at home?'.[20] Beijing's central government replaced the one that died with five more sturgeons.[21]

Han Meilin

Han Meilin suffered two heart attacks while designing the Fuwa.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Chinese: 福娃: 贝贝的诺; pinyin: Fúwá: Bèi bèi de nuò; Japanese: 福娃：ベイベイの約束 (Fuwa: Beibei No Yakusoku)
  2. ^ Chinese: 福娃五连环; pinyin: Fúwá wǔ liánhuán; Japanese: 福娃の五連環 (Fuwa No Gorenkan)

References

  1. ^ CCTV - Retrieved 11 September 2007
  2. ^ "Mascot renamed Fuwa in English". China Daily. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. ^ F, D (29 November 2006). "Not so friendly anymore". Time Out (November 2006): 6.
  4. ^ a b c d e Geoffrey A. Fowler (23 July 2008). "Here's Another Olympic Sport: Skewering the Mascots". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. ^ Wang Wenjie (31 October 2007). "Adventuring With the Mascots". Beijing Review. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  6. ^ 首页 > 电视指南 > 节目导视 > 正文 TV Guide 1 December 2007 (in Chinese)Archived 2 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Archived copy Archived 5 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Five FuWa to star in a national campaign to promote Green Olympics.
  9. ^ Piao. Tickets Large-scale Fairy Tale Friendlies (Fuwa).
  10. ^ Uncensor.com.au "Uncensor." China's Choice: A New Human Rights Record Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  11. ^ Playfair "Respect Worker's Rights in the Global Sporting Goods Sector. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  12. ^ Archived copy Archived 9 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine "Meet the evil Olympic mascot Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine." Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  13. ^ Yahoo. "Yahoo Archived 24 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine." Curse of the fuwa. Retrieved 21 June 2008.
  14. ^ Khaleejtimes. "Khaleej Times Archived 3 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine." Chinese link earthquake to 'unlucky' Olympic mascots. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
  15. ^ Olympics.scmp. "Olympics.scmp[permanent dead link]." Fishing for an angle to Olympic fortunes. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
  16. ^ a b Chinadaily. "Chinadaily." Chinese sturgeon dies in Hong Kong aquarium. Retrieved on 2008-07-18.
  17. ^ Thestandard. "Thestandard.com Archived 5 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine." Blame game all a bit fishy. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
  18. ^ Monstersandcritics.com. "Monstersandcritics.com Archived 20 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Hong Kong red-faced after killing China Olympic mascot fish. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  19. ^ a b HKStandard. "HKStandard Archived 5 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine." No one at fault in sturgeon death says Ocean Park. Retrieved on 2008-06-25.
  20. ^ SCMP. "[1][permanent dead link]." Fung shui expert fishing for an angle to Olympic fortunes. Retrieved on 2008-06-25. This link may get relocated like most SCMP links. Look in the archive for the article title.
  21. ^ China.org.cn. "China.org.cn." Beijing to give five more sturgeons to Hong Kong. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fuwa (mascots).
Preceded by Olympic mascot
The Fuwa
Beijing 2008 		Succeeded by
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