My husband and I received a letter today from the company that manages our condominium complex and the community association. The letter alleged that we had committed an “architectural violation” with the hanging of certain “red foil on the front door.”
We married in December 2008 and, as is common traditional Chinese custom, we hung chuang hua on our front door, a decorative representation of the Chinese character xi. It’s our culture’s equivalent of the American “Just Married” sign affixed to the back of motor vehicles. Like the “Just Married” signs, the marital chuang hua is not intended to stay up permanently, but only for the duration of celebrations. And like many an American Christmas tree or holiday lights, that thing just stayed up until now. We never got around to taking it down.
Anyway, my husband and I recently commented that we ought to take the chuang hua down. Then I got that letter today from the community association, which incensed me to the point that now I intentionally want to leave that thing up. I shot back a response letter, framing the chuang hua as a religious and cultural practice. I don’t know if it’s religious, really, but the Chinese use the character xi for chuang hua because it is believed to bring good luck and marital bliss. (The character xi means “double happiness.”) So it’s sort of religious. Kind of. I mean, are you going to dispute it?
I am refusing to take down the “red foil from the front door” now, as the letter demanded that we do. And the thing is, if I had never received this letter, I would have probably taken down the chuang hua this weekend, out of my own volition and desire not to be one of those people who still have Santa Clause lawn ornaments in front of their houses in July. But now–oh now–that thing is staying up and the community association will have to sue me and win a court judgment for me to take it down.
