Some souvenirs that grace our display cabinet are gifts that were given to us by locals during our travels. These wooden Korean wedding ducks were a gift to Mr G during one of his numerous business travels to Seoul. The ducks which symbolise the couple are traditionally given at weddings. The female’s beak is tied with string to symbolise that marital harmony depends on her keeping her mouth shut.
The ducks are placed in the marital home and their pose is meant to relate the state of the couple’s relationship. Beak to beak means that all is well and harmonious while tail to tail indicates there is trouble in paradise.
I have yet to learn what beak to tail means.
Other Travel Souvenirs from Around the World: Tokyo, Jbeil (Byblos), Big Island Hawaii, Dubai, Provence, Tahiti, Montmartre/Paris.
haha, well the tied mouth part is a bit sexiest but hilarious 🙂
Anil: I admit I kind of frowned at the concept originally, but let’s just say the ribbon around her mouth easily comes undone 🙂
That’s awesome – I agree with Anil, a bit sexist, but really interesting that it’s such a part of Korean culture that they would symbolize it in the ducks! Wondering if beak to tail is when one member of the couple is sent to sleep on the couch for a night?! 🙂 Neat souvenirs!
Shannon: My guess is that culture and traditions play a role here when it comes to the female keeping quiet. Something (wishfully) passed on to future generations perhaps.
I like your interpretation. Much more polite than what first came to my mind! 🙂
Wow! Very interesting idea. I wonder how often Koreans keep the ducks in their household and how they are usually placed.
Akila: It would interesting if they did a census on the duck and how often their placement changes during the year!
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