Mandarin duck, also called love birds or yuan yang (yuan means male Mandarin duck, and yang means female Mandarin duck) in Chinese, is a kind of well-known medium-sized ornamental bird.

There spread many beautiful tales about Mandarin duck. Among them, the most famous one goes that, the newlywed couple Zhang (an ever-victorious general) and Su was separated as the groom had to fight for the country. Soon she was told that her husband had died and was buried near the river. She went nearly mad with grief and went to find her husband’s tomb. Finally she was found died near the river where her husband was buried. The next day, People also found two birds with vibrantly colored fur were playing in the river. It’s said to be the spirits of the couple who could not be separated by death.

Legend has that once the two became a couple, they will live together all their lives till death. If either one is separated from its mate, it will yearn for its partner and die from loneliness at last. Mandarin duck has been regarded as the symbol of eternal love since ancient times as the love and relationship of them have been valued highly by Chinese.

Later the symbolic meaning of Mandarin Duck is often used in traditional Chinese weddings as people believe that Mandarin Duck can bring happiness to the couples. In the practice of Feng Shui, a depiction of the ducks, either painting or carving, is said to encourage the love in one’s life. It is better to place it in the south west portion of the house to specifically enhance romance. This will make the singles more attractive to their potential partners. For the married ones, this will help the couple keep happay together and love each other more deeply.