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setek
setek
3:42 AM
@blutorange Sorry, this place is really dead, you probably won't get an answer ... however, I found this: 燈燄光輝呈瑞氣 香煙盤繞結祥雲 from the article: std.stheadline.com/archive/… which is in Traditional Chinese and is about a temple in a village in/near Hong Kong. So my best guess is yes, it is in Chinese.
The website is Sing Tao daily, a Hong Kong newspaper.
If I'm reading it right, apparently it's written somewhere on/in 洪聖古廟, a temple in Hong Kong: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hung_Shing_Temple,_Wan_Chai
(I wouldn't count on me reading it correctly though :P)
 
 
2 hours later…
blutorange
blutorange
5:57 AM
Well, I would call that an answer, so thank you : ) And as I said, it's just curiosity, so it doesn't matter if it takes some time.

You're right, that's obviously 呈, not 星. I don't think I would have confused 氣 and 気, but as the entire phrase is quoted in the article, I suppose I must have. Having the correct digitalized characters helps a lot.

Thank you again and have a nice day.
 
setek
setek
6:31 AM
@blutorange Not a problem at all, happy if I could help! I just hope I'm not wrong :P
This place really does need to be more lively
 
blutorange
blutorange
6:47 AM
I'm not certain whether it's about that temple exclusively, but apparently 烟 is a variation of 煙, and searching for 香烟盤繞結祥雲 gives a few more hits. Also, there's a variation of the phrase with 氣 replaced by 色, eg on this page:

http://clouddeep.blogspot.de/2014/09/blog-post_27.html

There's even a picture of the phrase there:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R-hyijR6WEw/VCarpuxjCgI/AAAAAAAAEbw/SmlxwnATD7g/s1600/image031.jpg

The design of the altar, or whatever it might be, looks similar to what I saw in that restaurant.
Not many people seem to know about the chat over on japanese@stackexchange either, it's kind of a hidden feature...
 
setek
setek
7:27 AM
Hmm interesting, makes it difficult to tell ..
 
setek
setek
7:40 AM
I just asked my native chinese speaker SIL
She says it's definitely Chinese
she also said the 对联 (the couplets on the sides) can be anything, there are combinations/variations, but that she'd look it up and see which match the characters definitely in the image
 
 
2 hours later…
blutorange
blutorange
10:07 AM
I'm looking forward to hearing from her. But take all the time you need, I'm in no hurry. ; )
 
blutorange
blutorange
10:53 AM
With some guesswork and a Japanese, Chinese-Japanese and Chinese-English dictionary, I've come up with a guess at what it might mean:

The smoke of incense (香煙) - floating around in the air (盤繞) - it forms (結)- clouds signifying good fortune (祥雲).

The flame (灯焔) - it shines brightly (光輝) - it presents (it appears as/is considered) (呈) - a good omen (瑞気).

I wonder if it at least marginally resembles the intended meaning or whether I'm totally off... it's fun though.
Or "a lovely color" (瑞色).
 

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