"Draco Malfoy, one of Harry Potter's most recognisable villains, has become an unlikely lunar new year icon across China, as fans embrace the character for the year of the horse. In Mandarin, Malfoy's name is transliterated as ma er fu. The first character means horse while the final character, fu, means fortune or blessing a powerful symbol found across lunar new year celebrations. Put together, Malfoy's name can be loosely read as horse fortune, making him an unexpectedly auspicious figure for the year ahead."
"Images of a young Malfoy played by the English actor Tom Felton smiling from red lunar new year posters and riding cartoon horses have appeared on refrigerators, in office spaces as well as shopping malls alike. Allow Instagram content? This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Felton seems to have noticed the frenzy. On Tuesday, the 38-year-old actor, who recently reprised his role in the Broadway production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, reposted on his Instagram story a photo of his face beaming from a red banner in a Chinese shopping mall."
Draco Malfoy has been embraced across China as a lunar new year icon for the year of the horse because his Mandarin transliteration, ma er fu, combines the character for horse with fu, meaning fortune or blessing. The name wordplay reads as "horse fortune," prompting widespread memes, fan art, decorations and themed merchandise on Chinese social media. Images of a young Malfoy smiling on red posters and riding cartoon horses have appeared in homes, offices and shopping malls. Tom Felton reposted a banner image on Instagram, and the franchise has sold about 200 million Chinese-language copies and plans a large Shanghai studio tour.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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