The word Origami means "paper folding". Though we
usually relate Origami to Japan, however this paper
folding art was founded in China.
Every shape of origami denotes its own meanings.
One famous Origami, I would say is "The Crane".
For thousands of years for the Japanese, it symbolizes
"Honour and Loyalty". This is due to the characteristics
of the Crane that looks majestic,beautiful,graceful
and also its loyalty to its mate. Thus it is believed
that if a person folds 1,000 paper crane in a year, his
or her wish will come true.
There is a story of a little girl, named Sadako Sasaki. A victim
of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Exposed to radioactive; aftermath
of the atomic bomb, she developed leukemia at the age of 2 and
grew up suffering from the disease. When she was in her deathbed,
She believed that if she folded 1,000 paper cranes, her wish for
world peace would come true. However her wish to finish folding
1,000 cranes didn't come true, for she
succumbed to the disease at the age of 12.
Her classmates however, finished her work and
she was buried with the 1,000 paper cranes.With the sad story of
Sadako, paper cranes also became a way to say goodbye to a
loved one who passed on or even symbolizes hope and dreams.
Last christmas, I decided to have paper cranes as ornaments
to the christmas tree. Not many, but one for each year. One the
paper that I fold, I wrote my hopes and wishes for the year to come.
In a way, I would like to make this as a family tradition.Everyone
will have their own crane. And every year, more and more cranes
will be hanged on the christmas tree. Cool idea? At least I thought
so. :)
