The first birthday celebration is when the child is 30 days old. You need to know that when a child is born they are considered one year old and another year will be added to their age on Chinese New Year. So, a three-month-old infant could actually be two years old by Chinese calculations. When the baby is 30 days old the parents send gifts to all the family and friends, always including a red dyed egg to announce the arrival of the child. Some of the gifts are returned the child's parents to help to support and raise the child.
The birthday celebration we attended came at the end of the child's first year of life. The parents performed a ritual that they believe will tell them what the future holds for their child. Various objects including coins (wealth), a CD (musician), a ruler (architect), a book (studious) , a calculator (accountant or banker), a pen (author), a camera (journalist/artist), a green onion (intelligent), a head of garlic (shrewd), a thermometer (medical), a scale (judicial), and a golf bag (sports) were placed on the floor; twelve in all.
The child was placed on the floor nearby and observed by the parents and the guests gathered around.
Whichever object the child picks up is supposed to represent their future. If the child picks up the coins they will be wealthy, the pen they will be an author, and so on.Our friends were encouraging their daughter, Dou-dou, to go for the coins - meaning that she would be wealthy and could take care of them in later life. But her first choice was a calculator, indicating a possible career in banking or another occupation where she would be handling large sums of money.
Her second choice was a pen, indicating an aptitude for writing or literature.
And then, what mama was waiting for... THE MONEY.
She was smart enough to immediately hand it over to her mother for managing.
After the money was chosen, anything else was just for fun, like the digital camera which might lead to a career in journalism or the arts and the green onion (tsung) which has the same sound in Chinese as intelligent.
After a shared meal and the ritual, we all gave gifts of clothes, or toys then enjoyed a birthday cake which is a Western custom; although we did sing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese.
When the child is six, they will invite family and friends to their home to eat long noodles and red dyed eggs. The traditional gifts of money in red envelopes are given.
The fourth birthday celebration for Chinese comes at the age of 60, this is the first and probably only time in the persons life that their animal sign and element are together exactly as they were on the day they were born.
The grown children give the celebration for their parents, out of respect, love and appreciation. The celebration begins by the mother or father eating a bowl of long noodles and red dyed eggs for breakfast prepared by their children. Later in the day family and friends are invited to the celebration where they will eat long noodles (representing longevity) and a warm pastry with a sweet mixture that looks like a peach (therefore called a peach) is eaten. Everyone at the celebration must eat both foods, it is considered rude and disrespectful not to. This type of celebration continues every ten years for the rest of the person's life with more family members, being added to the grand celebration each year.
1 comment:
Some traditional customs still, after many years, influence people in many ways, and make the culture itself more interesting.
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