Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Do you know how chopsticks came about and why Chinese people traditionally use them for eating? In fact, chopsticks have been used for over 3,000 years. They date back to around 1200 B.C., when bronze chopsticks were discovered at the Ruins of Yin near Anyang in Henan Province. Originally used as cooking tools, they gradually evolved into common eating utensils during the Han Dynasty (200 B.C. – 200 A.D.) and spread across Asia by around 500 A.D.
Do you know which fruits are appropriate to offer to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and your ancestors – and which ones should be avoided?
When I was young, praying to the gods and ancestors on important days was a significant event in my household. I vividly remember two whole sugar canes with roots, each tied with red threads and adorned with a yellow paper lantern. Alongside them stood a table filled with plates of fresh fruits and flowers for the Buddhas, and another with meats, biscuits, and cakes for our ancestors. A tall stack of joss paper was always prepared for burning, symbolically sent to our ancestors for use in the afterlife.
Do you know any supernatural games that open the gateway to a dark, hostile and incomprehensible world? Have you played them before or heard anything about it? Read on and let me tell you more about it.
Some of you might have read that in some of my true ghost stories and Chinese superstitions, I have often referred to examples in Mr Zhou’s Ghost stories. If you are not familiar with Mr Zhou’s Ghost stories, it is a radio segment hosted by Singaporean actor/DJ Dennis Zhou and DJ Nana/Chen Lina, every Friday from 11 pm to 12 midnight (except during Chinese New Year periods and holiday season), at Singapore Love 97.2fm. You can also listen to their podcasts from November 2017 till present with MeListen and Spotify apps.
Do you believe in spirit babies? In Chinese, we call them 婴灵 (Yīng Líng). They are the souls of babies who were aborted, miscarried, stillborn or died shortly after birth. Most of the time, they were not properly buried (especially aborted in hospital, their remains would be thrown into biohazard bags along with other bodily fluids for burning) or have a name/tablet for themselves.
Today, we are going to take a look at Chinese Funeral mourning clothing from the past, which is dangerously disappearing fast. These photos were shared with me by my uncle, which took place in 1989 during my grandfather’s funeral.
Two years ago, I wrote an article on Day 7 The Return of The Dead Night, and only briefly wrote about the dos and don’ts of the night. After watching the collaboration between the Hellbank YouTube channel with Affinity Funeral Service’s video, it prompted me to do some research through my relatives and friends in Singapore on what to prepare for the Return of the Soul night.
Just a word of warning, this does not apply to all Chinese people or religions, it is mostly what Chinese people believe in Singapore. It is mainly Chinese superstitions or customs that have been passed down the generations, you can choose to believe it or not.
In my previous post, I mentioned about exhuming my grandfather and the contractors would then take his cleaned remains to the crematorium to get cremated. Do you know what usually happens next? This is solely based on my uncle and friend’s experiences. This is part of their Chinese ritual after cremation. It is solely for your reference. This procedure of bone picking does not apply to everyone around the world or for any other religions. Furthermore, each religion and country has their own rituals after cremation.
This year Qing Ming Festival/Tomb Sweeping fell on the 4th April 2024. It saddens me that yet again, I have not been able to pay my respects to my dad and my grandparents on this festival. There are a couple of reasons for this: my family are in Singapore so it takes some preparation to plan a long haul trip from Britain. Also, it is not easy to fly over due to school term and travel costs.
On Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories live radio last Friday, guest speaker Genesis (Top 3 Finalists for Be A Podcaster) talked about her relatives’ pregnancy. This story triggered me to ask my mum about pregnancy taboos when she was young. These pregnancy taboos are mainly old wives’ tales. You can decide whether to believe them or not, it’s your choice! The references are just for entertainment purposes.
Once a month, I go out with a group of Chinese friends who come from different countries. We are Chinese people from the PRC, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore of course.
One of their habits that annoys me the most is that they place/poke their chopsticks vertically into their food or rice bowl. For me, it is a No-No. Let me tell you why! My mum and most elderly folks would say if you do that, it means the rice is an offering to the ghosts. The chopsticks are positioned like joss sticks used for a funeral. If you eat the rice, it will bring you bad luck. Besides Singapore, places like China, Japan and Korea also believe this. Therefore, it is best to avoid placing chopsticks vertically into the food or rice. Now let me tell you more about other Chinese table manners you should observe.
Is Ji Shi Teng 鸡屎藤 (a Chinese fever vine herb) able to ward off evil spirits? According to the older generation (like my mum and some of my older relatives), they all truly believe so! I first came across this Ji Shi Teng via listening to Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast on 13th May 2022.
Several years ago, I wrote an article on Gifts to avoid buying for Chinese People and one of the items is an umbrella. Now I would like to expand on the Chinese superstitions regarding the umbrella taboo in our Chinese culture. In the feng shui study, they believe that used correctly, an umbrella will bring you luck and wealth. However, if you use it wrongly, it will bring you misfortune. Do you believe it?
I hadn’t heard of this taboo of never hanging clothing out overnight until I heard from Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast. Some people believe that hanging clothing at night will attract wandering spirits to get attached to the clothing. It will cause us to have bad luck. I will list a few examples later in the post.
Buying your new home is a very proud moment for you and your family. It is likely one of the most expensive purchases you will make and therefore it’s a big deal for everyone involved. Many Chinese people observe or believe in several Chinese customs.
Many Chinese people are very superstitious, particularly among the elderly and I would include myself in that. If you read the blog post that I wrote earlier this year on the meaning of 15 days of Lunar New Year, you will recall that some Chinese (Taoism and Buddhism) would pray to the God of Wealth for blessing. For this blessing money in Chinese, we called it 偏财 (Piān cái). It is an expected income or floating assets such as bonuses, lottery winnings, stock benefits, etc.
