Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
The Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival is also known as Zhong Yuan Jie (中元节). In Chinese culture, especially in many Asian countries, the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar is regarded as the “Ghost Month”. It is believed that during this time, spirits and wandering souls — including deceased ancestors — are released from the lower realm (in Buddhist belief, the wheel of Samsara) to visit the living world for the entire month.
This year Dragon Boat Festival falls on this coming Monday 2 June 2014 which is today! There are a few versions of how the history came about. For what I learnt at school it is about Qu Yuan. He was a poet and minister (c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu. To cut the long story short, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River. The local people raced out to save him but was unable to do so. So they dropped balls of sticky rice (dumpling) into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan’s body.
What Is Confinement?
Chinese confinement, or zuò yuè (坐月), is a traditional postnatal practice designed to help a new mother recover from pregnancy, labour and childbirth. During this period, both mother and baby are mainly confined at home to rest and recuperate.
For Chinese families, the confinement period usually lasts for a full month, which also coincides with the baby’s first month celebration. During this time, new mums are expected to follow many taboos, dietary rules and restrictions.
In many countries such as the USA, families celebrate with a baby shower before the baby is born. In traditional Chinese culture, however, the celebration usually takes place one month after the baby arrives. This is known as the baby’s full month celebration and it also marks the end of the new mum’s confinement period.
During confinement, it is generally considered inappropriate for visitors to see the new mum and baby. The full month celebration is therefore a special occasion where both mother and baby are formally introduced to extended family members and friends.
You might be wondering: what is a bridal door game? It is a series of games played when the groom arrives to pick up his bride on the wedding day. The bridesmaids give the groom and his group of “brothers” (best men/groomsmen) a list of tasks and challenges to complete before he is allowed to fetch his bride. Of course, they have to pass all the games first!
Hope you have enjoyed my Chinese wedding series so far, where I have covered gifts, the tea ceremony, the hair combing ceremony, and Yue Lao. This week, I’m writing about the “small uncle” — known in English tradition as the page boy.
In a Chinese wedding, the “small uncle” has a much more important role than simply walking alongside the bride.
Following my recent theme on Chinese traditions, I decided to write about Yue Lao, the god of marriage. Without him, there wouldn’t be any weddings. According to legend, Yue Lao appears as an old man under the moon. He is often compared to Cupid, but instead of a bow and arrow, he carries a red string. When he ties this red string around a couple, they are destined to fall in love and get married.
I’m back with more Chinese wedding posts! This week, I’m writing about the hair combing ceremony. Do check out my posts on the Chinese tea ceremony and wedding gifts if you missed them.
Why is the hair combing ceremony (梳头, shūtóu) important?
Chinese tradition believes that this ritual brings a long-lasting and harmonious marriage. Both the bride and groom will have their own hair combing ceremony.
The Chinese Qing Ming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is a special occasion when families pay their respects to departed loved ones at their gravesites. The date changes every year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2014, Qing Ming Festival fell on 5 April. Traditionally, families may visit and pray anytime within 10 days before or after the actual day to avoid heavy congestion at cemeteries and temples.
The wedding tea ceremony is one of the most important events in a Chinese wedding. My mum insisted that we include one because we didn’t get married in a traditional Singaporean Chinese way. Mr C and I got married in Bath, and it was a small wedding with only close family and friends.
When I told some of our friends that we would be having a tea ceremony after the registration, no one really understood what that meant. As a result of the confusion, two of our friends went home after the registration and missed the wedding dinner. It can sometimes be difficult to explain why we have a Chinese tea ceremony on the wedding day, which is why I decided to write this post.
Last week, I wrote a blog post about Chinese superstitions when entering a hotel room. This week, I would like to share some gift ideas you should avoid buying for your Chinese friends or loved ones.
Understanding another person’s culture is not always easy, but learning through interaction, travel, or reading can help us better appreciate one another and live together more respectfully and harmoniously.
Last February, my mum and sister flew to the UK to visit us. While they were here, we went on a road trip to Scotland. You can read more about our Scotland trip with Barny here.
We stayed at Premier Inn throughout our holiday in various locations. Our final stop was Edinburgh, where we happened to have rooms opposite my sister’s. I noticed that she followed her usual hotel routine: she knocked on the door and said, “We’ll be sharing the room with you for two nights, thank you.”
This brought back memories from my younger days, when I was told that I must follow this routine. I had completely forgotten about it! Well… not entirely. I don’t knock on the door, but each time I enter a hotel room, I quietly inform ‘them’ that we will be sharing ‘their’ space.
Mr C doesn’t believe in these Chinese superstitions. He thinks I’m completely crazy for doing this!
I’ve had two unpleasant ghost experiences while staying in hotels with him in Italy and Japan, so he’s used to my “crazy” habits by now. That said, I don’t practise these superstitions as much as I used to, especially since my children have started questioning my rather bizarre behaviour.
Many of you might recall that I had recently written a series blog posts for Chinese New Year and that this year is the year of the Horse. In the Chinese zodiac, the horse came in seventh out of the 12 year cycle of the animals. If you would like to find out more about the Chinese zodiac animals, click here to read more. Why does the horse come in seventh in the cycle? Legend has it that the sneaky Snake hid itself on the Horse’s hoof. Before crossing the finishing line, the Snake frightened the Horse and took the 6th spot and left the horse in 7th.
Sadly tomorrow is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations and this is also my last post for the Chinese New Year theme. Hope you all have fun reading my blog posts from making Chinese New Year lantern crafts to foods!
A reunion dinner is held on the eve of Chinese New Year, when family members gather together to celebrate the occasion. In the past, it was traditionally an evening meal where the whole family sat around the table together. However, due to work schedules and other family commitments, it can now take place at any time of the day, as long as it is held on New Year’s Eve.
