Spring Festival customs in literature(2)

An illustration of the ancestral temple of Rong mansion depicted in chapter 53 of A Dream of Red Mansions. [Photo/www.yupoo.com]

New Year Gifts

"'Xinger reports that packets of loose gold amounting to a hundred and fifty-three taels and sixty-seven cents, madam,' she presented them for inspection and her mistress saw that they were of different shapes, plum-blossom, crab-apple-blossom, a writing brush and an ellipsoid signifying 'All Wishes Granted'."(Chapter 53, an English translation of A Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi)

The Jia family depicted in A Dream of Red Mansions is the epitome of the noble class in feudal China. They live a luxurious and extravagant life due to their ancestors' contribution to the royalty, and each year they would be granted with an imperial bounty for New Year's sacrifices. During the Spring Festival, the family has a huge budget to spend on gifts. The gifts were usually gold or silver ingots shaped into auspicious patterns like lotus or plum flowers.

Hong Bao

As time goes by, cash has taken the place of silver and gold. Nowadays, Chinese people usually give a Hong Bao (lucky money in a red envelope) as a New Year's gift. On the eve of the lunar New Year, the elderly would put money into a red envelope and give it to the younger members of the family; the red color symbolizes good luck and is supposed to guard the kids against diseases or misfortune.

Couplets and Door God

"By the twenty-ninth of the twelfth month all was ready. Both mansions were resplendent with new door-gods, couplets, tablets and New-Year charms." (Chapter 53, an English translation of A Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi)

As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there was the custom of hanging Taofu (peach wood charms) namely, two peach wood boards. People believed that each of them dispelled evil spirits. During the Ming Dynasty, people began to replace the peach wood board with red paper, hence giving rise to the couplets we see today.

The couplet consists of two lines written on vertical strips of red paper, the upper line is posted on the right side of the front door, the second line is posted on the left, and a third horizontal piece is posted across and on top of the door.

Besides couplets, the portrait of two door gods is also an indispensable decoration for the lunar New Year. The custom originated in the Tang Dynasty when Emperor Tang Taizong honored two of his loyal generals – Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde by hanging their portraits on the front door of his palace. Later on, ordinary people adopted the imperial custom, and it is believed that they can protect the household from evil spirits.

Today, people post the Chinese character Fu, meaning blessing or fortune, instead of the door gods, what is more important is that the character is usually posted upside down meaning that the fortune has arrived at the household and brought the blessing for the next year.

Evening Banquet

"When all the men and maid-servants of both mansions had paid their respects according to their degree, there is a distribution of New-Year money, as well as pouches and gold and silver ingots. Then they take their seats for the family-reunion feast, the men on the east side, the women on the west, and New-Year wine, 'happy-reunion soup,' 'lucky fruit' and 'wish-fulfilment cakes' are served, until the Lady Dowager rises and goes into the inner room to change her clothes, whereupon the party ends." (Chapter 53, an English translation of A Dream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi)

Chinese people attach great importance to the yearly family reunion feast on the eve of the lunar New Year. It is a time for the whole family to get together, enjoy the festive atmosphere and share their gains and loss of the past year. At the banquet, children or the younger generation used to pay their respects to the seniors, usually grandparents, and in response, the elderly distribute Hong Baos and wish them a promising new year. A banquet will also be held on the Lantern Festival, the 15th of the first lunar month, marking the end of the Spring Festival.

Thousands of years later, the Spring Festival remains not only as a custom but also a mutual memory shared by all Chinese descendents. It is a priceless heritage handed down from age to age, reminding the Chinese of their unique cultural roots and conveying their hopeful vision for the future.