Culture
Chinese has many rituals related to births and birthdays, weddings and funerals. These are the three milestones of a person’s life and a multitude of rituals has evolved around each of these major events; some based on necessity and logic, others based on religious precepts or folk superstitions. Our point is that the forms of the rituals are of secondary importance; of greater significance are the moral values underlying these traditional practices.
Birth Rituals
The birth of a baby is always a joyful event, but in a Chinese community it also has an important social significance because of the special position of the family. Because the family is the primary unit of the Chinese society, the reproduction of offspring to increase the size and thereby the influence of the family assumes greater importance.
Bu xiao you san, wu hou wei da, is a much quoted Chinese saying. This means, “Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is the lack of posterity.” In other words, it is the duty of the members of the family to bear children and ensure the continuity of the family line.
After Delivery
After the delivery, the mother and child undergo a month of confinement. The one-month zuo yue during which the mother is not supposed to leave the house, provides the mother with complete rest to facilitate her recuperation.
Naming
Proving the right name for a baby is of paramount importance because the Chinese believe that the name can influence the future fortunes of the child. A variety of factors are taken into consideration when selecting a name for a child.
The more traditional families name their offspring according to a set system established by their ancestors. In most cases, a poem is chosen. Children of the same generation would have a common character taken from the poem in consecutive term in their names. Such a system ensures that members of the extended family would know from their names, their relationship with one another.
Another practice is to find out the horoscope of the newborn baby and determine the major elements dominating at the time of birth. (In the Chinese system the world comprises five major elements – gold, wood, water, fire and earth.) The name of the newborn should contain the Chinese characters representing the missing elements. For example, a child born at a time when the water element is weak, should preferably have a name with the “water” character in it.
Others believe that the number of strokes in the name is more important in influencing a person’s life. Names are then chosen based on the total number of strokes required to write the Chinese characters.
Still others prefer to name their children after famous personalities in the hope that the latter’s good attributes would be repeated. On the same basis, children are also given names expressing sterling qualities, excellent virtues or greatly desired hopes. (A mother anxious to have a son in her next pregnancy, for instance, may name her daughter Zhao Di, meaning “inviting a younger brother”.)
Full Month
The most important event for the newly named baby is his man yue (full month). Though the scale of the celebration may vary, virtually every family celebrates the 30th day of the baby’s birth.
For Buddhist and Taoist families, the morning of man yue calls for the burning of incense and food offerings to be made to one’s ancestors as well as to the deities worshipped at home. This is to inform the ancestors of the new addition to the family and to appeal to the spirits to protect the child.
Special man yue gifts are personally delivered to relatives and those friends who have sent presents to the family during the confinement month. Man yue gifts vary according to dialect groups, but red eggs are the one indispensable item.
Eggs are so important because, firstly, they symbolise the life renewal process. Secondly, their round (yuan) shape is traditionally associated with harmony and unity. Thirdly, in the old Chinese agrarian community, the humble egg was a delicacy to be eaten only on festive occasions. For good luck, the hard-boiled eggs are dyed in red.
Other man yue gifts range from cakes, chicken, savoury glutinous rice and pig’s trotters. Like the Chinese New Year, gifts are made up of at least two items.
Recipients, in turn, are expected to give presents to the newborn baby, although many Singaporeans now send their gifts during the zuo yue. The more traditional Chinese will give hongbao as expressions of their good wishes to the baby. Grandparents are expected to give gold jewellery because gold is the most highly prized metal.
The man yue celebration frequently culminates with a dinner for relatives and friends.
(Extracted from “Chinese Customs and Festivals in Singapore” handbook published by SFCCA in 1989)