1. China Nation Day: Rites of Passage
By Nova Martin

2. Preparing for Birth
-During pregnancy, it is important that the woman stays respectful and relaxed so that the baby has a good mind.
-Physical labour is discouraged.
-Hot foods are not allowed to be consumed as the pregnancy is viewed as a time that requires cooldown.
Hot foods =/= food that is cooked. It’s a way of classifying foods. Some examples include:
Chicken
Lamb
Onions
Peaches
Garlic
Pistachio nut
Pumpkin
Squash
Mangoes

3. Zuo yue zi: Sitting Month
Dos and don’ts of the zuo yue zi!
-Lasts a month after the baby is born.
-Mother is bedridden to relax after a long 9 months of pregnancy.
-During this time she is given motherly advice from mothers with grown children.
-More so traditional, as modern day ways of life can very much interfere with this tradition or vice versa.
Dos
Keep warms at all times.
Breastfeed while laying down.
Wear post natal gurdle as much as possible.
Don’ts
No physical acitivty.
No washing hair or showering.
Do not cuddle with the baby that often.
No cold foods.
No crying.

4. Three days after birth
-Baby is given it’s first bath and receives it’s name.
-Close family celebrate by lighting incense and giving money.
-Red eggs are put into the bath. Red eggs symbolize renewal and continuation of the ancestry.

5. Man yue (Full moon celebration)
-Family is invited to meet the baby.
-Baby is dressed in red and gold.
-Celebrates the first full moon of the baby after 30 days of being born.
-The zuo yu zi ends.
-Gifts are given to the new parents and the parents hold a feast for the family to commemorate the newest member of the family.
First of many instances of lai see giving.

6. 100 days celebration -More gifts are given to the baby.
-Another feast is held (Chicken and fish).
-Baby wears a longevity lock, a silver pendent, which will keep him or her tied to our world.
-Represents a life of 100 years.
-More so traditional; not a common practice.

7. Baby’s First Birthday: Cai shou
-Done leading up to the birthday.
-Primarily practiced in Fuijian.
-Supposed to ensure a long and happy life.
-Red turtle cake is made for the baby and mother. Turtle’s represent a long life. -Baby is fed the cake and the mother says “Sickness won’t enter this mouth, disaster won’t come out”.
Basically saying this child will have a peaceful life of no disastrous sort.

8. Baby’s First Birthday: Cutting the threads
-The baby is held up by the mother.
-A woman of good luck (a woman with grown children that are still alive) will cut three “ties” between the mother and the baby.
-This is to stop the baby from being dependant on the mother.
-Dependency can create laziness and clumsiness.

9. Baby’s First Birthday: Zhau zhou!
-Probably the most famous of all the events.
-The baby is given a bunch of items, depending on what they choose it will predict their future/career.
-Nowadays it is more of a traditional ceremony than a way of predicting the future. -With the rise of the industrial revolution and the ways jobs have changed in china, objects have become more modern to fit modern jobs, such as items that are computer oriented.
Some examples of items that can be chosen.
Book = very literate
Coins = good business
Scissors = tailor
Seals = official/government job
Toy = goof off
Modern day examples
Cars
Computers
Stethoscopes
Microphone

10. Proposal -Proposal has changed very much over the years.
-Arranged marriages are still practiced, and they used to be common place. As early as birth, two families may choose to marry their kids for any reason whether it be financial, relations, or anything else.
-Families used to think something like marriage shouldn’t be decided by the young since they were too rash.
-Nowadays, depending on the family, the couple must seek permission from their parents.

11. Betrothal Date and Dowry
-This is a date where the two families meet to confirm the wedding.
-A date is chosen for the wedding off of horoscope. The 15 days before the 7th lunar month are the worst days. To do it, as it is the Hungry Ghost Festival.
-The groom’s family gives presents to the bride’s family and makes arrangements for future gifts.
-Lai see is a big gift.
-All gifts are given in even number to represent a couple.
The dowry is primarily performed by the bride’s family, where they gift the groom’s family/the newlywed couple items they’ll need for their wedding and lives together. One such item is the bridal bed bedding.

12. Preparing the Wedding Decor
-The families work together to set up the decoration. Red lanterns and banners are put up that signify happiness between the two.
-The bridal bed is set up by a member of the groom’s family.

13. Pre wedding
Traditionally the bride would only wear one dress, but now she wears three. A western styled wedding dress, a traditional two piece (Qun Kaw, Cheongsam), and a cocktail dress for the feast.
-The bride’s hair is done by her chosen “good luck woman”. Afterwards the groom’s family will put the veil on the bride.

14. Pre wedding
-The groom then goes to pick up the bride to head to the reception. On the way in he must play a game with girls that are close with the bride. They will not allow him to see the bride until he answers their questions.
-The bride and groom and both families meet at the reception site for the ceremony.
-This is the most popular of what are called “door games”. They all serve the same purpose, to tease the groom’s and buy the bride some time.

15. The Wedding: Reception and Tea Ceremony
-The newlywed couple stand up at the altar. They bow to the heavens, earth, their ancestors, and then to their guests.
-The reception is short, and then the tea ceremony commences.
-The newlyweds give every guest tea, and if they have any gifts they give it when they come forward.
-they line up form eldest to youngest.

16. The Wedding: The Banquet
What’s cooking and why?
Shark Fin Soup (Represents wealth)
Roast suckling pig (Represents virginity)
Peking duck and lobster (Represents joy and celebration)
Fowl (Represents peace)
Vegetables/Seas cucumber (Represents selfness, what couple should have)
Fish (Represents abundance)
Noodles (Strains represent longevity)
Sweet buns and sweet red bean soup (Represents sweet life)
Tea (Respect)
Alcohol (Celebration)
Oddly specific but 7-UP (Multiple happiness)
-The families then hold a banquet, where the families sit and feast in celebration of the couples’ union.
-Traditionally, the families separate into their original families.

17. The Wake of the Funeral
-The coffin of the deceased is placed inside the house or in the courtyard depending on where they died.
-The entrance way is covered with a white sheet and a gong is put next to the door.
-All deity statues are covered and mirrors are taken down.
-The body is dressed in their nicest clothes.
-No one is allowed to wear red.
-Offerings are given to the deceased, usually some gifts and a photo of the deceased.
-Everyone lights incense and places it at the alter at the end of the coffin.
-If family is religious, a monk will read scriptures to the deceased.
Traditional coffin. Modern coffins are more western styled.

18. The Burial
-The coffin is then transported to the cemetery, eldest son is responsible for transporting the coffin.
-Everyone ties a white cloth to their arm, signifying that they are connecting themselves with the deceased.
-The coffin is lowered into the grave, none of the family watch it’s descent.
-Everyone throws soil onto the coffin, the eldest son takes some soil and keeps it, to keep a connection between him and his father/mother.
-The family returns home to pray to the ancestors.
-A plaque is put up in front of the house to allow the deceased’s spirit to find their home.
The gravestone is the deceased’s connection to our realm.

19. Bibliography
Teresa Rebeca Yeo. Chinese birth rituals. Infopedia, May 2013,
I got the majority of my pre-natal information from this website. It was a good starting point for learning about what the woman can and can’t do before the baby is born, it also gave some insight into the first ceremonies. I felt that this was a reliable source as everything was well cited too their original sources. If I had any hesitations I was able to look at some of those resources and double check my information.
Some Weird Things Chinese Women Do After Giving Birth. LoveLoveChina, 2011,
I got some facts about the zuo yue zi here. I’m not sure of the reliability of this source, however as it is a blog post it is written from experience. This list was good for seeing what the women are traditionally allowed to do and not to do.
Ye Qinfa. Chinese Culture, Birthday Customs of the Newborn and Elderly, Sweet Mother International,
I used this for some information on the first ceremonies of life. I was able to get a large bulk of supportive information here. I would consider this reliable as this info is shared by other sources I have seen.
Customs. Folk Art China, 2015,
This was a good first reading point as it gave very, very, basic information. I was able to confirm this information with my further readings, as such I can safely say that the info I used in my project form here is reliable.
“admin”. A Chinese Baby’s First Birthday. ChinaExPat, 2009,
This was a source for adding more information about the first birthday. I’m not sure about the reliability, but many of the big points I had double checked and seem to check out. It seems like the authout did do his or her research on the topic.
Complete Guide to Chinese Wedding. China Bridal, 2003,
This was a source that gave a good basic run down of the events of a wedding. It gave information and elaborated on details, it seems very well researched. The information here checks out with the other source I used.

20. Bibliography
Lin Mar. Chinese Wedding Traditions. Chinese Historical & Cultural Project, 2016,
This was a very detailed text on very traditional and historical customs. It helped give me some insight on what is more traditional than commonly practiced, and I feel that it helped me a lot decide what to include into this project.
Chinese customs, superstitions and traditions. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ,2004,
This was very detailed about all of my topics. It was good for fact checking and adding any information I felt necessary to add. Not only that, but it gave a very detailed description on the funeral services. So much so that I only needed to search some rituals up to double check, and everything seems to check out. I can say this is a pretty reliable source. It also directed to where it got it’s information from, which is always a good thing to have.