The informant was a Chinese international student from Shanghai who goes to UC Santa Barbara. He describes a tradition in his household that takes place during Lunar New Year where his family puts a lucky red envelope (ēŗ¢å – ang pau) upside down on their front door.
“The character on the envelope means prosperity or auspiciousness. Upside down (ē¦ – fu) in Chinese is the same pronunciation as arrival. So putting it upside down is like saying that prosperity has arrived. People put that on their door during the New Year. Some people also choose to put that only inside their door to signify that the prosperity has entered the household. Thereās also belief that the character at the front door should not be upside down since that upsets the prosperity but you can put the character upside down onto other things (like a closet) inside the house. It is a very common and significant cultural practice in China. And my family does that too. We typically put the character upside down outside the front door to our apartment.”
Because Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language where one word can have multiple meanings depending on what tone it is said in, there are many opportunities for word play like this instance. The disagreement between people whether putting the envelope upside down brings or upsets prosperity and whether putting it outside or inside the door is the correct way is interesting because it shows how different people interpret the wordplay differently and that there is no clear cut answer.
Nonetheless, using a lucky envelope to bring prosperity inside the home reminds me of how people across a lot of cultures have rituals to bring them luck for the new year (eating a select amount of grapes, kissing on midnight, etc.) and indicates that many people see it as a hopeful new opportunity to change their lives for the better.
CONTEXT: TL is a fourth year student at USC. He is originally from Connecticut and first participated in this tradition with his family. He continued in this tradition marking the Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year until he moved to USC for college. TLās parents are both from Thailand, and he does not feel very connected to this tradition, but participated for many years for his dad.
TEXT:
TL: So every year, before college, on Chinese New Year, even though my family isnāt Chinese, my dad always made us have fish because I think that thereās something about fish being good luck in Chinese culture. So we always had fishā¦. Heās always really impressed by the China in the 21st century and he tried to convince my family to move to China when I was younger. Well, my dadās grandparents immigrated from China, but he grew up in Thailand. I honestly donāt think itās because of his family lineage, I think itās just because he just really likes China and wants us to embrace Chinese culture, even though I donāt consider my family to be Chinese. So we ate fish for dinner and that was the main dish. I donāt think there was a specific kind of fish, it differed every year. It was the whole fish. In Chinese culture and in Asian culture you eat the entire fish as a family. But thereās no chance I will continue to do this.
ANALYSIS:
I think this family tradition, started by TLās dad, is one way of mirroring a culture he has a lot of respect for. Based on TLās description and interpretation, it is possible that TLās dad tries to incorporate other aspects of his understanding or interpretation of Chinese culture, whether from his grandparents or from his own time spent in China, into his own life, and that this tradition is one way to involve his family. It is also a tradition to mark a specific time of year, which is significant because it brings family together at least once per year, with predictability. TLās family does not otherwise celebrate Lunar New Year in any way, or celebrate any other Chinese holidays. After some research into the Lunar New Year, I found that it is not only celebrated in China, and though it is not a public holiday in Thailand, it is still celebrated as about 15% of the population in Thailand is of Chinese descent (as of 2023). Being that TLās dad is from Thailand, it may also be that he was around the celebration in childhood and wants his children to share in that experience. TL does not plan to continue this tradition as he does not wish to celebrate the Lunar New Year because he says he does not feel a strong connection to it.
Informant: Wait this is like famous, hang on. Itās like youāre not supposed to sweep during Chinese New Year if you donāt want to sweep the luck out of the house cleaning out the house symbolizes wait wait wait yeah sweeping out the house should be avoided during the first 3 days because good luck would be swept out.
Context:
Context of Performance: collected from an in-person conversation.
Informant: so it’s like a fun thing for Chinese New Year that I understand and donāt have to speak Chinese for it AND I get to like do it.
The informant also commented that she learned about it from her mom. Her family has been not sweeping during Chinese New Year since she was a kid (at least 10 years).
Personal Thoughts:
There’s a lot of traditions done during Chinese New Year that are associated with fortune and wealth. However, most that I’ve heard are things to do to scare off bad luck (such as lighting fireworks) as opposed to things not to do to keep good luck. This tradition is particularly interesting to me because I’ve associated Chinese New Year with Spring Cleaning time and/or a reset.
(above image is taken from the informant’s Instagram with their consent. It was posted February 4, 2018)
Note: The tradition was performed by the 18 year old informant (notated I), while the further explanation was supplied by her mother (notated M).
Performance: This tradition was performed on February 4, 2022 by the 18 year old informant. Further information was collected over a phone call March 4, 2022.
Transcript of the informant explaining the performance:
[Note: the informant didn’t really explain the tradition in detail because it was something I already knew about. In essence it’s the balancing of eggs on the 4th or 5th day of Chinese New Year, however the informant does it every February 4th for convenience. Further detail can be found in the transcript from my conversation with the informant’s mother.]
I: um like, and I only like, we never like did it every year until a couple years ago, but like it was a long time ago since we were still living in that old house, um itās like a fun good luck thing, and I get to do a fun thing for Chinese New Year that I understand and donāt have to speak Chinese for it AND I get to, itās always been like a fun thing to include other people on. Because, like, I post on Instagram and half the people are like oh my god itās f***ing egg day and the other half are like what is happening, what is egg day, why is everybody in on this?
And then, yāknow, when I came here [Australia], two people were like what the f*** are you doing? and I was like balancing eggs do you want to balance eggs? and they were like kind of. So, I donāt know, itās also something you can use to connect with people. And be like āthis is a fun culture thing.ā I donāt know, I just enjoy it. Itās a fun way to connect with my culture. But like, in a very, un-serious way.
And itās not like a *super important cultural practice*, yāknow? So, it really is like anybody can do it.
Transcript of the informant’s mother explaining additional information about the tradition:
Me: What is the name of the tradition, and whatās its origin?
M: Origin, Chinese. The name is call ē«ę„ (LƬchÅ«n)
M: Spring time (ę„ChÅ«n) is in the middle. Li (LƬē«) is like you stand straight. thatās called li.
[FROM LATER IN THE TRANSCRIPT]
M: I donāt think this is from like, from China. I think China people donāt do that though I donāt know why. This is more like Taiwan people do that, Hong Kong, of course Malaysia, right. Singapore. I donāt know, I kind of shocked when I asked my neighbor, sheās from Shanghai. She said she never did it. Maybe is not from China, I donāt know, but Hainam, the Hainamese do that.
What is the origin or meaning behind this tradition?
W: So we do that onā¦the the the meaning behind doing this is just to start, it means that the new, the spring day is coming. Is a new day, so for a new year, so thatās why Chinese doing it on the Lunar calendar New Year, um usually count it like fifth days, fourth or 5th days after the Chinese New Year, count it, start from the first day. And, lichun leans that in the old time, all the farmer right? So when itās time to plant, that is when they do this, is called lichun. Lichun is just to like, to tell that itās time to plant and that itās spring time.
so this standing the eggs thing is just aā¦they believe the Earth is tilted on that particular day, that is straight. straight down like this that means it balance on both sides right. And somehow, I donāt know when it started, that they tested itā¦ you can actually balance, because egg is the only thing that is not, you know, that is impossible to stand an egg. but on that day, actually they tried it, it worked, so itās proof that the Earth is actually really straight and with the strong gravity. So we do that, then of course why they say do that is because to bring good luck in, into your house, prosperities. so thatās why Chinese do that during Chinese New Year, and then during Chinese New Year you want to bring good luck, you want to bring money into your house, so doing that means that, so you stand an egg, means that if it happens, if youāre successfully, you can do it, means that you have good luck. Then you let it stand in your house. I always let it stand for 15 days because Chinese New Year is 15 days so-
I: It means I have great luck.
M: So Chinese New year is always 15 days, right? And so a lot of celebration going on the 7 day, the 15 days, it depends on what you origin from. So like youāre Hawkin you do it differently, if you are Hainamese you do it differently, so all of it if you are different province you have different belief.
Personal Thoughts:
This tradition is particularly fascinating to me, because it displays an awareness that the Earth is not perfectly upright. While this tradition fulfills typical traits of many Chinese New Year traditions – an association with good fortune, it also differs greatly by balancing eggs. While the informant’s mother said that they balance eggs on this particular day because eggs are not perfectly round (and are difficult to balance), I also wonder if it’s because eggs are supposed to be a potential reflection of the world balancing on this particular day. Many ideas of world eggs are discussed in Venetia Newall’s Easter Eggs. While none of them particularly match Egg Day, they share an idea of an egg as something greater than just an egg.
Additional Notes: For additional discussions of Eggs and their significance to folklore, go to: Newall, Venetia. “Easter Eggs.” In The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 80, No. 315. (Jan. – Mar., 1967), pp. 3-32.
D: On the first day of New Year, you donāt sweep the floor. They believe that youāre gonna sweep away all of the good things– they donāt talk about luck, they talk about wealth, money. So you just keep it inside the house, or maybe you can gather it in one spot and leave it there. Until…maybe– because they celebrate on the first, second, and third [days]– those are the three main, then on the third day, you can take away the trash. Or, if you swept it outside, you can sweep it back in.
Background:
My informant is my father, who was born and raised in Vietnam. Vietnamese New Year is often a large celebration, which goes according to the Lunar calendar. In Vietnamese, New Year is called Tįŗæt, and is full of superstitions and traditional practices to ensure the following year will be filled with good luck and fortune. My fatherās grandfather and mother thus performed this practice every New Year, however, my father does not believe in it as much. Since immigrating to the United States in the 1990s and having his own family, we have not performed this practice.
Context:
This is a transcription of a live conversation between my father and me. He often tells me stories about his life and past and was reminded of this story when I asked him about folk magic.
Thoughts:
Though I was born in the United States, being the first generation of American-born children in my family, I was raised with many customs and traditions from Vietnam. Since I was young, Vietnamese New Year has always been a large celebration. Many other customs of the New Year have been continued after my parentsā generation immigrated, while others have not. Itās interesting to see which customs continued and which customs they stopped performing. It seems my grandmother and her generation hold onto certain superstitions much more than my parents and their generation. My father has always been one to not be very superstitious. Thinking of when he was a child, Vietnam was in the midst of war, and after, had to rebuild the country. During this time, financial insecurity was common. I can understand then, why this practice may have been performed more and the superstition believed more during that time when there was much uncertainty. Folk magic is often employed in such times of uncertainty. Specifically, this folk magic practice is homeopathic magic, where the act of sweeping mimics sweeping wealth out of your home (and your possession). Now that my family is not as worried about financial instability, the practice has not been continued.
