Superstitions that still remain in the lives of Chinese 👲🍊

The Chinese tend to have a healthy respect for superstition. I believe as growing up as a Malaysian many people have used to live with superstitions. If you accidentally didn’t follow one of the superstitions, I am sure that your mother would quickly point it out, warning or reminding you about it. Although some of them seem to be absurd and ridiculous, but for most of the Asian normally will take them seriously.

Let’s start off with Chinese New Year! There should be no brooms on the first day of the New Year. You should not use a broom on the first day of the New Year as it will sweep away your luck and break your fortune. If you have to sweep the floor, you must sweep from the outside to the inside. It is still a custom in many places today to sweep the floor before New Year's Eve.

You may also be questioning why do we wear red for Chinese New Year? The origin of wearing red on New Year's Eve is actually according to ancient mythology. Every New Year's Eve, a monster which called Nian (a.k.a. New Year's Beast) would appear and attack human villages. In order to chase Nian away, people had discovered that Nian was afraid of the colour red. Thus, every year at this time, everyone would wear red, and use red for everything so that Nian would not attack them, and this slowly formed a custom. Besides, the colour red also has the meaning of good luck and avoiding misfortune in traditional Chinese culture. The colour red is a significant symbol in traditional Chinese culture, meaning good luck, joy and celebration. Red is also a colour that is infectious enthusiasm and a sign that the coming year will be a prosperous one.

With all the festivals and events that take place throughout the year, most people give gifts to their loved ones or friends to show their appreciation. Especially with the etiquette of reciprocity, if the Chinese receive a gift or invitation from someone, they will offer back to the one when it is suitable. This is called “Li Shang Wang Lai” in Chinese. Other than considering the recipient's preferences, it is also essential to be aware of the traditional taboos.

So, what are the absolute no-no? In Chinese, saying 'giving a clock' (sòng zhōng) sounds exactly like the Chinese words for 'attending a funeral ritual' (sòng zhōng), it means waiting for someone to die. Therefore, it is a big no-no to gift clocks or watches. Besides, do not give umbrellas as gifts (excluding the case of umbrellas given in the rain). This is due to the reason that the Chinese word for 'umbrella' (sǎn) sound like the word for 'breaking up' (sàn), which means to part ways or to say goodbye forever. It implies a break-up or separation in the future,  it also will insinuate that you feel your relationship with them has fallen apart. Apart from that, although giving fruit is a good thing, but pears are taboo. In Chinese word for 'pears' (lí) sounds the same as the word for leaving or 'parting' (lí). Giving pears to someone will imply that there is a risk of separation in the future, so avoid giving them to patients, couples or lovers.

          Furthermore, many people like to buy beautiful candles with various scents as gifts, but in fact candles are used for worshipping or pay tribute to the deceased, so it is inauspicious to give them as gifts and should be avoided. On top of that, shoes should not be given as gifts too. This is because in Chinese, the word for 'shoes' (xié) sounds exactly like a word for bad luck or 'evil' (xié). When you give shoes to someone, you are also sending out evil spirits, so it is very likely that you will lose contact or friendship with them soon afterwards, although this does not include giving them to your own relatives. There are also other sayings, one is to worry about your partner running away with someone else, and the other is to worry about giving the other person small shoes and meeting a villain. Those who know should not do so, those who do not know are not guilty.

There are also few taboos in using the chopsticks. I believe we were scolded by our elders when we were children for saying "don't knock the dishes with chopsticks". In fact the act of hitting bowls, pots and pans with chopsticks signifies "poverty". Why do you say so? That's because in the past only beggars would tap and bang their bowls with chopsticks to attract the attention of passers-by. Additionally, don't stick your chopsticks vertically into the rice bowl. I know that some people may have this habit that like to stick their chopsticks on top of the rice, which can be seen as a great disrespect. This is because the folk tradition is to do this when offering incense to the deceased, and if you stick a set of chopsticks into the middle of the rice, it is as you are cursing the people you are eating with.

Next, I guess everyone is familiar with this taboo. In Chinese, the number '4' harmonises with the word 'death', which some Chinese people find unlucky and ominous. This superstitious phenomenon based on the aversion, rejection and avoidance of things with "four" in them. The scientific term for this behaviour is "tetraphobia". In contrast, eight is an auspicious number in Chinese tradition. People usually choose a day with an eight for their wedding. Even in 2008, the Olympic Games were held on 8 August in Bejing, China to make use of this auspicious number for good luck. People usually choose a mobile phone number or a car number with an 8 on it. Why is 8 an auspicious number? The main reason is that 8 is pronounced (bā) sounds similar to the word which means “prosper” or “wealth”. Therefore, 8 is an auspicious number and is favoured by people.

I remember that when I was a child, I was always stopped by my elders from writing my name with a red pen. In Qin dynasty, the name of a person sentenced to death was written in chicken blood. Later on, it evolved to be written in red, which is why the court (in old times of China) used a red pen to record the name of the convict. In addition, the names of deceased people are usually written and  traced in red on the tombstones. If you write someone's name in red, it also means that they are cursed to die. For this reason, it is an offence to write someone's name with a red pen in normal life. So even now, except for teachers correcting papers and accountants making corrections, matters are rarely recorded with a red pen. In particular, it is a big no-no to write a person's name in red pen.

All in all, it can be considered that superstitions play a vital part in everything people do, from the way they design their house, the way they run their businesses and even when choosing the gifts they wish to give to loved ones. Believe or not….. You’re not the only ones. This spread all over the Asia. There’s no conclusive reason as to show how these superstitions came to be, but they’ve lived on our daily life. Moreover, it doesn’t harm us also if we believe the superstitions and practice them in our daily life to avoid bad luck.

ˢᵘᵖᵉʳˢᵗⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿ ⁱˢ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵒᵉᵗʳʸ ᵒᶠ ˡⁱᶠᵉ. ⁻ ᴶᵒʰᵃⁿⁿ ᵂᵒˡᶠᵍᵃⁿᵍ ᵛᵒⁿ ᴳᵒᵉᵗʰᵉ