Today, Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year with various traditions that are thick with Chinese culture. Apart from lion dance, a strong tradition of Chinese New Year celebrations is the distribution of angpao. The word angpao comes from two syllables, namely ang which means red and pao which means envelope. So angpao can be interpreted as a red envelope.
Angpao is a red envelope containing a sum of money that is generally given to children, unmarried family members, or the elderly. Usually, angpao is given the night before Chinese New Year celebrations or in the morning during prayers at the monastery. Angpao is given with the hope that the recipient will be blessed with good fortune and luck during the New Year. So, what is the origin of the tradition of giving angpao?
Quoted from Says, the tradition of giving angpao was first carried out during the Qin dynasty around 221 BC to 206 BC. At that time, parents in China gave a coin tied with red thread to be distributed to the younger generation. Angpao, during the Qin dynasty was known as ya sui qian. Ya sui qian means a coin to drive away evil spirits. The coin tied with red thread is believed to protect the recipient from illness and death. As times evolved, ya sui qian was later replaced with a red envelope.
From then on, ya sui qian was written with the phrase yā suì qián and a homophone for suì meaning “old age” instead of the meaning “evil spirits”. Thus, the coin is placed inside a red envelope as a symbol of wishing a long life to the children who receive it. According to Chinese folklore, the origin of ya sui qian comes from the story of an evil demon named Sui. It is said that children whose heads were touched by Sui while they were sleeping would fall ill and die.
In ancient times, parents in China would stay up all night to protect their children from the touch of evil spirits. Every day, parents would pray that their newborn children would live a long life and be saved from being harmed by cursed demons. Then, a fairy incarnates eight coins inside a red envelope to trick the devil. The red envelope, which was placed under the pillow, would emit a very bright light when something happened to the children.
Until finally, Sui approached the beam of light from the red envelope on the little boy's head. Apparently, the light from the envelope made Sui run away. The miraculous story then spread throughout the village. From then on, all parents started wrapping coins in red paper to protect their children from evil spirits. However, as time passed, angpao was no longer a protection from evil spirits, but a symbol of hope and good fortune for children.
On the other hand, angpao should not be done carelessly. There are special rules that must be carried out if you want the meaning of sharing angpao to be felt. In Chinese tradition, angpao is prohibited from being filled with odd-value money. This is because odd numbers are synonymous with funerals. In addition, angpao should also not be filled with money that has the number four when added up. According to the understanding of Chinese tradition, the number four means death.
In Chinese tradition, one is obliged to give angpao, especially married people. Because, marriage is the boundary between childhood and adulthood. The hope is that giving angpao from married people can give good luck to the person who receives it.
Source: KumparanTravel
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