Question 1

What is the Chinese confinement month?

Accepted Answer

坐月子 (zuò yuèzi), sitting the month: for about thirty days after giving birth, a mother stays home to rest and recover. Traditionally she keeps warm, avoids wind, cold water and cold food, and even washing her hair, though most families are gentler about that today. She eats warming food: ginger, 姜 (jiāng), chicken soup, millet porridge, fish soup for milk, and in Cantonese homes pork knuckle and ginger in black vinegar. Many families hire a confinement nanny, 月嫂 (yuèsǎo), or go to a postpartum care centre, 月子中心 (yuèzi zhōngxīn).

Question 2

What is a red egg and ginger party?

Accepted Answer

The full-month party, 满月酒 (mǎnyuè jiǔ), held when the baby is a month old; in Chinese American families it is often called the red egg and ginger party. Eggs dyed red, 红蛋 (hóngdàn), are handed out, an egg for new life and fertility and red for luck, along with pickled ginger, which is warming for the mother. It was also the first time the baby was shown to friends, after a month kept safe at home.

Question 3

Why do Chinese celebrate a baby at one month and 100 days?

Accepted Answer

Because the first weeks were the most dangerous, a baby who reached one month, 满月 (mǎnyuè), had passed its first test, and one who reached a hundred days, 百日 (bǎirì), had made it through the most fragile months. Families celebrate with a banquet, red envelopes, 红包 (hóngbāo), and gifts of gold or silver: bracelets, anklets and a longevity lock, 长命锁 (chángmìng suǒ), with wishes for a long life, 长命百岁 (chángmìng bǎisuì).

Question 4

What is the Chinese first birthday grab?

Accepted Answer

抓周 (zhuāzhōu), grabbing at one year, 周岁 (zhōusuì): the baby is set before a tray of objects, and whatever it picks up first is said to show its future. A book means a scholar, a brush a writer or artist, money or an abacus wealth or business, a seal an official, a stethoscope a doctor, a calculator an accountant; families now add a phone, a microphone or a football. The custom is old: the scholar Yan Zhitui described it about 1,400 years ago.

Question 5

Do Chinese families have baby showers?

Accepted Answer

Traditionally not. Many families feel it is unlucky to celebrate a baby, or even buy much for it, before it is born, so the party waits until the full month, 满月. Gifts for a new baby are red envelopes, gold jewellery, baby clothes and, for the mother, nourishing food. Avoid giving clocks, and anything white, the colour of funerals.

Question 6

What is a Chinese baby’s milk name?

Accepted Answer

A 小名 (xiǎomíng) or 乳名 (rǔmíng): a pet name used at home, often a doubled sound like 贝贝 (Bèibei) or 豆豆 (Dòudou), or a homely one. Some families used to choose a deliberately humble milk name so that evil spirits would not notice the child. The formal name, 大名 (dàmíng), is chosen with care, sometimes with a fortune-teller reading the baby’s birth time, 生辰八字 (shēngchén bāzì). Chinese count a baby one year old at birth, its 虚岁 (xūsuì), nominal age.

Question 7

Can’t hear it?

Accepted Answer

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	In Chinese	When	What happens
Milk name	小名 xiǎomíng	From birth	A pet name used at home; the formal name, 大名 (dàmíng), may be chosen with care later
The confinement month	坐月子 zuò yuèzi	The first month after birth	The mother rests at home, keeps warm and eats warming food, while family or a nanny, 月嫂 (yuèsǎo), does the rest
Full-month party	满月酒 mǎnyuè jiǔ	One month	A banquet where the baby meets family and friends
Red eggs	红蛋 hóngdàn	One month	Eggs dyed red are given out, often with pickled ginger: an egg for new life, red for luck
First haircut	剃胎毛 tì tāimáo	One month	The baby’s first hair is shaved; some families keep it, or have it made into a brush
Hundred days	百日 bǎirì	100 days	Another party, for a baby safely through its first and most fragile months
Longevity lock	长命锁 chángmìng suǒ	A gift at one month or 100 days	A silver or gold lock-shaped pendant, to “lock” the child to a long life
Red envelopes	红包 hóngbāo	At every party	Money in a red envelope, the usual gift from guests
First-birthday grab	抓周 zhuāzhōu	First birthday	The baby crawls to a tray of objects; the first one it picks up is said to show its future

Chinese baby traditions

Chinese baby customs, from birth to the first birthday

Having a baby

The month of rest

Celebrations

Names and age

Baby things

Now read them in a real story