The Chinese New Year is still goin on now, n before i go on, i'd like to wish everybody a new, great, fantastic n perfect piggy year.
So, I've just searched on wikipedia about Chinese New Year, n it really freaks me out. I mean me being a Chinese should actually know more about my own culture n festival, but hell, wikipedia is even more "Chinese" than me!! Actually nothin' special la, hehe, jus somethin tat i consider many Chinese don't know about n so i post here to let you all be cautious with, n don't ever make the same mistake again oh~~
1. for those who visited to relatives or friends' hse on the third day of Chinese New Year..
" The third day of Chinese New Year is generally accepted as an inappropriate day to visit relatives due to the following schools of thought. People may subscribe to one or both thoughts.
a) It is known as "chì kǒu" (赤口), meaning that it is easy to get into arguments. It is suggested that the cause could be the fried food and visiting during the first two days of the New Year celebration.
b) Families who had an immediate kin deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead. Some people conclude it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all.
"2. how much u put in my
ANG PAU babe??
" The amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals (白金 : Bai Jin). Since the number 4 is considered bad luck, because the word for four is a homophone for death, money in the red envelopes never adds up to $4. However, the number 8 is considered lucky, and $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes.
Note: in this situation, odd and even numbers are determined by the first digit, rather than the last. Thirty and fifty, for example, are odd numbers, and are thus appropriate as funeral cash gifts. Having said that, it is also rather common and quite acceptable to have cash gifts in a red packet using a single bank note - e.g. ten or fifty dollar bills are being used frequently.
"(Well... i seriously do believe that many ppl dunno about tis.. especially those who put $1 or $5 in ang pau.. haha, btw, it's really fine la, if u're not really those suspicious kind, anyway, jus to let u know, ok? no offense... btw, ang pau for me is jus some kinda symbol or a small letter that includes the wishes or greetings from the givers, n the money inside ain't the main point and don't really matter.. rite??? BUT... nex time consider bigger notes like $10 or $50 la.. dun use blue ones lo.. red is good oso ma... haha, *kiddin* jus jokin, really... hehe :D )
ok.. followin r some minors.. (most are very common)
i. candy is eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.
ii. A hair-cut is considered bad luck. The word "hair" is a homophone for the word for "prosperity". Thus "cutting hair" could be perceived as "cutting away your prosperity" in Cantonese.
iii. Washing of your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although mostly hygenic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
iv. Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The word "shoes" is a homophone for the word for "rough" in Cantonese.
okie.. tat's all i wanna post..
oh.. n here's the 名言 of the post, umm, more like a greeting, or jus some sentence:
"恭喜發財,利是逗來, 壹蚊嫌少, 伍蚊唔愛, 伍十还得，八十最好 !!" ^^
(edited from an old saying of the children in hong kong back in the 70's)
