![]() ![]() Red packet money, however, is not limited to kids. And you and your husband will give my brother’s two kids red packet money. For example, if your family goes to visit my brother’s family, my brother and sister-in-law will give your kids red packet money. Uncles and aunts give their nephews and nieces red packet money too.Īnd remember I said that people visit one another during the New Year? Well, the visitors will give each other’s kids red packet money. Parents give their kids red packet money on New Year’s day. – Red packet money: It’s money stuffed inside a red envelope, usually with a new-year-related drawing and/or writing in gold on the front. New Year’s day and the couple of days that follow) it is especially encouraged. Not that you’re not allowed to visit your friends and relatives during the year, but at the beginning of the New Year (i.e. – The New Year is a time for friends and relatives to go visit one another. I asked him how the Chinese New Year is celebrated. Later, red packets gradually became a means of giving money that could be sent to anyone, apart from children.Īs Confucius' idea of filial piety is still deeply rooted in Chinese people's minds, people will also send red packets to their parents during Chinese New Year or on other special festivals and anniversaries.January 29th is the first day of the Chinese New Year in 2006. In Yan Jing Sui Shi Ji (《燕京岁时记》), a book that records traditional folk customs in Beijing from the Qing Dynasty, parents wrapped money with red paper and put it under children's pillows. The other was more like modern red packets. One had coins attached with red strings and was put at the foot of children's beds. In the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), there were two kinds of "red packets". During that period lucky money was not everyday currency but was made of coins pressed with auspicious characters and animals. The earliest lucky money appeared in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). So people took giving children money as a blessing. ![]() In traditional Chinese culture, it was believed that children were vulnerable to evil spirits and children could use money to bribe those spirits to stay safe and live long. The money is called ya sui qian, or lucky money. Red packets, a synonym for money in Chinese culture, originally referred to money sent to children on the first day of Lunar New Year. For example, peaches, gourds, cranes and chubby children are the images that most often appeared, as they stand for good luck, fortune and longevity in traditional Chinese culture. Some popular illustrators and artists design their own red paper packets, which are often printed with Chinese ink paintings and auspicious Chinese characters. The design of red paper packets to keep the lucky money is becoming more artistic as aesthetic tastes develop. However, grabbing packets is more like a game, which does not stop people from sending paper red packets containing real cash during Spring Festival. The limit was elevated to 520 yuan ($76) only once on to encourage people to send 520 yuan red packets to their loved ones, for the number 520, pronounced in Chinese, sounds like "I love you". Thus the amount of money one can grab largely depends on his or her luck, which is just the very fun of "grabbing red packets".Īnd 200 yuan is the maximum amount each WeChat red packet can contain. The money in each packet is random, from 0.01 yuan ($0.001) to less than 200 yuan ($29). Often other members will follow and go on distributing more red packets. ![]() During that Lunar New Year, for the first time, many Chinese people started to use red packets on their WeChat to express their best New Year wishes to others.Īnd "grabbing red packets" also became an extremely popular game on WeChat.Īs people establish a series of groups among their contacts on WeChat, during special festivals, such as Lunar New Year, someone will distribute a certain numbers of red packets in a group, and other members will try their best to grab one red packet. The 2015 Spring Festival marked the coming of digital red packets on WeChat. Recently, I checked how many WeChat red packets I got in 2016: 495, which contains about 10,000 yuan ($1455), most from my family and friends.Īs Chinese Lunar New Year draws near, a busy yet happy period of "grabbing red packets" on smart phones is coming too. ![]()
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