One month red egg and ginger party A traditional Chinese celebration of this milestone is the red egg and ginger party. Dyed red eggs and pickled ginger are served to guests. The eggs symbolize joy and renewed life while pickled ginger represents bringing the body back to balance after childbirth.
The One Month Celebration
Sacrifices to the gods are made for the baby's protection. The new parents give gifts to friends and relatives in celebration. These include eggs that have been dyed red, the colour of happiness, and other foods. Well-wishers bring presents for the baby as well.
The Chinese tradition of celebrating the first month of the baby dates back to ancient China at a time way before modern medicine was available. During those times, the mortality rate of infants was high and so it was considered really good news for the parents if their baby could reach its first month safely.
The baby's full month celebration is an important tradition in many Asian cultures. It is a joyous occasion that marks the baby's successful completion of its first month of life and provides an opportunity for family and friends to gather, offer blessings, and celebrate the new arrival.
The birth of a baby is usually followed by three customary rituals: confinement of the mother for a period of 30 days, ensuring that she is fed an appropriate and nutritious confinement diet, and making offerings to ancestors and deities.
The concept of Chinese confinement — “zuo yue zi,” or “sitting the month”— is when a new mother stays at home for one month to allow her body to rest after giving birth. During that time, the pui yuet makes dishes catering to the mother's physical needs and helps her with milk production and other concerns.
In the Chinese tradition of Zuo Yue Zi (or “sitting the month”), for example; new mothers are expected to stay at home and rest for a full 30-40 days after their new arrival, while grandmothers and other female relatives take over all daily household tasks. Mom's only job is to rest and feed the baby.
Just like the full month celebration marks baby's first full month, the 100-day celebration marks a newborn's first full 100 days. This practice is common in other Asian countries like Korea and Japan, and it dates back to ancient times when life was harder, so it was a good omen if an infant survived past 100 days.
People in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, and Singapore hold a baby's 100th day as an especially important occasion, and some even consider the 100-day mark as the baby's first birthday.
At traditional Chinese 100 days celebrations (百日宴), prayers and food will be offered to the ancestors together with the burning of incense to wish the baby good health and protection them from bad spirits. Some families will shave the baby's head, while some have already replaced the ritual with snipping a hair lock.
The baby's hair is shaved on this day, and the mother takes her first ginger water bath since giving birth. Friends and family assemble to bless the newborn. The newborn receives gifts in the shape of gold jewellery or angbao (a red packet containing money).
Chinese bangles are a traditional custom for Chinese famillies to give to newborns which helps give them good luck. These bangles are adjustable and can fit a baby up to a child of five. In a world where things are more global, I think it is great to spread this idea to Western babies too.
All over China, you see children wearing red scarves around their necks. The red scarf indicates that these students are members of a special Communist Party organization just for children aged 6-14– the Young Pioneers. The red color represents the blood sacrificed by martyrs of the Revolution.
Traditional Baby 100 Days Celebration Gift: ang baos
One of the most traditional baby 100-day celebration gifts has to be ang baos – which is money placed in a Chinese red envelope.
A red envelope or red packet (simplified Chinese: 红包; traditional Chinese: 紅包; pinyin: hóngbāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: âng-pau) is a monetary gift given during holidays or for special occasions such as a wedding, a graduation, or the birth of a baby.
A red envelope filled with money is about the most traditional Chinese gift you can give, as these little parcels are popular for all sorts of occasions including the birth of a new baby. Red is the colour of happiness in Chinese culture, and the gift itself symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the baby.
100 Days Gifts And Presents
As in most cultures, it's customary to bring a gift for the new baby at a 100-day celebration.
a traditional ceremony called "Siu-Nua"(to dry up the saliva, to grow up) is held to celebrate the baby's health and wellbeing. Family members and friends congratulate the baby by saying lucky phrases, wishing her a wonderful life in the future.
In Asian culture, the 100-day celebration is a banquet that marks a baby reaching the 100-day milestone. The Chinese belief is that hosting it on the 100th day will bless the baby with a fulfilling and prosperous life.
Traditional cheongsam and bright red are good choices for what to wear. The colour red has positive connotations of happiness, warmth, prosperity, virtue, sincerity, and truth. It's important to consider that the 100 day celebration is a joyous occasion akin to a wedding so remember to dress in party clothes.
In a 'regular' Chinese lunisolar calendar, one year is divided into 12 months, one month is corresponding to one full moon. Since the cycle of the Moon is not an even number of days, a month in the lunar calendar can vary between 29 and 30 days and a normal year can have 353, 354, or 355 days.
Because of Tradition
The Chinese Full Moon or one full month after the baby was born was a common tradition. However, the 100 day mark is more common nowadays. It marks the first 100 days of the baby and of the mother who recovered from the delivery.
In almost all non-Western societies, 40 days after birth is seen as necessary for recuperation. Among most non-Western cultures, family members (especially female relatives) provide strong social support and help new mothers at home during this period.
But largely, the first 40 days are seen as a confinement period, meant for you to recuperate, gain strength and bond with your new baby.
Over the years, the idea of purification evolved into the belief that the first 40 days after birth should be a sacred time for postpartum recovery. The families who honor la cuarentena believe that after a birth a woman's body is "open" and therefore vulnerable to illness.