The joyful occurrence of a baby’s birth is celebrated in Chinese culture through a variety of distinct rites and customs. The significance of these customs and beliefs varies from family to family, and many modern mothers will view them as outmoded, therefore they do not follow them to the same degree as their forebears.
History Time!
Before the baby is even delivered, there are a lot of superstitions and old wives’ stories surrounding the pregnancy and the expectant mother.
Expectant mothers are advised to maintain a positive outlook because it is thought that the mother’s emotional condition during pregnancy would have an impact on the unborn child. A baby who cries a lot will be born to a depressed and anxious mother. She is not allowed to use foul language or curse because doing so could harm the unborn child.
Expectant women shouldn’t smother their growing bellies in affection! If the bump is rubbed too often, the infant could get spoiled and start to demand too much attention.
According to Chinese culture, after giving birth, both the mother and the child are weak and prone to illness. The mother and child are to rest at home for a whole month as a result. The mother will consume particular restorative foods during her confinement to improve her health, such as nourishing broths. Yang foods like pigs’ feet, eggs, vinegar, and ginger will be included in these to reestablish the qi balance in the mother’s body.
On With The Celebrations!
After a complete month of confinement, a full moon celebration—also referred to as a “red egg and ginger party”—is held to introduce the mother and child to friends and family. This practice has its roots in the early Chinese civilisation when infant mortality was very high. These gatherings were conducted to rejoice and celebrate the fact that the infant had made it through the first month of life, increasing the likelihood that they would live to adulthood.
But, remember, those were back in the old days. Of course, it’s just as important for us to know where we are going just as much as it is important for us to know where we came from.
Nowadays, family-hosted feasts are the norm for celebrations. If the baby is a female, visitors may send gifts of cash in red envelopes or occasionally jewellery and gold. In exchange, they are served dinner and given plates of pickled red ginger and red eggs. You distribute an odd number of eggs if it’s a boy, and an even number of eggs if it’s a girl. The circular shape of the eggs represents harmony, unity, and new life, and the colour red is associated with luck and happiness. For the same reasons that mothers consume it after giving birth, ginger is provided as a yang food to balance the body’s qi.
Hard-boiled eggs are dyed crimson by dipping them in red food colouring. The eggs are frequently boiled in water that contains salt and vinegar to make the shells more porous, which helps the eggs absorb the dye more quickly. The eggs are allowed to chill before being offered to loved ones, friends, and attendees of the full moon feast.
Best Practices?
Alright, alright. Now that the necessary context and customary history lesson are all out of the way, let’s get right down to the planning proper.
Bear in mind that this is supposed to be a party and that everyone should be having fun. Even you.
Let’s break things down chronologically in this simple flow:
Do you want a theme?
Yes, all parties have themes…and, then again, not all parties have themes. In all seriousness, you decide early on whether or not you want a theme. You could have a floral theme or even a rustic theme or a chic one (which our packages mostly are) and have everything at the party follow that particular theme.
When & where & who?
Yes, this is where the headache starts. You’ve got the theme set. You now have the task of vetting through where you’ll want the celebration to be held. For this, it’s usually practical to have a list of invitees ready first, then you’ll be able to gauge if your home will fit everyone, or if you’ll need to rent out a venue for it. Either way, we’ll be able to deliver those yummy, yummy treats to you whichever way you go.
Once you know how many people are coming and where you want them to go, then you’ll need to have a date set. Remember, all of this is still done in your head without sending out any invites yet.
Having set the date, the who, and the where you can now go about calling everyone and inviting them. This part is important because you’ll want to see how many can actually make it. For maximum convenience, have it on the weekend.
Then take a final tally of how many are actually confirmed. Then send out the final invites/e-invites.
But what will they munch on?
Well, for this one, let’s go through this again. Remember we mentioned our chic packages earlier? Surely, there’d be something we’re packing in those packaging, right? Yes, those are our yummy, yummy treats!
We’ve got the whole gamut from traditional Glutinous Rice, Ang Ku Kueh, Ang Yi, and Red Eggs, to even contemporary treats like Swiss Rolls, Marble Cheesecakes, Moist Brownies, and Fruit Tarts.
Yes, to answer that final question you have right now, you can browse through our packages on our homepage and, yes, we offer free delivery when you order 10 boxes or more because…well…what’s a party when there’s less than 10 pax?
GIFTS!
Also, finally, don’t forget that your friends should be getting you gifts at this point to help your parenthood journey go smoother.
Closing Words
That wasn’t so difficult, was it? Look at you, planning out how to celebrate your baby’s one month celebration complete with one month baby cakes and baby full month gifts. We’re so proud of you! Oh, before you go, if you really don’t have any idea where to get those yummy, yummy treats…well…swing on over to our homepage. See you there!
