Life Tree Evergreen: Chinese Birthday Gifts

Author: Cai Fengming / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-11-01
Features: Birthday gifts are a very important part of birthday etiquette. The lively and vibrant atmosphere, as well as the joyful and harmonious mood of traditional Chinese birthday celebrations, are largely created by the rich and diverse birthday gifts. On the day of an elder's birthday in the family, relatives and friends would carefully prepare various exquisite gifts to deliver to the birthday person's home. For those in noble or official families, the number of birthday gifts they received would be even more numerous. In the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong wrote a humorous story in The Laughing Office. In a certain place, a county magistrate's birthday was approaching, and his subordinates learned that he was a rat in the Chinese zodiac. They then pooled some gold to cast a golden rat as a birthday gift for him. Upon seeing it, the county magistrate was delighted and took the opportunity to say to his subordinates, "In a few days, it will be my wife's birthday, and she is an ox." In other words, he was implying that he wanted them to prepare a golden ox as a gift for her. This joke vividly reflects the fact that some officials in ancient times took advantage of birthday celebrations to receive numerous gifts. Of course, the use of a golden rat and a golden ox as birthday gifts was rare. In traditional Chinese society, the more common forms of birthday gifts were peach-shaped cakes, birthday banners, and money. These gifts were often imbued with auspicious and festive colors, vividly highlighting the cheerful and lively atmosphere of birthday celebrations.
1. Auspicious Birthday Gifts—Peaches, Cakes, and Noodles
In traditional Chinese society, the most common form of birthday gifts was the peach-shaped cake, birthday cake, and noodles. These gifts were often imbued with auspicious meanings, reflecting the Chinese people's strong desire and urgent wish for longevity and enduring good fortune. Due to the belief that peaches could extend life, for thousands of years, Chinese people have favored giving peach-shaped cakes as gifts on the birthdays of their relatives and friends. The peach-shaped cakes used for birthday gifts were usually made of wheat or rice flour, with a shape that was round at the bottom and pointed at the top, resembling a peach. The color of the peach-shaped cakes was mostly red, with a red dot on the "mouth" of the peach. Sometimes, sweet fillings like red bean paste, pine nuts, or a mix of various fruits were placed inside the peach-shaped cakes. The number of peach-shaped cakes given was also quite significant. In some places, the number of peach-shaped cakes must be nine, with one representing longevity and the other eight symbolizing the Eight Immortals. In other places, the number of peach-shaped cakes must be eight, symbolizing eight blessings and longevity. Some places also gave peach-shaped cakes according to the age of the birthday person. For example, a person celebrating their 60th birthday would receive 60 peach-shaped cakes, while someone celebrating their 70th birthday would receive 70. When giving peach-shaped cakes, they were not placed flat but rather stacked in layers to form a pyramid shape, then placed in a red lacquered tray. This arrangement carried the auspicious meaning of wishing the birthday person a long and prosperous life. In the past, when emperors celebrated their birthdays, their ministers would specially prepare large peach-shaped cakes as gifts. Legend has it that on the birthday of King Wen of Zhou, his minister ordered the chef to make a large peach-shaped cake. When the cake was cut open, 99 small peach-shaped cakes were revealed inside, symbolizing a full house of descendants and abundant blessings and longevity. This is known as the famous "Hundred Descendants Peach-shaped Cake" in Chinese history. Later, this type of cake was often used as a valuable gift presented to the emperor on his birthday.
Cakes became a long-standing birthday gift in Chinese society due to their auspicious meanings. In Chinese pronunciation, "cake" () is homophonic with "high" (), carrying auspicious connotations such as "happiness," "promotion," and "elevation." Therefore, cakes were a very popular food in traditional times and became a form of birthday gift symbolizing wishes for longevity and happiness. Most cakes were made of wheat or rice flour, shaped like a spool, formed by two trapezoidal cakes stuck together, with a pink or deep red color, commonly known as "Dingsheng Cake." When giving cakes, each one was placed in a red lacquered tray and stacked into a pyramid shape. More elaborate gifts would place sculpted figurines of auspicious figures, such as the Eight Immortals, the longevity star, or the Queen Mother of the West, on top.
When it comes to traditional auspicious birthday gifts, it would be impossible to overlook the great influence of longevity noodles in Chinese birthday etiquette culture. The Chinese love eating longevity noodles and sending them as gifts. In the past, wealthy families would send longevity noodles to their relatives on their birthdays, carried in bamboo baskets or crates. The length of the noodles was often over three feet, weighing over ten pounds, and they were usually given in pairs, such as twelve pounds or sixteen pounds. When arranging longevity noodles, they were also stacked to give the impression of being "tall," similar to peach-shaped cakes and cakes. They were often bundled into bundles and coiled into tall pyramids, covered with red and green silk ribbons, and then placed in wooden trays. After this decoration, the auspicious and festive colors of the noodles became vividly apparent. Xu Ke of the Qing Dynasty wrote in The Qing Baitiao Leichao: "Giving someone cooked rice or noodles, with long noodles, symbolizes the hope of an unbroken and long life." This is precisely the fundamental purpose of giving longevity noodles. People hoped to express their wishes for the birthday person to live a long and happy life through the noodles they sent, creating a festive atmosphere for the entire family to celebrate the longevity of their loved ones.
2. Literary and Elegant Gifts—Birthday Banners, Screens, and couplets
Another important category of traditional birthday gifts, which primarily served to meet spiritual needs and had high linguistic artistic value, were birthday banners, screens, and couplets. These gifts were particularly favored by literati and feudal scholars. Traditional Chinese intellectuals and scholars were deeply influenced by Confucianism and placed great importance on achievements in fame and moral integrity. Therefore, on their birthdays, relatives and friends would present them with praise and admiration in writing, highlighting their contributions to the nation and society, as well as their noble character and emphasis on self-cultivation. These words of praise were often written on silk, brocade, or scrolls that had been mounted. Over time, they evolved into the traditional birthday gifts of birthday banners, screens, and couplets.
Birthday banners were mostly made of silk, satin, or velvet, with a size similar to a zhongtang (a large scroll hung in the center of an old hall). The fabric was usually red, and the characters were mostly gold, creating a luxurious and elegant style that matched the lively and festive atmosphere of birthday celebrations. The custom of giving birthday banners in Chinese birthday etiquette likely originated in the Ming Dynasty. Initially, the banners had a large number of characters, but over time, they became simpler, eventually reducing to just a large "Longevity" () character on the entire banner. However, the most typical banner phrases were four-character expressions, such as "Great virtue brings longevity," "Only the benevolent are long-lived," "Pine and bamboo share the spring," "Pine and crane extend years," and "The zao tree remains evergreen." These phrases were concise, vivid, and rich in literary color, expressing the sentiments of the birthday person while also being highly regarded by literati and scholars. Depending on the gender of the birthday person, the wording of the banners would differ. For example, if the birthday person was male, the gift-givers would often choose phrases like "N" (Southern Pole Star's brilliance) or "" (official days are strong). If the birthday person was female, the gift-givers would more often select phrases like "" (Milky Way's brilliance) or "" (Eternal calculation in the Peony Pool).
Birthday screens were also frequently used as written gifts, but unlike banners, the praise and admiration were written on special decorative items such as mirror frames, screens, or standing screens. In the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber, it is written that when Lady Jia celebrated her birthday, she received numerous birthday screens. These screens were exquisitely crafted, with frames inlaid with painted decorations, and the screens themselves contained not only praise but also various auspicious patterns, such as scenes of longevity mountains and stones, the Eight Immortals, pine and bamboo, and peaches. The materials for birthday screens were often jade or yellow poplar wood.
Of course, among traditional written birthday gifts, the most common form was couplets. These were usually written on scrolls that had been mounted, with each couplet consisting of two lines, each line ranging from four to dozens of characters, with five-character and seven-character couplets being the most common. As early as the Song Dynasty, the form of couplets had already emerged. Sun Yi's Show to the Children records: "Huang Geng, the wife of Lady Yu, was born on the 13th day of the third month, and Wu Shujing wrote a birthday couplet for her." This is the earliest known record of a birthday couplet. The couplet read: "The moon is nearly full in the sky, and a hundred-year-old person is still alive on earth." The couplet cleverly contrasts "the sky" with "the world" and uses "a full moon" to symbolize a centenarian.
After the Song Dynasty, the custom of writing and giving couplets became widespread. Some literati and scholars who loved to show off their talent, as well as social elites who aspired to elegance, were particularly fond of couplets.