Our Little King is already 1 month old!
To celebrate we are planned a Moon Yut celebration also known as a Red Egg and Ginger Party.
Traditionally, the reason why we celebrate the one month was due to the high infant mortality rate in China before the 1900s. After the one month, it is safe to say that the child will live. This is also a time to reintroduce the mother after her resting period (see my recovery period post).
At the Moon Yut, guests attending usually bring gifts of lucky money in red envelopes. As a thank you, the baby's parents give red eggs and ginger as gifts to the guests hence the name. The eggs are important because they represent renewal of life and fertility. Its round shape means harmony and happiness in life. The egg is dyed red because the color means good fortune and prosperity.This egg is also rubbed on the baby's forehead.\
The baby's head is usually shaved during the feast. The girls head is shaved before the image of the 'Mother'-the goddess of Children and the boys head is shaved before the ancestral table. This is to mark the point of the child's independent existence.
A child's formal name is picked out by grandparents. This is not announced until the one month mark.
Instead of shaving and rubbing his head at the restaurant, we did these traditions at home. My mom made a set up of sugar cane, two boiled eggs, and rice. The egg and rice was rubbed across his forehead and my mom fed him a bit of sugar cane. They also snipped a piece of his hair and was given red envelopes.
He didn't really enjoy the head on his head but he did like the sugar cane and red envelopes!
