Page 49 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 42
with gifts which correspond to those given by godparents in the West. The boy is placed
on a table, on which books, swords, official insignia and money are laid: whatever he
takes hold of first is a pointer to his future career.
Girls were confronted with scissors and tape-measure, powder and rouge, jewellery
and money’ (Richard Wilhelm). Additionally, a tortoise and writing brush might be
offered to a boy, a knife to a girl.
On their first birthday, children normally received their first names.
This ceremony was deliberately low-key, the names chosen in inconspicuous fashion, lest
the attention of demons be attracted. If a son died in infancy, the next son to be born was
given a girl’s name: this was to fool the demons long enough for the boy to gain strength
and be safe from them.
Marriages were celebrated in the ‘Hall of Ancestors’ or in the reception room, the
main room of the ordinary house, and here too the ‘great’ birthdays of the parents –
especially the sixtieth, seventieth and eightieth – were celebrated. The birthday was
known as the ‘Feast of the Thousand Autumns’ – that is, ‘May you (whose birthday it is)
live a thousand years.’
From the 8th century onwards, there are many accounts of imperial birthdays.
From 907 on, officials were given special leave on their birthdays if these fell on the days
preceding and following the Emperor’s birthday.

Birthday picture for women