Festive tradition holds firm over thousands of years

Chen Cuilan, a white collar worker in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, spent 8,000 yuan ($1,180) in crisp notes she withdrew from a bank near her home before Spring Festival on giving hongbao, or “red envelopes”.

“In addition to 2,000 yuan for my parents and another 2,000 yuan for my parents-in-law, most of the money was given to my two children and the kids of my relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbors during the Lunar New Year holiday that began on Feb 5,” the 40-year-old mother of a son and a daughter said.

“Every year, I give my parents, parents-in-law and the children I know hongbao when the Lunar New Year, the biggest Chinese festival, arrives,” Chen said.

“It is a tradition to give hongbao to children and the elderly during the holiday, and I was really pleased when I saw the children were happy and wished me a happy new year and all the best after receiving my gifts,” said Chen, who works for a foreign company in Guangzhou.

She said she was given many hongbao packets by her parents and seniors when she was a child.

Li Xiuzhong, 79, a retired teacher in Guangzhou, said hongbao is a gift that is guaranteed to be warmly received, not just because of the cash, which is often a token amount, but also because of the traditional symbolism and best wishes for the future.

“This is true throughout China. In Guangdong province and the neighboring Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, many people regard receiving hongbao as an auspicious beginning to the new year,” said Li, who annually gives his children and grandchildren red packets during Spring Festival.

Hongbao has been given by Chinese at this time for thousands of years.

According to an ancient legend, long ago, a devil used to appear to harm children and the elderly when Lunar New Year arrived, but a loud noise would help frighten him away, as did the color red.

Firecrackers and fireworks took care of the noise and notes containing verse or prose could also help keep the devil at bay.

However, firecrackers and fireworks might annoy more people than just the devil and they could not be set off all day, so children and the elderly were also given hongbao containing money to help repel the “evil one”.

The tradition has survived for thousands of years, and distributing the red packets during Lunar New Year remains highly popular among Chinese worldwide.

Children and the elderly who are presented with hongbao at Spring Festival are not only given the money, but also best wishes for the new year, said Zhang Fengying, a folk arts expert. “The amount of money is usually a token gesture,” Zhang said.

The tradition has also made its way into workplaces, where bosses usually give their employees hongbao for Lunar New Year.

Many bosses and senior executives usually give their employees the red packets when they begin work after the holiday, hoping that companies and staff members have a good start to the new year.

The packets may not contain much money, but they indicate the bosses’ or the companies’ care and good wishes for their staff members.

With the development of science and technology and the internet, electronic hongbao has also become popular on the Chinese mainland in recent years.

Wang Chuxiong, a junior high school student in Guangzhou’s Tianhe district, smiled after he received electronic hongbao of more than 2,500 yuan in the first 12 days of the Lunar New Year.

Most of the electronic money was given by relatives who were not in Guangzhou during Spring Festival, the 14-year-old said.

“The electronic hongbao I have received during the holiday is enough for me to visit Hong Kong Disneyland in the summer,” he said.

Meanwhile, many people have also become used to distributing electronic hongbao via WeChat to offer Lunar New Year greetings.

According to a media report, about 30 billion yuan worth of digital hongbao was sent via WeChat on the mainland during Spring Festival last year.