Jenny Lao-Phillips
The most popular tradition of the Lunar New Year is of course the practice of giving and receiving Lai Si (red packets). But not everyone knows that there are actually quite a few different practices when it comes to giving out Lai Si, which dictates when and to whom these Lai Si are to be given.
The tradition for married couples is to give Lai Si to every unmarried member of the family, friends, colleagues, and to service providers with whom the couples often interact.
Appropriate recipients would be the security guards in their buildings or waiters and waitresses of restaurants they frequent. However, this is only practiced in the Guangdong area of China, as well as Hong Kong and Macao. This makes us the most generous Lai Si givers amongst all the places that observe this tradition. Moreover, it is also mostly in our part of South China that Lai Si is given out from Chinese New Year (CNY) Eve until the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. Most places only give out Lai Si on CNY Eve, or only within the first week of the new year.
In the areas around Beijing and Shanghai, the practice is for parents to give Lai Si to their children only on New Year’s Eve. The children put the Lai Si under their pillows that evening so as to ensure good luck (Lai Si means luck) throughout the next year. Generally, in Beijing, no Lai Si is given out after CNY Eve.
In Taiwan, the practice of giving out Lai Si is not limited to married couples. Everyone who has entered into the society (those who have completed their education and started working) is expected to give Lai Si to children. However, in Taiwan, they only give out Lai Si across the first five days of CNY.
I have also learnt that places of similar culture such as Japan and Korea, also have the tradition of giving out Lai Si, but only to children. The only difference is that they do not use red packets. Usually, they put money in an envelope or even just give the cash to the children for good luck.
Aside from when and to whom Lai Si should be distributed, there is a common misconception of having to use brand new bills for Lai Si.
Traditionally, Lai Si was supposed to be a small red packet with a small paper inside which had words of good wishes written on it. Then around a few hundred years ago, people stopped writing wishes, and substituted them with cash. However, the obsession of using new bills only started late last century. The logic behind it was that because Lai Si is for good luck for the new year, everything must be new, including the bills. But I doubt how many recipients really care if the bills in the Lai Si are new or old. Most kids only care about how much money they accumulated in the new year.
That brings me to the final point. What should we do after receiving the Lai Si? Some people follow the tradition of putting them under the pillow until after the 7th day of the lunar new year (or 15th day for some), for luck, before opening them up and discarding the red packets. Some people open them right away and start using the money. The truth is, there is really no rules on when to open the Lai Si or what they should be used for. It is just the act of giving Lai Si that represents giving out luck to people. How they wish to use it is up to them.
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