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Exercises

Red Envelopes: It's the Thought That Counts

by Melody Hsieh

    In fairy tales, the fairy godmother can wave her magic wand and turn stone into gold or a pumpkin into a luxurious carriage. But calling it a magic wand is not so good as seeing it as a wand of hope for all mankind.

    The red envelope is like the Chinese wand of hope, and it often carries limitless desires. To give a red envelope at a happy occasion is like embroidering a flower on a quilt; when meeting misfortune, to receive a red envelope is a psychological palliative which just might change your luck.

    Whether it be congratulations, encouragement, sympathy, gratitude, compensation, just give a red envelope, and not only will the sentiment be expressed, substantive help will also have arrived.

    The fact that the red envelope opens so many doors and is so versatile today also naturally has practical advantages. For marriages, funerals, birthdays and illness, you could send a gift. But choosing a gift is an art in itself, and you can rack your brains and spend a whole day shopping, and you still won't know if the other person will like it or need it. That's not nearly as good as wrapping money in red paper, which on the one hand saves work and on the other is useful, so everybody's happy. Compared with the way Westerners give gifts, giving a red envelope may be lacking in commemorative sentiment, but it's a lot more practical.

    Nevertheless, Chinese haven't always been so substantive. In fact, it is only in the last few decades that red envelopes have become so commonly used.

    A Brilliant Fire Neutralizing the Year: Guo Li-cheng, a specialist in popular culture who is today an advisor to ECHO magazine, points out that traditionally Chinese did not present gifts of money. For example, when a child reached one month old, friends and family would send a gold locket; when visiting a sick person, people would bring Chinese medicine; upon meeting for the first time, people would exchange rings or jade with the other person as a greeting gift .... None of these carry, as the Chinese say, the "unpleasant odor of brass," implying penny-pinching greed.

    No one knows when money began to replace these traditional gifts. The only certain continuous tradition of using money to express sentiment － perhaps the origin of the practice of combining usefulness and sentiment, material and spiritual － is the tradition of the "age neutralizing money" (cash given on New Year's day to children), which has been carried down to this day.

    "In the past, the New Year's money was simply a piece of red paper attached to a gold yuan, or the use of a red twine to string together cash. When eating New Year's dinner, the money would be pressed beneath the stove, representing ‘a brilliant fire, abundant wealth'； only after dinner would it be pulled out and handed out to the small children. The meaning is that, after undergoing a baptism of fire, it was hoped that it could expel evil and resolve dangers, so that the children could put the past behind them (‘neutralize' the past) and grow up strong and healthy," says Ruan Chang-jue, director of the Anthropology Committee of the Provincial Museum, laughing that in fact "age neutralizing money" should be called "age extension money."

    The writer Xiao Min lived in Beijing before 1938. At that time she was just a little sprite of less than ten years old, but because the New Year is quite different today from what it was in the past, she has a very deep impression of the New Year's money.

    She recalls that it was not easy to get the "age neutralizing money" in those days. The children had to kneel on the floor and kowtow, and your forehead had to touch the floor, and it would only count if it was hard enough to make a sound. "In the past, floors were made of rough concrete, and we kids often had to kneel until our knees hurt and knock our heads until we were dizzy, before we could get our New Year's money."

    It was only with the spread of paper currency that the New Year's money became paper cash wrapped in red envelopes. The reason why the paper is red, or why in early days red thread was used, rather than white, green, or black, is from religious rituals.

    Better Red Than Dread: Ruan Chang-jue suggests that in primitive times, when man would see a bright red flower in a green field, he would find it quite eye-catching and delightful. So maybe this is why red is an "auspicious" color.

    Furthermore, red is the same as the color of blood, and since a sacrifice of blood has a lucky effect, red came to be ordained as having the meaning of avoiding ill-fortune.

    "Before the red envelope form appeared, people ‘carried red’ to represent auspiciousness and evading evil," says Ruan. He says that in previous generations people would attach a piece of red paper to a religious offering or to a wedding dress, in both cases having this meaning. It was only after paper-cutting techniques had been invented that the red piece of paper was changed to the "double-happiness" character. Before paper was invented, perhaps they used red cloth or painted on some red pigment instead.

      Ruan Chang-jue reminds us that because red symbolizes the vitality of life, and all mankind in early times had their magic ways to expel evil, it was by no means unique to China, and in the distant past Westerners also considered red to represent auspiciousness.

    For example, shortly after Columbus landed in America, he gave the local natives red cloth to wrap around their heads to show celebration. For this reason, in the past red was always the color used to wrap presents in the West, and only later did it evolve that many colors were used.

    But Chinese are relatively more concerned about colors, as Confucius has said: "I hate the way purple spoils vermilion." Colors are divided into "appropriate" colors and "deviant" colors. Red in this sense is the orthodox representation for good fortune, which cannot be altered lightly.

    A Not Unreasonable Perquisite: As for using red envelopes as a small consideration in order to get the other person to do something on your behalf, very early on there was the "gratuity" for servants.

    Guo Li-cheng indicates that in novels like The Golden Lotus, you can often see in old style banquets that when the chef serves the main course the guest of honor must give the cook a "gratuity," using silver wrapped in red paper, to express appreciation to the host.

    Or, family or friends might dispatch a servant to deliver a gift to your door. For the person giving the gift, it's only natural that they would send a servant, but for the person receiving the gift, the emissary is performing an unusual service, "so the recipient always had to ask the servant to bring back a letter of thanks, and to give a red envelope, which was called a li (strength) or qing-shi (respect for the emissary), to express gratitude for his legwork and provide transportation expenses." Guo Li-cheng adds that the qing-shi was usually about 1/20th the value of the original gift, so this kind of red envelope was a reasonable perk as far as the servant was concerned.

    "The qing-shi was originally a gift of money replete with sentiment, and it's only because modern people use it erroneously that the significance of the red envelope has become muddled," notes Guo, who cannot help but lament that today "sending a red envelope" is synonymous with giving a bribe.

    Some Chinese have adapted to circumstances, and since a red envelope can bribe a living, breathing human being, the effect should be no less in sucking up to the ghosts of the nether world. Today, in some rural townships in south and central Taiwan, especially at Ghost Festival, people wrap up the spirit money in red paper and burn it as an offering to the "good brothers" (spirits), hoping that after they get a red envelope and become a local god of wealth, they will no longer tamper with the affairs of men.

    Ruan Chang-jue says that in the past there was by no means the custom of sending red envelopes to ghosts, and this is a product of circumstance invented by Chinese in recent years.

    Evangelical Red Envelopes: "The red envelope in and of itself is not to blame, and originally it was just to express a friendly intent, a symbol of sentiment," states Ruan. Those who can afford to give red envelopes are always the older generation or the boss or the leader. He raises an example, noting that over the New Year's holiday in 1991, the Provincial Museum sponsored an opera appreciation activity for children. The day work began, the museum curator gave every one of the people who worked on it with him a red envelope, to thank his colleagues for giving up their holiday to work for the museum.

    Xiao Min also believes that there have also been some positive changes in the red envelope as it has evolved.

     In the past, the red envelope was just a simple red packet, without any characters printed on it. Today a lot of organizations, like restaurants or hotels, will imprint relevant auspicious phrases, and will give a set of red stationery to customers as a small gift at New Year's, to add a little more human feeling." For example, the Lai Lai Sheraton prints "May good fortune come, May wealth come, May happiness come" on its red envelopes, a play on the word lai (to come) in its name； steakhouses may print a golden bull, to make a deeper impression on their customers.

    It's worth noting that even evangelical organizations cannot underestimate the attraction of a red envelope. Xiao Min, a Christian, says that every time the passage to a new year approaches, churches will print their own red envelopes, which congregants can use at no charge. Because propitious proverbs from the Bible have been imprinted on the set, they are very popular among the congregants, so that supply can't keep up with demand. Since they integrate traditional customs, they can also help the evangelical church spread and adapt to local conditions.

    "However, no matter how much money is in the red packet, how can a few pieces of paper currency take the place of or outweigh the feeling in one's heart?" says Xiao Min. She concluded, that a small gift given with a big heart, the act of giving and receiving, and mutual affection are the real meanings of giving a red envelope.

    (1 795 words)

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Follow-up Exercises

A. Comprehending the text.

Choose the best answer.

1.Which of the following was not traditionally used as a present in the past?  ( D )

(a) A ring.

(b) A gold locket.

(c) Jade.

(d) Money in a red envelope.

2. The practice of giving the "red envelope" probably originated from ________.( B )

(a) marriages in ancient times

(b) visiting patients

(c) a tradition of giving money to children on New Year's day

(d) giving money to servants

3. The envelopes for wrapping money are made of red paper. This is because ________.( D )

(a) red is the colour used to wrap presents

(b) red colour is eye-catching

(c) red is the commonest colour

(d) red is thought to be an auspicious colour by Chinese

4. Why would people in former times attach a piece of red paper to a religious offering or to a wedding dress?  ( B )

(a) Because people found red paper beautiful.

(b) Because people believed that red could bring good luck and expel evil.

(c) Because in former times red was the colour for celebration.

(d) Because red colour could create a joyous atmosphere.

5. Which of the following statements is not true about the colour red, according to the text?  ( A )

(a) In the past, Westerners did not think that red was a lucky colour.

(b) Red was not thought exclusively by Chinese to represent auspiciousness.

(c) Red is one of the colours Westerners use to wrap presents.

(d) Red symbolizes the vitality of life.

6. One of the early uses of the red envelope was ________.( B )

(a) to offer spirit money to the "good brothers"

(b) to reward people for giving up their holiday to work for their boss

(c) to give money as a reward for a service

(d) to give money to people who went to churches

7. Which of the following is an erroneous way of using the red envelope?  ( C )

(a) Giving it to a child on New Year's day.  

(b) Giving it to a servant who has delivered a gift to your door.

(c) Bribing people with it.  

(d) Sending it to the bride and groom.

8. Why do people in some parts of Taiwan burn spirit money?  ( A )

(a) Because they hope that the spirits will receive it and stop interfering with their affairs.

(b) Because the "good brothers" were very poor.

(c) Because the spirits are actually gods.

(d) Because it is a usual practice at Ghost Festival.

9. Why does Ruan Chang-jue say that the red envelope in and of itself is not to blame?  ( D )

(a) Because it is the older generation that can afford to give red envelopes.

(b) Because the red envelope is used to reward people for their work on holidays.

(c) Because modern people use the red envelope in a wrong way.

(d) Because the red envelope was originally used to express friendliness and feeling.

10. Which of the following is not mentioned in the text?  ( B )

(a) Sometimes a picture is printed on the red envelope.

(b) Nowadays it's hard to find a red envelope without anything printed on it.

(c) Auspicious phrases are now often printed on the red envelope.

(d) Churches print quotations from the Bible on the red envelope.

B. Discussing the following topics.

1. What is the author's attitude towards the red envelope? Find evidence to support your view.

2. Find out from the text as many practical uses as possible of the red envelope.

3. Give your opinion of the red envelope as a Chinese custom.

Text Exercises