China is a country with a long history, and food plays had a significant impact in the improvement of Chinese culture. Consistently numerous customary celebrations and occasions are commended with unique food sources. A portion of these food sources have specific implications, like best of luck, all the best, solidarity, and celebration.
The Origin of Food Symbolism in China
Going back no less than 2,000 years, the imagery of food sources in China comes from strange notions or customary convictions in eating to conjure/celebrate favoring. An importance or “power” is related with food varieties through food name elocution, food shape, colors, food history/legends, etc.
Here we present a few celebration and unique event food sources as specific illustrations.
Chinese New Year
Spring Celebration (Chinese New Year) is the main conventional celebration in China, when Chinese individuals particularly stress wants for bliss and gift. So New Year food varieties typically represent best of luck and all the best.
- ‘Year cake’ (年糕 niángāo/nyen-gao/) signifies ‘expanding thriving’ on the grounds that the name sounds equivalent to ‘year high’ or ‘yearly increment’ (年高 nián gāo).
- Dumplings actually imply ‘riches’, because of their conventional gold/silver ingot shape.
- Candy represents wants for a rich and sweet life, in light of the sweet taste.
Lantern Festival
Lamp Celebration is the main full moon night in the Chinese schedule year, and the full moon as well as the food represents family get-together.
- Sweet round tacky rice balls in soup (汤圆 tāngyuán/taang-ywen/’soup round’) actually imply ‘harmony and gathering’.
The name sounds like ‘tuanyuan’ (团圆 tuányuán/twan-ywen/’gathering’), and roundness implies harmony and solidarity in China.
Sister’s Meal Festival
Sisters’ Feast Celebration is praised by Miao ethnic individuals on the fifteenth day of the third Chinese lunar month in Guizhou Area, south focal China. They celebrate by eating five-variety rice, which is viewed as an image of the Miao public.
- Five-variety rice represents a vivid life and a feeling of fortitude.
The tacky rice stays together, addressing fortitude, and it is hued purple, red, yellow, white, and dark utilizing various leaves, berries, and blossoms.
Dragon Boat Festival
Mythical beast Boat Celebration is a significant festival in China to honor Qu Yuan, a well known devoted writer of China in old times.
- Glutinous rice dumplings enclosed by bamboo or reed leaves (粽子 Zòngzi/dzongdzuh/) represent Qu Yuan celebration.
Their imagery depends on a legend: Qu Yuan suffocated himself in the Miluo Stream on hearing his state was crushed. It’s said that individuals tossed rice dumplings into the stream to take care of the fish, so they wouldn’t eat Qu Yuan’s cadaver…
Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Fall Celebration is the second most significant conventional Chinese celebration. It is a period for relatives and friends and family to get together to celebrated family gathering. Accordingly, individuals celebrate it by getting ready food varieties with family-gathering representative implications.
- Mooncakes imply ‘family solidarity’, as they’re round, similar to the gather moon. Study mooncakes.
- Pomeloes (柚yòu/yoh/) imply ‘family solidarity’ and ‘overflow’, as they’re round as well, and the Chinese sounds like the word for ‘to have’ (有 yǒu).
Special Occasion Foods in China
Other than celebration food sources, there are different food sources with emblematic implications eaten at extraordinary events to conjure (or commend) a particular gift…
At Weddings
- Seeds (lotus seeds, watermelon seeds, etc.) mean ‘bearing many children’.
The Chinese word for ‘seed(s)’ (子 zǐ/dzrr/) is equivalent to the word for ‘child(ren)’.
- Lobster and chicken means ‘a good marriage’.
One of the characters in the Chinese for lobster (龙虾 lóngxiā) is ‘mythical beast’ (龙), and a chicken seems to be a phoenix, so lobster and chicken represents ‘a winged serpent and a phoenix’, addressing propitious male-female matching in Chinese culture.
At Birthday Celebrations
- Noodles mean ‘longevity’.
This is on the grounds that noodles have a long shape, addressing a long life. An old notion says that it’s misfortune to cut them.
- Peaches also mean ‘longevity’.
As indicated by Chinese fantasy, peaches were a hallowed thing served on the birthday celebrations of the undying Sovereign Mother of the West.
When Celebrating the Birth of a Baby
- Eggs mean ‘fertility’.
The imagery is clear here. After a child is conceived, guardians might give “red-heated up” (chicken’s) eggs to their family members and companions to declare the introduction of their child.
