Chinese New Year Food Symbolism
There are many customs and traditions in the Chinese culture during Chinese New Year; food symbolism is one of them. Why is a certain dish served during the festive season? What does it symbolize? The list below shows some common food items served during the Chinese New Year celebration.
Steamed whole chicken: unity of family (whole chicken symbolizes completeness), and purity (light colour of cooked chicken).
Fish: prosperity. In Mandarin and Cantonese, “鱼 (yu)” is homonym of the character “余” which means remaining or in excess. Hence, there should always be some leftover of fish, which symbolizes abundant wealth.
Noodles (long and uncut): longevity.
Black moss: prosperity. In Cantonese, “fatt” in “发菜 (fatt choy)” means good fortune.
Dumplings: wealth (shaped like the yuanbao ingot). In Mandarin, “饺子 (jiao zi)” is homonym of the characters for coins “角子” used in the olden days. Besides, it has the meaning of cohesiveness.
Sweet glutinous rice balls: unity, completeness. “汤圆 (tang yuan)” in Mandarin, is prepared with either ground peanuts or sweet azuki beans filling, in sweet broth. The suspension of glutinous rice ball in the sweet broth when served, looks identical to full moon in the sky. The sweet taste implies sweetness of life.
New Year’s cake: cohesiveness and advancement. In Mandarin, “nian” in “年糕 (nian gao)” is homonym of the character “粘” which means stickiness; “gao” is homonym of the character ” 高” which has the meaning of tall, and hence understood as high achievements. “步步高升” in Chinese characters.
Pineapple: wealth and good fortune. In Cantonese, “wong” in “黄梨(wong lai) ” is homonym of the character “旺” for good fortune.
Mandarin oranges: gold. In Cantonese, “柑 (kam)” is homonym of the character gold “金”.
Peanuts: fertility, prosperity, and longevity. The Chinese characters “花生 (Hua sheng)” indicates growth, which can then be translated as continual growth of offspring or wealth. Peanuts also referred to as “长生果(chang sheng guo)”, which literally means long life fruit.
Ground peanuts: wealth. The ground peanuts that are yellowish brown in colour, resemble golden sand. In Chinese characters, “金沙满堂 (jin sha man tang)”.
You’d probably reazlie that most of the Chinese New Year wishes, or food symbolism in this case, has a lot to do with wealth and fortune. Why is it so? This can be explained by the active involvement of Chinese in trade and business for centuries. Nowadays, these good wishes can even be addressed to investments that someone has, career advancement (higher position = wealthier) etc. Thus, it’s considered a high compliment to someone who receives wishes in the context of wealth and good fortune.
These fascinating believes can be rather interesting, and certainly spice up the celebration of Chinese New Year. So, be sure to feed yourself well for a happy and prosperous year ahead of you!
