Babyhood and naming a child

After birth

When a Chinese baby is born, he/she is already considered to be a year old: age is calculated from the date of conception not the date of birth.

Praise should never be given to or applied to a new-born Chinese baby as this may invite the attention of demons and ghosts: the baby, instead should be referred to with unfavourable terms and words!

A concave navel is considered a sign of a prosperous life for the baby, while an extruding one is less auspicious. If a baby has more than one hair crown it is thought he/she will be mischievous and disobedient, but if he/she has wide and thick ears he/she will live in prosperity. A baby’s head should be stroked often so as it becomes nicely rounded.

Confinement

After birth, the mother is expected to observe a 40 day period of confinement. During this period, she is not allowed to eat food considered ‘cold’ or have cold baths: keeping warm, by the wearing of thick clothes for example, is considered of paramount importance. If it can be afforded, a special helper- responsible for both mother and child- is hired to tend the new mother for at least two weeks.

A month after the birth, a small celebration to celebrate the arrival of a new family member is held. Guests- close relatives and neighbours- give gifts such as baby clothes or chicken essence (for the mother) and receive a small, round, red and yellow cake with a peanut-based filling and some hard-boiled eggs painted red. The day after the feast, the baby’s hair is shaved off: the baby’s hair is regarded as ‘interim’ hair and its removal facilitates the growth of permanent hair.

Babies who continuously cry are thought to have been disturbed by evil spirits and to ward these off, a single pomelo leaf is placed beneath his/her mattress.

Care is also taken to ensure that the baby’s spirit does not leave his/her body permanently: a baby’s face should not be powdered with white talcum powder when he/she is sleeping as his/her wandering spirit will not recognise his/her face and not be reunited with the body. When a little older, the baby may be fitted with a black bracelet, talisman or image of Buddha which is thought to act to ensure his/her well being.

Naming a child

In Chinese culture, a person’s name has an important role to play in determining his/her destiny. Because of this, Chinese parents will often spend a long time choosing their child’s name.

A typical Chinese name has three words, in principle these are the family name, a name indicating the child’s generation and a personal name, though often the second ‘principle’ is not followed.

Naming a child must take into consideration five principles: the name must have a favourable meaning (particularly favoured are meanings reflecting wealth or well-being) and names with negative possibilities should be avoided, the name must sound pleasant when spoken, the name must reflect favourable mathematical calculations (see next paragraph), it must be harmonious with regard to yin and yang, and it must possess one of the five elements of metal, water, wood, fire and wood.

When written, each Chinese name has a certain number of brush strokes, and each character’s number of brush strokes corresponds to a certain element. A two stroke character is associated with wood, three and four stroke fire, five and six strokes earth and nine and ten strokes water. The total number of strokes in a name can determine a persons fortune: for example twelve strokes bespeaks a life of illness and failure, while 81 strokes presages prosperity and a happy future.