Gifts Expediting Child Delivery

Chinese Folk Customs--Gifts Expediting Child Delivery

As families in Hangzhou await a child in a woman’s last month of pregnancy, just before delivery members of the family will place a bunch of millet stalks in a silver of an ornamental pot covered with silk or paper and decorated with interwoven patterns of flowers and rich-paper plant. This suggests chances of bearing five boys and two girls. In addition, there are pastries in the shape of sleeping lambs and crouching deer, one hundred and twenty painted duck eggs, regular dishes, lamb, raw dates and chestnuts and embroidered clothes for the infant. All these are sent to the son-in-law’s house. They are called “gifts expediting child delivery”.

中国传统文化精粹--催生礼

杭州城里人家生孩子，如孕妇进入最后一个月，产期将到的时候，娘家人就用银盆或彩色的盆盛一束粟米杆子，上面盖着丝绸或纸，并用花朵、通草交织的花样点缀着，表示生育五男二女的意思。还有面粉做的睡羊和卧虎、一百二十个彩绘的鸭蛋、日常的饭菜、羊、未熟的枣子、粟子和手绣的彩色婴儿服装送到女婿家中，这叫做“催生礼”。