Ancestors important
Deceased ancestors of the family are also honoured on the first moon. Ancestor tablets and pedigree scrolls going back five generations are set up in altars. The spirits are believed to remain in the household until the 16th day of the New Year. So during this time they are served daily with food and drink. The spirit feast may consist of five kinds of food, five cups of wine and five cups of tea. Laid out on the table are 10 pairs of chopsticks and a calendar so they can follow the feasts and festivals to come. Not to invite ancestors to share in the New Year festivities would be a grave breach of propriety.
The household gods are also greeted on their return to earth. The God of Wealth is greeted early on the fifth day, although in some places he is greeted on the third day.
People usually stay home on the first two days and go out on the third day, and so this time is quite quiet in Hong Kong. When they leave their home for the first time in the New Year, they must be careful that they do not slip or fall as this might bring misfortune on the house. In the olden days, people were also superstitious about the first person they encountered when they left their house - if it was a woman, it was considered an unlucky omen, while a priest was
while a priest was even worse!
A superstitious time
Certain taboos also existed then and are still observed in Hong Kong by the very superstitious. Certain unlucky words are not to be uttered and loss of money is never referred to. Quarrelling or scolding servants means courting misfortune. Gambling right after taking a bath invites bad luck. To change the dishes after one has begun to eat means the death of the housewife. Each family has its own tabooed words, while each day carries certain don'ts...don't use knives or scissors as it may cut away good luck...don't sweep the house or good luck may be swept away also...never thread a needle on the 7th or 8th day of the first moon...never start on a journey on the 7th, 17th, 27th or return to your home on the 8th, 18th, or 28th!
Each of the first 10 days of the New Year has its own symbolic dedication. The first day is dedicated to children. Day 2 is for Dogs and Day 3 for Pigs. The fourth is Goat's day, the fifth Cow's and the sixth Horse's Day. The seventh day is dedicated to man and is generally know as Everybody's Birthday (the Chinese have two birthdays a year); condemned criminals were reprieved on this day and no execution took place. The eighth day is for rice, grain and cereals, the ninth day is Heaven's Day and the tenth is Earth's day. No animal is slaughtered on the day dedicated to it.
The forecast of Hong Kong's conditions for the coming year is usually based on the weather during the seventh day. Long ago, city and town folk believed that a fine, clear day with stars at night augured a peaceful year ahead, but cloudy and rainy weather meant hunger and famine. The country folk, on the other hand, believed just the opposite: if the day were clear and fine it bode ill for the country, so they made human effigies of rice stalks, dressed them up with straw hats and straw raincoats and put them up in the rice fields.
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