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Chap Goh Meh In a few days time, it will be "Chap Goh Meh", the 15th day of the first lunar month and also, the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations. On this day, the Kitchen God will return from Heaven after completing his task. First, I would like to tell you a little bit about the Kitchen God and Heaven. The Kitchen God is sent by the Heavenly King to the kitchens of every Chinese household to keep an eye on us and on Chinese New Year Day (the first day of the first lunar month), he will ascend to Heaven to report to the Heavenly King our good and bad deeds for the year. Because there are so many of us, he is given fifteen days to complete his report which is why the Chinese New Year is celebrated for fifteen days. Those of us who have been naughty would start praying to the Kitchen God a week before Chinese New Year Day offering the sweet and sticky steamed glutinous rice pudding called Nian Kao (or Tee Koey in Hokkien) with the hope that it will "glue" his mouth together so that he can only mumble when he present his report to the Heavenly King. In Heaven, all reports must be presented orally. Heaven is a palace in the clouds where the Heavenly King and Queen live with their army, palace officials and servants and is not in Machu Picchu , as has been previously reported. Frequent fliers may have spotted the palace amongst the clouds during one of their flights. The Chinese flier will be filled with joy as he knows it is only the very lucky few who get a glimpse of Heaven. The non-Chinese flier will think that it is a mirage. Why, it has even been mistaken for a UFO! Note: The Chinese population has increased tremendously so there is a likelihood that in the near future, the Heavenly King would allow the Kitchen God one month to complete his report which, of course, would mean that the Chinese New Year celebrations would also be extended to a month. The Kitchen God can only ascend to or descend from Heaven on the 1st or 15th of the lunar month because on these two nights, the full moon will enable him to find his way. Oh, the Kitchen God cannot travel by day because, after being secluded in the kitchen for a year, the bright daylight would hurt his eyes. In the old days in China, and girls are allowed to meet each other only on the night of Chap Goh Meh. Dressed in their very best, the young people will stroll along the rivers and lakes, using lanterns to light the way. Hence, Chap Goh Meh is also known as the Lantern Festival. When a boy sees a girl he fancies, he will throw an apple into the water near her. If the girl likes the boy too, she will respond by throwing an orange back in his direction. However, not everyone is so lucky so it is wise to bring along a basketful of apples. You can imagine the desperate ones running around frantically throwing apples at all and sundry in the hope of getting a favourable response. Boy! What would they give to be a member of an on-line dating site! Lee P.S. This article is based on tales related by my grandma, what I heard at the marketplace and coffee shops and a little imagination.  Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past |
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Well, I'm collecting oranges ready to throw into the Klang River on 21st. Although I'll be in Ipoh then, so maybe it will have to be the Kinta River. Luckily the Kitchen God won't be visiting me as I'm not Chinese, and I can't cook.... if he did visit, he would be appalled at my attempts at cooking. Never seen the palace in the clouds, probably cos MAS crew always put the blinds down whether its day or night, maybe they want to keep the palace secret to themselves. Hmm, there must be something worth seeing they are keeping to themselves.....
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Thank you, Lee...I'm invited every year to a banquet in my Chinese friends' restaurant....this year, I'll be able to impress them with my new knowledge! One of my friends has a baby boy, his name is Ding Ding...(not sure that's the right spelling)can you guess why? I'll tell you if you can't.
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2/17/2008 9:05 am |
Hi Lee: Thanks for the great story about Chinese culture and customs. Things sure have changed since the old Lantern Festival method of meeting someone.
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Thank you, Lee...I'm invited every year to a banquet in my Chinese friends' restaurant....this year, I'll be able to impress them with my new knowledge! One of my friends has a baby boy, his name is Ding Ding...(not sure that's the right spelling)can you guess why? I'll tell you if you can't. Enjoy your banquet at the restaurant. Ding Ding is normally a girl's name so maybe your friend already has boys and wants a daughter. Lee Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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Well, I'm collecting oranges ready to throw into the Klang River on 21st. Although I'll be in Ipoh then, so maybe it will have to be the Kinta River. Luckily the Kitchen God won't be visiting me as I'm not Chinese, and I can't cook.... if he did visit, he would be appalled at my attempts at cooking. Never seen the palace in the clouds, probably cos MAS crew always put the blinds down whether its day or night, maybe they want to keep the palace secret to themselves. Hmm, there must be something worth seeing they are keeping to themselves..... Be sure to take a lantern with you when you visit the Kinta River to throw the oranges as parts of the river are not lighted and, I hope you pick a good man to throw at. It's not like throwing the dice you know.  Lee Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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Hi summer, Orange and apple throwing? Not anymore; not even in China. Now they go to online dating sites like Facebook and Senior Friend Finder. Why the interest? You have somebody you fancy? What you can do is print out my post for him to read then take him to the riverside or seaside and throw an orange at him. The Chinese relies a lot on homophones and symbolism to get their message across. I suspect this tradition is started by the Hokkiens because in Hokkien, the word "apple" rhymes with "wife" and "orange" rhymes with "husband". So if a guy were to throw an apple into the river and then pretend to look for the apple, the message is "he is looking for a wife". Similarly, looking for an orange symbolizes that a girl is "looking for a husband". And, they live happily ever after. Lee  Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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Hi unduplicated, Thank you for the comment. I am glad you like it. I like to write fun posts. Lee Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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Hi Lee: Thanks for the great story about Chinese culture and customs. Things sure have changed since the old Lantern Festival method of meeting someone. Thanks for commenting. Yeah, now we can go online and meet people thousands of miles away and we can communicate with them. We can even see them with webcam. I wonder what it will be like in twenty years time? Maybe, by then, we can send holograms of ourselves when we talk! Lee Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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I didn't know that Lee...he's her first child, and was named Ding Ding because he was born in Edinburgh...at least that's what she told me. Her husband, though Chinese, was brought up here, and has a Scots accent...which shows even when he speaks Chinese, I'm told! His parents and I have been friends for many years.
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