Material Culture: Chinese Red Envelope (Angpao)

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Table of Contents

The definition of the term “Material culture”
Chinese Red Envelope Description
Context of the Item
The facts collected during the interview
Works Cited

The Chinese red envelope also called angpao or angbao is a traditional attribute of important celebrations in eastern countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea. Nowadays, there exists a strong tendency which can be also defined as a sort of a fashion to adopt the values of the eastern culture in western countries. As a result, the Chinese red envelope occupies its due place among traditional western gifts for special occasions. In the following paper, this interesting object of the eastern material culture will be examined to open a window into the function of the item within its cultural milieu and the life of the interviewed person. Overall, the Chinese red envelope, or a beautiful envelope decorated with different hieroglyphs meaning such important notions as happiness, welfare, and joy, and having some money inside it, can be seen as one of the most popular gifts in eastern countries that people exchange during the New Year celebrations or any other important celebrations.

The definition of the term “Material culture”

To discuss the meaning of the Chinese red envelope as an important item in the Chinese or eastern material culture, the very term “material culture” should be defined. “Material culture” signifies different things such as physical objects, spaces, and resources that are used to define and characterize any particular culture in the world.

Chinese Red Envelope Description

A Chinese red envelope is a physical object of Chinese or eastern material culture. This object is always of red color which is very important because of the meaning of the red color in the eastern culture. For eastern people, objects of red color symbolize prosperity, welfare, and blessing. It is usually decorated with different hieroglyphs that represent notions important for people such as happiness, welfare, prosperity, blessing, good health and so on (Grotzinger 38, “Red Packet: Sign of Prosperity” par. 5 ). One of the most important attributes of the Chinese red envelope is its content which is money.

Context of the Item

The Chinese red envelops are also called “”red packets”, “Hung bao”, “Ang pao” or “Lai si (in Cantonese)”” (“Chinese Red Envelope” par. 1). The item has its long history full of meaning along with interesting traditions of its use. According to “Chinese Red Envelope” (par. 7):

Red envelopes are also used as a means of protecting and respecting the transmission of the ancient feng shui knowledge. Red, being the strong color that “burns” or prevents harmful chi from happening is thus used widely for many purposes including this transmission. The envelope is red because this color is also considered yang energy. Its been a tradition that in order to thank for your feng shui consultant, you should give him or her red envelope which contains money inside. Because of the high energy of the color red and also the blessings associated with the tradition, it is believed that the consultant (receiver) as well as the client (presenter) are both graced with auspicious chi. Thus, the item has strong connections with the ancient tradition of feng shui.

The actual history of the Chinese red envelope began during the dynasty of Sung in China. The specialists of Chinese tradition explain that the emergence of the red envelope has a connection with the spiritual realm because the history of its coming out is connected to the event where a demon played one of the major roles (“The Red Envelope, Please” 27). Long ago, a demon started torturing Chinese people. No one could defeat the demon, but there appeared a young man who was able to do so by means of his strong faith in god. To express their gratitude for the young man’s good work, the elder people inhabiting the affected territory presented him with a red envelope full of money. Since that day the tradition to present people with a monetary gift put into a red envelope appeared in China, and then in Japan, Vietnam and the other Asian countries. Usually, the red envelope with money is given to young people by elderly people having its reflection in the story depicting the emergence of the tradition of the red envelope.

The facts collected during the interview

Ethnographic Information: Informant’s name, age, ethnic origin, language spoken, gender, relationship to researcher.

For a better understanding of the meaning of the red envelope in its culture, I interviewed a Chinese person. The person’s name is Lu Cnin Su. She is 43. The woman is from China. She speaks Chinese and English. The woman is my neighbor.

Informant’s interpretation. The informant’s position regarding the item, meaning, reason for its use, relevance in his or her life.

The informer helped me understand the meaning of the red envelope deeper. I learnt that the item was very important for this woman. This sort of importance can be compared to the importance that a stocking has for a little child who loves Christmas. The red envelope means a lot to the woman: this is her expectation of happiness, a hope for a blessing in the future year, and a way to make her children happy. She uses the red envelope during the celebration of the Chinese New Year. In her life, the item is a symbol of a better future, of a new hope, and the reason to be optimistic about the future.

Collector’s interpretation: The findings of the research

The interview with the woman helped me see that the Chinese red envelope is of great importance in its culture. It means even more than the New Year Tree or stockings during the Christmas time for European people and the other representatives of the western culture.

The information from the interview filled in the last gap in my knowledge about the Chinese red envelope. To sum up, I may say that the main findings of my research are in the significance of the red envelope in the eastern culture, and its historical meaning. I realized that it is more than a mere tradition and an item of Chinese material culture; it is the object that has a spiritual meaning for Chinese people.

The comparison of the previous knowledge concerning the red envelope with the scholarly information

Finally, comparing my previous knowledge about the Chinese red envelope to the findings of my research and the scholarly information mentioned above, I should say that I did not think that the item under consideration had such significance for Chinese people. I was also intrigued by the deep meaning of the envelope’s decoration.

In conclusion, the Chinese red envelope with money is a traditional Chinese gift. Along with its financial value, the envelope is believed to bring happiness and blessing. The decoration of the envelope including its color and the signs on it aims to symbolize prosperity and blessing for its receiver.

Works Cited

Chinese Red Envelope 2012. Web.

Grotzinger, Shannon. “Happy Chinese New Year!” The Chinese Educational Researcher (2009): 38-41. Print.

Red Packet: Sign of Prosperity 2012. Web.

“The Red Envelope, Please.” Multichannel Merchant 3.8 (2007): 25-27. Print.

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