Material Culture:

The Color Red

Contributor: Alison Fong is a junior Honors College student majoring in history, international and global studies with a concentration in peace, human rights, and security, and Asian studies and minoring in East Asian history and politics. Originally born in Singapore before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 2010, Alison is involved on campus as a member of the University of Arkansas Museum Student Advisory Council, an Honors College Ambassador, and a member of Sigma Iota Rho. After college, Alison desires to pursue a masters in global and Asian history and further her knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Red packets, which are filled with cash and then given out by the elders to the young people, come in a variety of designs.

During Chinese New Year, streets are painted head to toe in red decorations, and people are dressed in red clothing. The color red was always a symbolic color in Chinese culture. Red, corresponding with the element of fire, represents happiness, good fortune, and joy. It would make sense then that you would see swathes of red everywhere during the celebration of the New Year.

During the Little Year, shops display a variety of red decorations that households should have during the festival. Scrolls of red with idiomatic couplets wishing blessings and good fortune, fake firecrackers to be hung at the door, intricate paper cuttings of auspicious symbols, and a golden福 (fú: prosperity) drawn on a red square.

The 福 (fú) is upside down (倒: dào) because it sounds like 福到 (fú dào), meaning the “Fortune is here”.

An important tradition of Chinese New Year is the placing of couplets on door frames. These couplets come in pairs with an optional shorter line that can be placed at the top. The number of words on each line must match, as well as the format and the rhythm. There are a variety of styles and alliterations, but all generally wish for a good new year ahead. You can watch this video that explains the importance and structure of the Chinese couplets.

Informative video on Chinese New Year couplets by Crystal Sky Blue on YouTube

Decorations are not the only things that are red during Chinese New Year – clothing are the best way to wear your good fortune as you attend large family dinners and visit houses of relatives. There are many kinds of traditional clothing that women, men, and children can wear, but nowadays modern clothing in various shades of red are more popular and common. A Tang suit (唐装: táng zhuāng) is an example of a piece of traditional clothing, whose more modern stylings allow for any gender to wear it. If you have ever seen a Jackie Chan movie (not the Rush Hour trilogy, but his more traditional Hong Kong style action films) or a Donnie Yen movie (He played the general in the recent live-action Mulan but watch his Ip Man series if you want to learn about Bruce Lee’s mentor, Ip Man) you know what a Tang suit looks like.

A qipao (旗袍: qí páo) refers to a traditional style of women’s dress that is usually custom-made due to its tight-fit. Qipao is also often referred to as a “cheongsam” (长衫: cháng shān), especially by Westerners, but “cheongsam” literally means “long dress/skirt”, which is the opposite of the tight-fitting and short qipao.

Lastly, don’t forget to say these important idioms when you visit the houses of your relatives or when you greet anyone during Chinese New Year. It is not only important to decorate your home with good fortune and to wear it on you body, but it is very important to say it out loud as well. Some important phrases include:

• Happy new year! (新年快乐: xīn nián kuài lè)
• Happiness and prosperity! (恭喜发财: gong xǐ fā cái)
• Surplus year-after-year! (年年有余: nián nián yǒu yú)
• Enjoy good health! (身体健康: shēn tǐ jiàn kāng)
• Progress in studies! (学业进步: xué yè jìn bù)
• May all your wishes come true! (万事如意: wàn shì rú yì)

Check out this website for more phrases to say with accompanied audio for each phrase or watch the video below to hear the top 10 best phrases for Chinese New Year.

Top 10 Chinese New Year Greetings and Blessings by DigMandrin on YouTube.

Some extra resources:

• Paper cuttings: Interested in learning to make your own Chinese New Year decorations? This website teaches you how to make your own 福 paper cutting, while this website teaches you how to make your own 春 paper cutting.

• Chinese couplets: If you want to learn more about creating your own Chinese couplets, this website has tons of information about writing a couplet.

• History of the Qipao: Learn more about the intriguing roots of the qipao, and how a garment that is nowadays so representative of Chinese culture was not actually considered to be “Chinese” when it was first introduced in the Qing Dynasty by the non-Han Chinese, the Manchus.

Image Attributions:

• Alison Fong. Red packets. Personal photograph.

• Chinese New Year blessing. Wikimedia Commons.