Birthdays hold deep significance for Teochew people
对于潮州人而言，生日富含着深厚的意义。
Having lived through repeated natural disasters, famines, upheavals, and wars, our forebears developed a cautious attitude towards life and its celebration. A legacy of historically high infant mortality rates is that newborns are only introduced to relatives outside the immediate family at “Full Moon” (Teochew: 满月 muan-ghueh), when a feast is held to mark their survival through the perilous first month of life. Another milestone occurs at four months, when babies have their infant hair shaved by their maternal grandmothers and are given their first symbolic taste of meat (without actually eating it).
我们的祖先历经了无数的天灾、饥荒、战争与动荡，所以对生命及其庆典心存敬畏。历史上，由于婴儿夭折率居高不下，新生儿只有在满月时才会被介绍给直系亲属以外的家人。“满月宴”是为了庆祝婴儿安然度过生命中最脆弱的第一个月。而另一个重要的庆祝仪式是“四月礼”，当天婴儿的外婆会剃去孩子的胎发，并让孩子象征性地“开荤”（品尝但不真正吞食肉类）。
First Birthdays 一周歲
A child’s first birthday (一周歲, zeg ziu hue) is another important occasion. This evolved from a custom known as “hosting the son’s feast” (做丁桌, zo deng doh), in which the parents of boys born in the previous year were once obliged to host a lavish feast for the entire village on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, inducting the child into the larger clan. This practice, which drove many families to financial ruin, has largely been replaced by a family dinner during which the birthday child eats red-dyed eggs and vermicelli with pork. The eggs, representing new life, must be served in even numbers, never odd, in keeping with the Chinese belief that good things come in pairs. Ideally, the eggs are peeled without breaking so they remain smooth and round, symbolising a complete and fulfilling life for the child. The vermicelli is served uncut to carry the wish for a long and healthy life.
孩子的一周岁是另一个里程碑。这习俗可追溯到旧时的“做丁桌”：过去，家中若添了男丁，父母必须在次年农历正月十五大摆筵席宴请全村，以此将孩子正式引入宗族。如今，这项曾使许多家庭陷入经济困境的习俗已被摒弃，取而代之的是一家人团聚的庆生宴。宴席上，过生日的孩子会吃红鸡蛋和粉丝煮猪肉。红鸡蛋象征新生命，且必须成双成对地上桌，寓意“好事成双”。鸡蛋最好能被完整剥开并保持其圆润，代表孩子生活幸福圆满；粉丝在烹煮过程中不能断开，寄托着健康长寿的祝愿。
Guangdong Museum exhibit on Teochew first year birthday ceremony
广东省博物馆潮汕《周岁礼》展示
"Big Birthdays" 做大生日
Traditionally, the Chinese view life as unfolding through four stages—birth (生>), ageing (老>), sickness (病), and death (死)—with a keen awareness that many never reached the second stage. Longevity is thus celebrated with a grand banquet when a person completes a sexagenary cycle of 60 years, and again at every subsequent decade such as 70, 80, 90, or even 100 years. This is known as “celebrating longevity” (祝寿). In everyday Teochew speech, the celebration is called 做大生日, zoh dua sen jig (“hosting a big birthday”). In some areas it is celebrated at 50, though others regard 50—half of the full span of 100—as inauspicious.
传统上，华人认为人生有四大阶段——生、老、病、死，并深刻地认识到许多人未必能步入第二阶段。因而，当人年满六十岁完成一个甲子循环，以及之后的每个十年（如七十、八十、九十甚至百岁），都会以隆重的寿宴庆生，这被称为“祝寿”。在日常潮州话中，这一庆祝称为“做大生日”。在潮州一些地区，人们五十岁便开始庆祝“大生日”，但也有人认为五十仅是百岁寿命的一半，视为不祥。
The banquet table for a “big birthday” typically features twelve auspicious dishes, including classical symbols of long life such as eggs, vermicelli, and chives (韭菜, gu cai—a pun on 久, gu, “a long time”). Glutinous rice cakes symbolising sweetness, as well as chicken and duck, are also essential. Relatives and friends bring wine, longevity noodles (長面, deng mi, a homophone of 長命, deng mian, “long life”), peach-shaped buns, and other gifts as tokens of congratulations.
“大生日”的宴席通常备有十二道寓意吉祥的菜肴，包括象征长寿的鸡蛋、粉丝和韭菜（“韭”与“久”谐音，寓意长久）。糯米糕代表甜蜜，鸡和鸭亦为必备。亲朋好友通常会带上美酒、长寿面（潮州话：长面 deng mi，与长命 deng mian 谐音）、寿桃及其他贺礼致意。
Guangdong Museum exhibit on Teochew "longevity celebration" ceremony
广东省博物馆潮汕《寿礼》展示
Lunar Birthdays and Teochew Age Reckoning 农历生日与虚岁计龄
By Teochew custom, birthdays are calculated using the lunar calendar (農曆, long-leh), though many today follow the Gregorian calendar. Another tradition is counting age by nominal years (虛歲, he hue), which acknowledges the ten-month gestation period: a baby is considered one year old at birth, and gains another year at each Winter Solstice (冬節, dang-zoih). By this reckoning, a child born in 2020 would already be eight at the end of 2026.
按照潮州习俗，生日按农历计算，不过现代许多人（包括中国境内的年轻潮州人）已改用公历。此外，潮州人也按“虚岁”计龄。此法将十月怀胎列为生命起点，一出生便算一岁；每过一个冬节（冬至）便增加一岁。依此算法，一个2020年出生的孩子，在2026年冬至后已算八岁。
"Small Birthdays" 過生日
Birthday celebrations for Teochew children (those not yet married) and adults under 50 are referred to as 過生日, gue sen jig (“passing birthday”). In contrast to longevity banquets, these are modest home meals featuring red-dyed eggs, vermicelli, and pork. The emphasis on restraint may reflect a cultural belief that overt self-celebration—especially by the young—appears boastful and could invite ill fortune. In modern times, however, these concerns are less observed, and birthdays are often marked with family gatherings around a cake, singing the birthday song.
潮州未成年人（包括尚未婚嫁者）及五十岁以下成年人的生日庆典统称“过生日”。与隆重的祝寿不同，这类庆祝多为家常便饭，主角仍是红鸡蛋、粉丝和猪肉。对“小生日”的审慎态度，源于一种观念：过于高调的自我庆祝被视为炫耀，甚至可能“折福”。不过，在当代社会，这些顾虑已淡化，如今生日多成为亲友聚会、分享蛋糕、共唱生日歌的欢乐时刻。
Honouring the Old, Cherishing the Young 敬老惜细
Ultimately, 做大生日 zoh dua sen jig expresses the respect of younger generations for their elders, while 過生日 gue sen jig reflects the affection and care of elders for their children and grandchildren. Both practices embody the value of 敬老惜細 geng lao sioh soi—honouring the old and cherishing the young—and affirm the central importance of family to our people.
总而言之，“做大生日”体现了晚辈对长辈的敬意与孝心，而“过生日”则蕴含着长辈对晚辈的关爱。这两项仪式共同承载了潮州人“敬老惜细”的价值观，并彰显了家庭在潮州文化中的核心地位。
~o0o~
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