Eating birthday cake, blowing out candles and singing birthday songs are commonly seen in birthday celebrations of many Chinese people, especially young people. However, the traditional birthday celebration in China is actually to eat longevity noodles. The reason for that is an interesting story.
According to legend, Emperor Liu Che (156 BC-87 BC), who especially made a fetish of physiognomy, told his ministers: “According to the book of physiognomy, the longer the philtrum (the sunken part in the middle of a person’s upper lip), the longer the life expectancy. If a person’s philtrum is one inch long, he will be able to live 100 years.” Upon hearing that, Dongfang Shuo (162 BC-93 BC), a minister sitting next to him, could not help but laugh. The Emperor got upset and asked why he laughed. Dongfang Shuo hurried to say: “What your Majesty talked about reminded me of Peng Zu①. If a 100-year-old person has a philtrum as long as one inch, then Peng Zu who has lived eight hundred years should have a philtrum as long as eight inches, so it is difficult to imagine how long his face is.” Upon his explanation, the Emperor and the other ministers laughed. As the conversation between Dongfang Shuo and Emperor Liu Che was spread to the folklore, “the longer face, the longer life” was changed into “the longer the noodle, the longer the life”. Since “face” and “noodle” are homonyms in Chinese, the long noodles became the birthday food for people to express their wishes for longevity. Even now, people will cook a bowl of noodles on their birthdays, some can even make a long unbroken longevity noodle.
Birthday has different terminologies for people of different ages. Children’s birthday is called growing a tail, while the elder’s birthday is called longevity celebration. However, if the parents of a person aged 50 or more are still alive, the birthday celebration should not be called longevity celebration, otherwise, the life of the person’s parents will be reduced.
China has a tradition of respect for the elderly, so the birthday of the elderly has always been especially valued. In general, the 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th and 90th birthday should be grandly celebrated, but the celebration should be one year in advance, for example, the 80th birthday should be celebrated when the person reaches 79.
There is something special about the longevity celebration for the elderly, that is, a longevity hall must be arranged whether in a restaurant or at home. On the wall in the middle of the central room or the living room, should hang a painting, which can be a big “longevity” character or pine and crane symbolizing longevity. On both sides of the painting, there should be longevity couplets, the content of which pay a compliment to the elderly person’s successful career and happy family, or eulogize the moral character. Some of the longevity couplets are simpler and suitable for all the elderly, such as “May your fortune be as boundless as the East China Sea and may you live a long and happy life!” Red candles cannot be excluded, but making a wish and blowing out candles are in absence, as they mean death in Chinese.
In addition to longevity noodles, longevity peach is also essential in the celebration. Longevity peach has an even longer history, which can be traced back to Sun Bin② (? -316 BC) in the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC).
According to legend, Sun Bin left the family and learnt the art of war from Guiguzi③ when he was young. During twelve year of study, he never returned home. But one day, Sun Bin suddenly remembered it was his mother’s birthday, so he asked his teacher for leave to go home. The teacher approved his application and gave him a peach, which was actually a celestial peach flowering once in 3,000 years and bearing fruit once 3,000 years for the Queen Mother.
Sun Bin presented this unusual peach to his mother. When she ate it, a miracle happened: her face became younger and younger, her white hair gradually darkened.
Learning that Sun Bin’s mother became younger after eating a peach, people began to present peaches to their parents on their birthday. However, peaches were not available all the year round, so what’s to be done when not in season? Smart people figured out the solution of making flour into a shape of peach and steaming it, thus the longevity peach came into being.
Since the Western birthday cake was introduced to China, people have not only enjoyed the romance and convenience of it, but also added Chinese elements. For example, when celebrating the advanced years of a person, people will usually add a longevity peach to produce a birthday food with a combination of Chinese and Western elements.
Note:
① Peng Zu, known for longevity in the legend, was formerly an immortal in the pre-Qin legend and a health master, and later regarded as immortal by the Taoist.
② Sun Bin, born in Juancheng of Shandong, was a strategist in China’s Warring States Period, famous for his “Art of War”.
③ Guiguzi, named Wang Xu, was a legendary figure full of mystery in the Chinese history, living in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC). He usually went to Yunmeng Mountain for herb gathering and self-cultivation. Due to his seclusion in Guigu of Qingxi, he called himself Mr. Guigu.
