Detailed Introduction
The reunion dinner is winding down when an elder stands up and reaches into a pocket. Every child at the table goes quiet. This is the moment.
[What the money is pressing down]
The formal name for the money in a red envelope is yasui qian. The common folk explanation is that sui here originally meant a demon, not a year - a creature said to stroke the foreheads of sleeping children on New Year's Eve, leaving them feverish and delirious. One family wrapped eight copper coins in red paper and left them by their child's pillow. The demon came close, the coins caught the light, and it fled.
Early yasui qian really were copper coins, threaded on red string. A hundred coins on one string was called a hundred-year string, a wish for a long life. Paper money replaced the coins, and the string became the envelope.
[Rules about the amount]
- Always an even number: NT$600, 1,200, 2,000 and 3,600 are all common. Odd amounts belong in white envelopes, which are for funerals.
- Never a four: NT$400 or 4,000 is out, because "four" sounds like "death" in both Mandarin and Taiwanese.
- Six and eight are favoured: six for things going smoothly, eight for wealth.
- Envelopes given upward to parents run larger. That one is called tiansui, "adding a year" - a wish that they gain another one.
[When to give]
Strictly speaking, after the New Year's Eve vigil, so the money accompanies the child across the turn of the year. In practice most families hand them out right after dinner. Some households make children sleep with the envelope under the pillow before opening it, which is the literal version of pressing down the year.
[Taboos still observed]
- Never reuse an envelope. A used one carries last year with it.
- Never open one and reseal it.
- Never open it in front of the giver. Counting the money in front of them is rude; wait until you have left the room.
- Traditionally only married people give. Unmarried adults receive, no matter their age.
[Who gives to whom]
Downward to children, upward to parents and elders. Sideways, between peers, is unusual. Some households also give to a helper, a driver, or the building's caretaker, which is closer to a tip and has no fixed amount.
[The envelope today]
Digital transfers through LINE Pay or JKOPay are now ordinary. The paper envelope has not gone away, though, because the point was never the money. It is the act of putting something into someone's hands. That is also why the queue at the bank for crisp new notes still forms every year in the last week before the holiday.