Thursday, June 7, 2012

Chinese superstitions and taboos during pregnancy

In China, there are so many taboos during pregnancy. Though I am pregnant, I can't avoid to do some items of them. Now I will list them here, which are found from other websites. If you believe in them, you can fellow, but may be they are not scientific, and they will cause you unnecessary worries. Just for fun.
  •  The emotional state of pregnant women is important. They should stay happy as much as possible. It is believed whatever affects a mother's mind will also affect the baby. If you cry and stress a lot, then your baby will be always in sour face and cry always.
  • Pregnant women should watch what they eat because it's believed that if you eats food that's not properly cut or mashed, her child will have a careless disposition. Light colored food will make your baby fair-skinned. If soya sauce or dark soy sauce make up a large part of your diet, your baby may have darker skin. I ate lots of steamed egg with fresh milk and I'm pretty glad how Clarisse turned out to be  . Just kidding, it's for the nutrients not vanity.
  • Absolutely no renovation works around the house no matter how minor it is. Things in need of repair around the house? Well, too bad I'm afraid. Anything that involves drilling, hammering, chopping, sawing and such could lead to abortion or fetal deformities. I really believe in this because my miscarriage is partly due to this reason.
  • Never attend funerals and weddings. This is to avoid any clash on each party.
  • To protect your unborn baby from evil spirits, pregnant women are advice place a knife under their bed.
  • Pregnant women should not cut anything on the bed. Spiritually, it signifies cutting your unborn baby's umbilical cord.
  • Using glue is believed to bring about difficult labor. I'm lucky considering I had a smooth delivery not knowing about this bit.
  • Avoid getting a stroller or pushchair before your baby is born. Keep it elsewhere, preferrably away from the house if you happen to purchased one. It's bad luck to have an empty stroller within the house when you're pregnant.
  • I remember when I was four months into my pregnancy, my friends and family gave me tons of old baby clothes. My mom said keep them in her house instead of mine. Like a stroller or pushchair, it's also bad luck to have used (or new? I'm not too sure about this though) around the house when you're pregnant.
  • Never utter foul or vulgar words or you might risk getting your baby cursed.
  • Stop that all too common habit of rubbing your baby bump if you don't want a spoilt and over-demanding child. Now that I think about it, I really enjoyed rubbing my tummy.
  • Do not visit houses which had been left vacant for a long time. Such premises have not been spiritually "cleansed" therefore might contain unholy entities that affects you and your baby.
  • Hang images or posters of babies around the house and bedroom.
  • Leave a light on when you're sleeping. A small night light will do just fine to avoid sleeping in total darkness.
  • This is for readers who are not yet married. Have the groom carry the bride over a pan of burning coals when entering his home for the first time. Doing this ensures trouble-free labor.
Other tabooed foods (information that I got from informants) :
  • Bananas - miscarriage, asthma, speech defect
  • Papaya - jaundice and difficult birth
  •  Lichee - too heaty
  • Lamb or mutton - Epilepsy
  • Rabbit - hare lip
  •  Dark liquids (soy sauce, chocolate, cola, coffee, tea) - will make baby dark
  • Curry or anything spicey - too yeet hey
  • Snake - also will cause bad skin
  • Watermelon - too cold

3 comments:

  1. Papaya has one good nutrients to give.

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  2. ????????? i love papaya...watermelon...Bananas...
    The only advice given by my father in law..NO CITRUS stuff??sniff sniff does it include orange juiceee...

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  3. So are these rules mainly aimed at the expectant mother? for Example, can the expecting father build a nursery while the mother is away at work for the day?

    ReplyDelete