A host of helpful dos & don'ts to get through the holidays faux pas free

Don't Curse

According to Taoist tradition, what you do over the holidays sets the tone for the rest of the year. So take care to avoid the use of curses and epithets, as well as the less obvious use of negative words. For example, consider retiring the word “meal” (飯), which is homophonous with “guilty” (犯). Substitute with “rice” (米).

Do Brush Up on Snake Sayings

Chinese New Year is a time for smiling at strangers and wishing them well. This year, try on these snake-themed blessings for size: “Prosper in the Year of the Snake” (she nian da fa, 蛇年大發), “Shake Down Like a Golden Snake” (jin she kuang wu, 金蛇狂舞), “May Your Charm Be Like A Snake” (mei li ru she, 魅力如蛇) and “May Your Brush Flow Like a Dragon and Snake” (bi zou long she, 筆走龍蛇).

Don't Toss Trash until Day 6

Even if your house isn't gleaming on Day One, don't clean. Don't pick up a broom and don't toss your trash, so that you can't inadvertently throw out the God of Wealth. Instead, wait until after Day Five — the God of Wealth's birthday.

If you break a dish, say “Rest in Pieces” (碎碎平安) to defuse bad luck. Wrap the fragments in a red envelope and then discard after Day Five.

Do Gift

If you have relatives a generation or more below you, start wrapping red envelopes. Give an amount that ends with an even digit, like NT$168 or NT$2,000. Avoid ending with a 4, which is homophonous with “death,” or an odd digit, which is associated with funerals.

The spirit of giving also extends beyond the family. During the holidays, many Taiwanese will pass out red envelopes to their security guards, waiters, maids or others in their employ.

Other Don'ts

There are a variety of other practices frowned upon, according to the Taiwan Taoist Association (台灣道教總會). Don't borrow money, collect debts, discipline your children, nag your spouse, pay your respects to elders on a sickbed, complain, nap on Day One, pour water out the door, eat porridge or sweet potatoes, use scissors or needles, sew, lift nets or call out to chickens.

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February 15, 2013    curtisakbar@

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If these things were just for fun like the tooth fairy then I wouldn't mind them but sadly too many people think they are for real and take all of this far too seriously. Like Sun Yat-Sen said 'Chinese are caught up and too involved in silly practices not suitable for the modern world.' He said that back in the early 1900s and over one hundred years later, it's the same old silly practices of burning yellow paper in the street releasing toxic smoke for everyone to breathe in.

February 15, 2013    curtisakbar@

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Also there's a time and place for everything, you want to burn things, go to your local temple not the local park/street where children and others can get hurt or bothered.

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