I am by no means a very Chinese person. Being a chindian (half Chinese – half Indian), my family never really followed many of the Chinese traditions at home. We did have Chinese New Year and fire crackers and the giving of red packets, but I think we picked and choose which traditions to follow. After leaving my fathers home, I didn’t really give allot of importance to these traditions as well. Along came Sara and I was very pleased to know that her family didn’t really observe many of the traditions especially when it came to Wedding ceremonies. Last weekend we were spending some time with some family friends and they mentioned that for all 3 of her sons, they didn’t have the Chasity pig as a bridal gift. I was curious, what was a Chasity pig? And then I was told

A chastity pig

Pig in Cantonese “ju” sounds the same as “kong sa ju”, the Chinese legendary sign of virginity. The “kong sa ju”, a red dot placed on a girl’s forearm as a virgin, was said to disappear when she lost her chastity.If the groom was satisfied that his wife was married as a virgin, a gift of roast pig complete with tail would accompany the bride’s home visit. If not, the roast pig’s tail or ears were broke off.

Wow! A whole pig! I had never seen that before! Curious, I asked my co-workers, and they all knew about this. Thank God, Sara’s family doesn’t want it. The only traditional thing we are going to do is the tea ceremony. What is that?

Tea ceremony

Traditionally, after the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds serve tea (holding the teacups with both hands), inviting the groom’s elders to drink tea by addressing them by formal title, e.g. first uncle or third aunt. The general rule is to have the woman on the left side and the man on the right side. The people being served will sit in chairs, while the bride and groom kneel. For example, when the newlyweds serve tea to the groom’s parents, the bride would kneel in front of her father-in-law, while the groom would kneels in front of his mother. The newlyweds serve tea in order, starting with the groom’s parents then proceeding from the oldest family members to the youngest, e.g. the groom’s parents, then his paternal grandparents, then his maternal grandparents, then his oldest uncles and aunts, and all the way to his older brother. In return, the newlyweds receive red envelopes stuffed with money or jewelry. These envelopes are placed on the platter which holds the teacups.

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• The Nana Family : Part 2 - 2006
• Bounce and Ghost Rider - 2007
• 40k for the Billboard 14k for the Diamond Ring - 2008
• Nathan Day 014 :- Visiting a neighborhood pediatrician - 2010