If you think the reason people in China wear red underwear is to find love like people in Mexico and other Latin American countries do, you are wrong. There’s nothing romantic about it. Instead, people who need to wear it, believe they are likely to face more challenges or troubles than usual in their zodiac year (本命年 běnmìng nián), and that they need to wear red to ward off bad luck every single day of the New Year. Sounds confusing? Here are some stories and explanations behind it.

What and when is Zodiac Year of Birth (本命年 Běnmìng nián)?

There are 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig) in the Chinese zodiac, and each year welcomes a new animal. People are born under one sign and will run into their Zodiac Year of Birth (本命年 Běnmìng nián) every 12 years, which is on their 12th, 24th, 36th 48th, 60th, 72nd, 84th, 96th birthday etc.

Every year is considered to be managed by a God of Age (太岁 Tàisuì); if you were born under the same sign as the Tàisuì of that year, you are more likely to have the Evil Spirit (凶星 Xiōngxīng) get you in trouble.

How to ward off bad luck in your Běnmìng Nián?

Wear red

The most common and popular way is to wear red underwear. Other than that, a red waist belt, red bracelet, or any other red clothing is supposed to help. But all this red stuff must be purchased by other people; otherwise the effect is believed to be greatly reduced.

Wear jade, crystal, or gold accessories

Jade, crystal, and gold are said to have enough spiritual power to drive away the evil spirit in Chinese culture. That’s why you can see a lot of people, especially old people, wearing these kinds of accessories in China.

Worship the God of Age

As each year is controlled by a God of Age (太岁 Tàisuì), people also choose to go to temples to worship the God of Age and make a wish every year.

What’s special about red in Chinese culture?

In Yijing (易经, Classic of Changes), one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, red is associated with the “division” trigram of the “Bagua” (八卦, Eight Diagrams ), which also represents “light”. According to the theory of Yin and Yang, red is Yang, which can kill the darkness and evil spirits. Wearing red is a simple way to avoid the bad luck that considered to be Yin.

In addition, red is a color which means life and hope in Chinese culture. People choose to wear red for good luck for the new year.

Photo: pexels.com

SPRING festival

To me, celebrating the arrival of spring sounds like one of the best reasons to celebrate. This is particularly true up here in my husband’s hometown in Northeast China, a most barren land in winter. I vividly remember when my brother visited us in May 2015. We drove all the way to the North Korean border near Ji’an, a mere 5-hour drive through plains and mountain roads. Driving down a road next to the Yalu River, we could see North Koreans on the other side of the bank, some washing clothes, some taking a bath, others walking home. The trees had barely grown new leaves yet. Snow had melted, but it was still cold and the pictures we took all looked grey.

Spring in Northeast China

Spring in Northeast China is short and starts late. I still remember the excitement I felt when my husband exclaimed that with the celebration of Spring Festival, winter was now officially over and spring about to start. I imagined changing into fewer layers in the morning, spending the days outside, and taking my son for walks, marveling at the revival of nature. Only later did I realize that for my Northeastern Chinese husband, the beginning of spring does not have the same connotations it does for me. To him, the start of spring means that the coldest three weeks of the year are over. His version of the start of spring is slower and more subtle than what I have grown up knowing of the Austrian springs. It might mean that the earth starts to defrost, not necessarily that the trees will start carrying green leaves and blossoms. We’ll usually have to wear winter clothes for a few more months.

Celebrating Spring Festival with my in-laws

I still do like the connotation of spring being just around the corner. Tomorrow, I’ll try to coax my toddler son into wearing layer upon layer of winter clothing and will bundle up my 4-month-old baby to do the unheard of –take him out in the midst of winter. Together we will travel to visit my in-laws. Since we have two small children we don’t have a massive celebration. When visiting relatives we don’t partake in drinking copious amounts of baijiu or watching the men smoke and play Mahjongg. We’ll stuff jiaozi and hang up New Year’s decorations instead and will enjoy a sumptuous New Year’s dinner. And that’s about it. I see myself lying in bed early, trying to comfort my sons as we listen to the boisterous echo of firecrackers exploding on the cement ground just outside the flat, a warning sign to the Nian beast to never put its feet on this earth again. We’ll probably also have our air purifier on full blast to counteract the pollution caused by the fireworks. My father-in-law has already cut my toddler son’s hair. People here say you can’t cut hair in the month after Chinese New Year, or a maternal uncle is going to die. Since I have four brothers, we don’t want to take any chances.

Wearing Red in the Year of the Rooster

This spring festival is special in that it ushers in my husband’s benmingnian, his zodiac year. My husband was born in the year of the rooster. He’ll have to wear red to ward off bad luck every single day of the upcoming year. Red underwear, red socks, or some other red clothes are all supposed to help ward off bad luck incurred upon people in their zodiac year by taisui, the God of Age.

Being married to China and having children whose cultural heritage is partly Chinese does not mean I need to believe in every single Feng Shui principle or Taoist tradition, but it does mean I need to respect local traditions and superstitions–as long as they are not harmful.

Ruth Silbermayr-Song is an Austrian illustrator, German teacher and mother of two. She writes about life in China as a foreign woman, her cross-cultural marriage to a Chinese man, and child rearing bridging cultures and languages on her blog China Elevator Stories. Her story of pregnancy and parenting in China has appeared in the anthology “Knocked Up Abroad Again”.

Photos courtesy of Ruth Silbermayr-Song

In working through my Beijing bucket list, I often forget there are places worth seeing right in my own backyard. A friend recently inspired me to visit Dongyue Temple, a Yuan Dynasty-era Taoist temple located in the heart of Chaoyangmen.

I dropped by on a beautiful spring afternoon and was rewarded with serene courtyards, stately old scholar trees, a repository of stone tablets spanning different eras, and hundreds of plaster statues depicting the 76 departments of the Taoist supernatural world – some macabre, many hilarious, and all fascinating in their variety and inadvertent campiness.

According to The Search for a Vanishing Beijing: A Guide to China’s Capital Through the Ages (2008), the cubicles depict scenes of reward and punishment overseen by Taoist deities who double as functionaries within this supernatural bureaucracy.

“The departments span everything: wealth, longevity, health, betrayal, poisoning, lust, cruelty to animals, plagues, boils, suicide, and the suppression of schemes,” writes author M.A. Aldrich.

Wryly, he muses that the deities do not have the authority to issue a ruling themselves; instead, the final verdict must be ratified by an “approval department” within the Taoist bureaucracy. In China, it seems, even the gods cannot escape red tape.

Dedicated to the God of Taishan – the most important of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism – the nearly 700-year-old temple is divided into three courtyards anchored by three main structures: Zhandaimen Archway, Daiyue Hall, and Yude Hall.

The first courtyard features a long walkway leading to Daiyue Hall, Daiyue being a synonym for “Taishan.” Two symmetrical structures flank the walkway (just visible in the above photo); they contain massive stone tablets inscribed by Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong.

Daiyue Hall contains a towering statue of the God of Taishan, known in Chinese as Dongyue Dadi (东岳大帝).

The first courtyard also contains 90 stone tablets from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties.

The most famous one features an inscription by Yuan Dynasty scholar, painter, calligrapher, and prince Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322). It recounts the life of Zhang Liusun, the founder of Dongyue Temple, as well as milestones in the temple’s history.

In front of the tablet inscribed by Emperor Kangxi, there is a bronze donkey with the head of the horse – translated by the temple as “Bronze Wonder Donkey” – popular with those seeking good health. To heal your affliction, simply rub the corresponding body part on the donkey.

The donkey’s counterpart is the White Jade Horse, the steed of Wenchang. Touching it is said to assure success and safe travels.

Near the entrance is the Longevity Tree, a Chinese scholar tree (槐树 huai shu) believed to be older than Dongyue itself. Due to its age, its trunk has already hollowed out and the tree was singled out for conservation in 2003.

The rooms along the innermost courtyard currently house an exhibition dedicated to the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. Each animal has its own display of antique tableware, tablets, and other objects, but the text is unfortunately only in Chinese.

The courtyard also contains the Scholar Tree, Dongyue Temple’s other sacred tree. It is tied to Wenchang, the Taoist patron god of scholars and writers. In ancient times, applicants to the imperial examinations would visit Dongyue Temple to pray for good results at the Wenchang Pavilion.

All in all, Dongyue Temple provided a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of downtown Beijing. I wouldn’t go out of my way to bring visitors here (unless they have a special taste for bizarre statues), but it’s worth a visit if you happen to be near Chaoyangmen, Gongti, or Ritan.

Public restrooms with squat toilets are available onsite, but there was no toilet paper or soap when I visited. There is no food for sale on or near the premises, but the temple is about a 10-minute walk from U-Town Mall, which has a Burger King and a Starbucks.

Consider yourself warned: Dongyue Temple is not suitable for families with young children. Besides the many statues of demons and monsters, a few of the departments are downright disturbing, depicting scenes of disembowelment, decapitation, and implied animal cruelty. That said, older kids and teens will probably find the poorly-made cartoon violence more laughable than anything else.

Dongyue Temple 东岳庙
RMB 10. Daily 8.30am-4.30pm. 141 Chaoyangmen Waidajie, Chaoyang District (6551 3883) 朝阳区朝阳门外大街141号

Sijia Chen is a contributing editor at beijingkids and a freelance writer specializing in parenting, education, travel, environment, and culture. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, The Independent, Midnight Poutine, Rover Arts, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @sijiawrites or email her at sijiachen@beijing-kids.com.

Photos: Sijia Chen