Today is the 7th day of the Chinese New Year or Renri 人日. According to Chinese beliefs, renri was the day human beings were created. It is celebrated not only in China, but also other parts of the world where there are Chinese people. In Chinese legends, nüwa (女媧) was the goddess who created the world. She created animals on different days, and human beings on the seventh day after the world was created.
On this day, the Chinese would eat a special dish called yee sang ( 鱼生), or Prosperity Toss, which is also known as lo hei (Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起). Yee Sang usually consists of raw fish mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments. There are also other ingredients such as pomeloes and nuts. Yee sang literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is shares the same sound with abundance "abundance (余)", Yee sang(鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) which means an increase in abundance. So it is obvious why Yee sang is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigour.
Actually, this dish is not only eaten on Renri but throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations. Even, the other races in Malaysia have joined in the fun of tossing and eating Yee Sang with their Chinese friends.
So far I have eaten, Yee Sang twice already - once on new year's eve and the next time on the second day of the new year.
The above pictures show my mum, aunt, sister and her family tossing the Yee Sang at our reunion dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment