On the eighth day of every new year (following the chinese calendar), Chinese from the Hokkien group gather to pray to the Emperor of heaven (天公), also known as the Jade emperor of heaven. Food and fruits will be used as offerings. Candles will be burnt, fire cracker will be lit.
My wife is Hokkien. It's a big day for them. It's also quite an ordeal as there are many things that need to be done prior to the prayer. They fold golden paper into certain shapes, resembling gold nuggets. These will be burnt later on. It is believed that once burnt, these will become gold in heaven, to be used by the Jade emperor.
The plate of red stuff is a plate of hard boil eggs boiled in red pigment. Red stained eggs are common food in chinese tradition, used as prayer offering and also eaten during birthdays.
After the prayer, we lit firecrackers.
There was a "secret message" at the end of every bar of firecracker, to be retrieved at the end of the fire action. Ours says "wealth".
My wife is Hokkien. It's a big day for them. It's also quite an ordeal as there are many things that need to be done prior to the prayer. They fold golden paper into certain shapes, resembling gold nuggets. These will be burnt later on. It is believed that once burnt, these will become gold in heaven, to be used by the Jade emperor.
The plate of red stuff is a plate of hard boil eggs boiled in red pigment. Red stained eggs are common food in chinese tradition, used as prayer offering and also eaten during birthdays.
After the prayer, we lit firecrackers.
There was a "secret message" at the end of every bar of firecracker, to be retrieved at the end of the fire action. Ours says "wealth".
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| Finally, the burning of the paper gold nuggets. |
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