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Chu Hua Yuan (出花园）is the coming of age ceremony in the Chaoshan area. It is practiced by both males and females when they reach their 15th year of the nominal age. The ceremony is usually held in the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, but some families may also choose another auspicious day usually in the third or fifth lunar month. The literal meaning of Chu Hua Yuan is "out of garden", which means that the children have grown up and no longer play only in the garden.
Contents
The rite of worship
The day of "Chu Hua Yuan" has a rite of worship. What people worship in this special day is the God of "Gong Po Mu（公婆母）", who is said to be the protective deity of children and in charge of children's lives and health. About the origin of the God of "Gong Po Mu", there are several folk legends, among which the story about Song Renzhong, the fourth emperor in Song Dynasty, is relatively the most popular and widespread one.
It is said that after Song Renzhong was born, he kept crying day and night, rejected eating, and thus became thinner and weaker day after day. Even the imperial physician also got no idea. A folk woman, who was very good at taking care of children, was thus recommended since all courtiers were worried about the situation. Under the good care of the woman, Song Renzhong did recuperate, stop crying and get normal diet. After hearing this news, the emperor Song Zhenzhong, Song Renzhong's father, was delighted greatly and decided to see Song Renzhong. The woman was suckling the baby when she heard the coming of the emperor. Because of fear, the woman put down the baby in a hurry and hid under the bed. However, unfortunately, the woman died of over panic and breathlessness. The emperor felt a great pity, and thus ordered an elaborate funeral for her and conferred on her the title of "the guardian angel of children", respectfully called her "A Po（阿婆）". At the end of Song Dynasty, the descendants of "A Po" moved to Chaoshan area and settled down there, talking about the story of their ancestor. The story moved the Chaoshan women, who believed in deities and ghosts and thus decided to worship "A Po". Without knowing A Po's birthday, people therefore worshiped her in the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which was the date when she died.
The purposes of the rite of worshiping the God of "Gong Po Mu" are, on the one hand, to express appreciation for protecting their children to grow up safe and sound, and on the other hand, to wish their children's futures smooth.
The rite of eating
In this special day, people will also have some particular conventions on eating.
On the morning of the day, parents will prepare a bowl of pig organs soup with sugar. The pork liver is one of the organs that must be included, whose Chinese "肝" pronounced the same as "官"(means "officer" in English)in Chaoshan dialect(Teochew dialect). This is because the only way for ordinate people to get rid of poverty and oppression is to take the imperial competitive examination, a bureaucratic electoral system in ancient China, to become the imperial court officials. Eating sweet pig organs soup also means that you have renew your bowel, your belly and your body, giving up the immature and dirty things, and absorbing new knowledge.
At noon, parents will prepare a big lunch and invite relatives to join them. There must be eight or twelve persons sitting at each table. Usually, there must be twelve dishes on table, with scallion, leek and celery, which must be included. They all have some auspicious and luck meanings from their homophone. Scallion (葱) is a homophone for "cleverness" (聪) in Chaoshan dialect, while leek (蒜) for (good at) reckoning (算), and celery (芹) for diligence (勤). The most important rite of eating is to eat the chicken head. And the person who is "Chu Hua Yuan" should sit at the head of the table with the chicken head towards him or her. Actually, they may not really eat the head but take a single bite for the good meaning of the top. If the child was born in the Year of the Rooster, the chicken should be replaced by duck or goose.
Some special rites in different areas
Historical origin
It is said that the rite of wearing red clogs and eating the chicken head originates from a Chaozhou Zhuangyuan(Number One Scholar), Lin Daqin, in Ming Dynasty. When he was still in school, he could not afford a pair of red cloth shoes because of his family's financial difficulties. So, he wore red clogs. One day, he saw an old man holding a chicken with a red couplet beside him. The first line of the couplet said "The comb on the head of a cock (雄鸡头上髻)", while the second line of the couplet was blank. The old man promised that anyone who could match the couplet would get his cock. Lin Daqin stood for a while and responded "The beard behind the jaw of a ram (牝羊颔下须)". The old man was happy with the perfect couplet and sent Lin Daqin the cock. After arriving home, Lin's father slaughtered the cock and cooked it, and gave Lin the chicken head as award with the meaning of the top of the list. Afterwards, Lin Daqin did get the Zhuangyuan (Number One Scholar) and became a household name. From then on, people in Chaozhou regarded it as a good omen, so parents bought their children red clogs when they started school, and gave the chicken head to their children on the day of Chu Hua Yuan.
Today's changes of the rites
With the development of economy and people's changing perceptions, the rites have changed to some extent. Some people may choose to give up the complex rites and only have big meals in some upscale restaurants or just at home, and give their children some presents. Also, the presents from their parents and relatives has changed from new clothes and shoes to mobile phones, iPad, computers, gold or silver jewelry, and so on. Although, however, the rites have changed, but the good meanings for the special ceremony of coming of age still remain.