The 7th day of Lunar New Year. It is everyone's birthday!

Tuesday marks the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, also known as Renri in Chinese. According to a saying in Chinese folklore, the first to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year is for all kinds of animals to celebrate the new year, and the seventh day is for humans. 

Renri, or "Human’s Day" or “Rensheng Day”, is said to be when the Chinese mother goddess, Nuwa, created humanity.

The following sorts out the customs and taboos on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Customs on the seventh day of new year

1. Wearing Rensheng
Rensheng is a kind of head ornament made from gold jewelry and ribbons. In ancient China, it was common for people to wear them to celebrate the occasion.

2. Eating Seven Treasure Soup
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, eating Seven Treasure Soup is a custom. Seven Treasure soup is a soup made of seven kinds of vegetables. Eating Qibao soup has the meaning of driving evil spirits away and healing all diseases.

3. Eating noodles
In the early days, people in many places still had the custom of eating noodles on this day, eating noodles means longevity.

4. Tossing of Yu Sheng (a salad of raw fish)
According to traditions, the tossing of Yu Sheng is traditionally done on the 7th day of the Lunar New. The Yu Sheng dish typically comprises a colorful palette of yam, carrot and radish, with the raw fish being the centerpiece.

Lou hei is a verb that literally means “tossing” or “to bring something up” in Cantonese. It signifies the tossing of prosperity, the higher you toss, the more prosperous your new year will be.

Taboos on the seventh day of new year

1. Quarrel
It was said that quarreling in the first lunar month will bring bad fortune throughout the whole year, and cursing would also bring disasters.

2. Visit and greet those who just lost someone for Lunar New Year
The most forbidden action during the first month of Lunar New Year is to visit and greet those who have just lost someone in the family for Lunar New Year. Try to avoid visiting them in the first month. Or stand outside the door to chat if needed.

3. Funerary affairs
In some local customs, funerals and burials are avoided in the first month of the Lunar New Year to avoid bad luck.