$Red Envelope from Chinese New Year
Last weekend when I cleared up my drawer, I found red envelopes from last Chinese New Year. They are small envelopes, mostly three by five inches. The dominant color is red. Those envelopes were promotional items from various banks to Chinese customers. There are different pictures on it. I think those pictures on the envelopes are representative of Chinese traditional art. The figure on the third envelop in the first one is the god of treasury whom the Chinese people believe he is in charge all the money. On the third envelope in the second row, he is portrayed in a cartoon image. This image is very popular among young Chinese people. There is English text in the picture on the fourth envelope in the first row. It incorporates western element into Chinese art. I hope I will get envelopes with creative pictures and receive more money in this coming Chinese New Year.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Its nice how in the eastern cultures that people receive money more than gifts during special occasions, like during EID kids receive money. However, in like the west pple recieve gifts during Christmas and ther birthdays and as a result dont get to choose what they want
December 14th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
I always like recieving money for gifts. However, isnt like half the enjoyment about giving a gift trying to think of the perfect one?
December 15th, 2007 at 1:14 am
I used to have FAT red envelope for Chinese new year in China, but not any more here. I think the idea of this is to give away some of your wealth to the kids so you will have a more fortunate year the next year.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
LOL, I still have my red envelopes from the past year also. I never took notice to the designs on the envelopes. I went straight for the money…
December 18th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Wow, I never thought of the designs on red envelopes as traditional Chinese art. I usually keep the cute red envelopes that have Hello Kitty or Pochacco or other characters on them and toss away the ones that have the god of treasury on them. Next year, I will pay more attention to the art on the red envelopes.
December 18th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
It is impressive to see how a simple envelop could be art too.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:06 am
I never thought about it as being art. I just think it looked cool for about a second before I go for the money. I’ll keep it in mind for next year.