The Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

We Chinese did not like to give or receive certain gifts for superstitious reasons: knives, because they could sever a relationship; handkerchiefs, for they portended weeping; and clocks, as they were thought to measure out the days of your life. If any of these were presented, the recipient usually paid a token amount to symbolize that it was a purchase and not a gift.

In a Chinese family, these are all traditionally no-nos! I remember receiving a watch from my parents and being told to give them back ten cents as a small token that it wasn’t a gift. My dad has been buying kitchen knives for me for years and each time we do the same thing—I give him five to ten cents to say it isn’t a gift, and thus won’t sever our relationship. Superstition, I know, but somehow it’s become a habit over the years. These are old traditions that are beginning to die out, and many younger people don’t know about them (this also proves that I myself am far gone into “auntie-hood”).