By Madeleine Blake

With the increasing ease and speed of worldwide travel and communications, it is not surprising that college president Dr. Pappalardo has established an initiative to increase the global awareness of our students. Carroll County may not be at the forefront of globalism, but even here, a person does not have to look too far to see new faces. Local store-fronts, telephone directory listings and professional shingles display names that sound more exotic than Schmidt or Jones. And, as the world continues to “shrink” many of our graduates will find themselves working in a diversified workplace whether it is within the United States or beyond. Carroll Community College has its share of diversity among its staff and students and this is the first of a series of articles about their various cultures.

It is well known that over the years the United States welcomed millions of immigrants, who provided much-needed labor as the country developed. Some aspects of the immigrants’ cultures have come to be so widely accepted that they are no longer thought of as foreign, such as pizza. On St. Patrick’s Day people “discover” their Irish roots, and some even drink green beer. But have you heard of red eggs?

Red eggs are central to the Chinese way of celebrating the birth of a child and naming the child. To the Chinese, eggs signify fertility and red is the color of good luck. Traditionally, when a baby is between one and three months, the parents send out eggs that have been hardboiled and dyed red as their way of inviting family and friends to a Red Egg Banquet to honor the new arrival. The baby is introduced to all the guests and admired. The timing of the celebration stems from the high incidence of infant mortality in China in earlier times. Surviving the first month reassured the family that the child would live to adulthood.

Customarily, the naming of the baby is delayed until the red egg celebration, allowing the family the opportunity to select a name to suit the baby’s emerging personality. The naming ceremony is important because the Chinese believe that one’s name can influence everything that happens in life. Typically, the grandparents choose the child’s formal name. However, with recent generations, many parents now choose the child’s first name, and the grandparents select the middle name. In years past the baby’s head would be shaved as part of the celebration, since the removal of the birth hair marks the child’s independent existence. Today, the shaving may be modified to the symbolic cutting of a single lock of hair.

Guests often bring gifts of clothing or “lucky money,” also called Li-shihs. Food served at the party may include dumplings and sweet cakes that display assorted good luck symbols, particularly the apricot flower. Instead of sending thank you notes for the baby’s gifts, the parents will offer their guests small round biscuits with pork in them called char-sui baus, or pork buns, and if red eggs were not used as part of invitation they may be given to guests as they leave the party, along with a piece of ginger (another symbol of good fortune).

Jean Marriott, an analyst in the college’s office of institutional research, has made us aware of this tradition. Jean is a second-generation Chinese-American whose mother ensures that this ancient Chinese custom continues.

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