Why do elders give New Year's money to children during the Spring Festival? At what age do they usually give New Year's money?

During the Chinese New Year, everyone who has ever received a red envelope will probably never forget the excitement, anticipation and joy they felt when they were children, pretending to be calm on the outside after eating the New Year’s Eve dinner, but inside they were silently waiting for the elders to give out red envelopes .

Red envelope, do you know that I have been waiting for you for 365 days~

Red envelopes, also known as lucky money, have been passed down from receiving them as children to giving them out as adults.

In fact, the happiest people during the Chinese New Year are children. In addition to wearing new clothes and hats, eating delicious food, playing fun games, and not having to do homework , the most important thing is that they receive New Year's money from their elders. Although it is often taken away by their parents, children still look forward to the Chinese New Year. So, do you know why the elders give children New Year's money during the Chinese New Year? At what age are New Year's money usually given? Now, let's take a look at the relevant knowledge about Chinese New Year red envelopes with Encyclopedia Knowledge Network.

Why do we give children New Year’s money?

Lucky money is a red envelope given by elders to younger generations during the Spring Festival. The custom of giving lucky money first existed in the Han Dynasty. In fact, the original purpose of giving lucky money was to ward off evil spirits to children so that they could spend the year safely.

Giving children lucky money during the Chinese New Year symbolizes warding off evil spirits and blessing peace in folk culture. The original intention was to suppress evil and exorcise evil spirits, because people believed that children were easily harmed by ghosts, so lucky money was used to suppress evil spirits.

The practice of giving New Year's money has been developed to a better and better level. Not only has the custom of giving New Year's money not been eliminated, but it has become more and more popular.

Legends about lucky money

There is a legend about lucky money. It is said that a long time ago, there was a monster called "Sui". This monster was small and ugly, with a black body and white hands. Because of its small size and limited ability, this monster would come out to harm children every New Year's Eve.

As long as the hand of the evil spirit touches the child's forehead, the child will have a high fever and speak nonsense. This will last for three days and three nights, and eventually the child's brain will be burned out and he will become a complete fool.

There was a couple who had a child in their old age. They loved the child very much and were afraid that the evil spirit would come and hurt him. On the night of New Year's Eve, the couple refused to let the child go to bed. They found 8 copper coins and a piece of red paper and let the child wrap them up and play with them. The child played for a long time and was too sleepy, so he went back to his room, put the copper coins under his pillow, and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew, and the evil spirit came sneaking in. He ran to the child's pillow and stretched out his hand. Suddenly, the copper coin under the pillow emitted a dazzling golden light and scared the evil spirit away. The next day, the old couple told others about how the copper coin scared away the evil spirit. Others followed suit. Because "Sui" and "Sui" have the same pronunciation, everyone called it "lucky money".

There is another legend that during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, during the Spring Festival of a certain year, Nan Xi, the youngest son of Vice Prime Minister Wang Shao, was kidnapped by gangsters while watching lanterns on the street with his parents. During the escape, he happened to see a court carriage passing by, and Nan Xi shouted for help, so the gangsters dropped Nan Xi and fled in panic.

Later, when Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty learned about this, he gave Nan Xi some money to calm him down. From then on, the custom of "lucky money" spread among the people.

The development of lucky money

The earliest lucky money appeared in the Han Dynasty. The earliest lucky money was also called "Yan Sheng Money" or "Da Ya Sheng Money". This kind of money was not a currency circulated on the market, but was specially cast into the shape of a coin for wearing and appreciation to ward off evil spirits.

In the Tang Dynasty, the custom of distributing money on spring days was popular in the palace. At that time, the Spring Festival was the "Beginning of Spring Day", a day for people in the palace to pay homage to each other, but there was no such custom among the people.

After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the first day of the first lunar month replaced the Spring Festival and was called the Spring Festival. Many customs that originally belonged to the Spring Festival were also moved to the Spring Festival. The custom of distributing money on the Spring Festival evolved into the custom of giving children New Year's money.

After the Republic of China, it evolved into wrapping a hundred copper coins in red paper, which meant "long life", and giving a dollar as New Year's gift to the younger generation who had already grown up. The red paper contained a dollar, which symbolized "prosperity" and "huge profits". After the currency was changed to banknotes, parents liked to choose new banknotes with connected numbers to give to their children, because "lian" and "lian" are homophones, which means that the offspring will "make money continuously" and "get promoted continuously".

At what age do people usually receive New Year’s money?

It has become a custom to give lucky money to children during the Spring Festival, but at what age do children stop receiving lucky money? I believe that not many people know the answer, so at what age do children usually receive lucky money?

The first theory: New Year’s money is given to children aged 14. In ancient times, people were considered adults when they were over 14, so children should be under 14 years old to receive New Year’s money.

The second statement: New Year’s money is given to children aged 18. In our country, 18 means becoming an adult, and not accepting New Year’s money is also a symbol of children growing up.

The third theory: In some areas, people give New Year's money to children before they start working, because the younger generation does not have the ability to work and needs the support of their elders. As for how much money to give, it depends on the family's financial conditions.

The fourth statement: You can get the New Year’s money until you get married, because in the eyes of your parents, as long as you haven’t started a family, you will definitely be treated as a child.

Combining the above statements, it can be seen that whether to give New Year's money and to what age the money should be given depends on factors such as economic conditions and family environment . However, no matter what age the money is given , we must help children establish a correct financial management awareness and use the money reasonably .

How much is appropriate to give as New Year’s money?

Many people worry when the Chinese New Year comes because they don’t know how much New Year’s money to give. In fact, the amount of New Year’s money is related to the following aspects:

1. Personal economic conditions. Many people give their children the same amount of New Year's money as others do. Although this makes them feel balanced emotionally, if they do so, they will be left with little money after the Spring Festival.

2. Consider the closeness of the relationship. When giving out New Year's money during the Spring Festival, you cannot "treat everyone equally". You must decide based on the closeness of the relationship. For example, if the relationship is average, give 100 yuan in New Year's money, then if the relationship is relatively close, give 200 yuan. For younger generations with more distant or just ordinary relationships, you don't have to give New Year's money.

3. Close relatives can be arbitrary. For your own children, you can give them some lucky money with special meanings, such as numbers like 521, 66 or 88, which can bring good luck and make the children happy . After all, they are family members. If conditions permit, you can give them more lucky money.

4. See what the other person is thinking. Nowadays, giving lucky money to children has become a subject of competition among elders, but you should know when to stop . If your child receives 200 yuan in lucky money from a relative, you should return 200 yuan to the relative's child. This will save face and make sense.

How to spend the New Year’s money?

As people's living standards improve, the amount of New Year's money children receive is also increasing year by year. Many parents are afraid that their children will waste their New Year's money, so they simply "confiscate" all the money, which makes their children unhappy and even rebellious. So, how should the New Year's money be spent? How should parents properly handle their children's New Year's money?

First, help your child set up a private account

Keep children's New Year's money in a separate account, and also deposit their pocket money into the account. Help children record the use of each sum of money, cultivate their ability to control money from an early age, and help them establish a correct concept of money.

Second, buy financial products for your children

Some children receive a lot of New Year's money. There are even reports that some children receive up to hundreds of thousands of yuan in New Year's money. For those who receive a lot of New Year's money, parents can choose to buy insurance or financial products for their children, such as health insurance, education funds, etc., to preserve the value of their children's New Year's money while helping them develop financial management concepts.

Third, buy gifts or show love to the elders

Children's New Year's money is basically given by relatives and elders. You can guide your children to use their New Year's money to buy gifts for their elders in return, so that they can learn to be grateful from an early age; or you can make charitable donations to help more children, so that the New Year's money can become more valuable and meaningful, which is also a good emotional education.

Fourth, buy school supplies

You can use your children's New Year's money to buy books, toys, or sign them up for interest classes. This way, you can put the New Year's money to good use and let your children learn to invest in themselves from an early age. This can cultivate their sentiments and enhance their interest in learning, and also give them a bright future.