Birthday Noodle

Birthdays were a pretty standard affair for me growing up, with one exception. Before cutting into the sponge cake with layers of whipped cream and fruit topping, my parents would cook up a bowl of golden egg noodles for dinner. Known as longevity noodles, they were chewy, hearty and satisfying. 

Like in many Chinese households, much of the food I ate was often accompanied by a story or superstition. Eating fish on Chinese New Year’s Day would bring good fortune. Dumplings were served when someone was leaving town. And a bowl of noodles was a staple dish for every birthday.

Although noodles were invented well over 4000 of years ago in northwestern China, the idea of longevity noodles became popular sometime during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). In a poem, Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi once wrote, “Holding up noodles with chopsticks while citing verses to wish the newborn of a bright future,” implying a burgeoning tradition of eating noodles to celebrate a birthday. Another story recalls how Emperor Xuan Zong and his wife endured a time of hardship during his reign in the Tang Dynasty. But even though resources were scarce, the empress was able to exchange a purple shawl for a bowl of longevity noodles to give to the emperor for his birthday.

Longevity is one of the most revered ideals in Chinese culture, along with happiness, fortune, and prosperity. Taoism, a philosophy imbued in China’s religion and culture, says that without life, there is no meaning, and therefore having a long life means everything. 

The Chinese character for longevity is shou, and its components each individually mean old, work, and time. Together, shou is the embodiment of hard work put into a life, ensuring that the life will last a long time. There is also a God of Longevity included in Chinese mythology called Shou Xing, which translates literally to “Star of Longevity.” He lives in a palace at the South Pole and keeps a garden of immortality herbs, and is usually seen holding a wooden staff in one hand and a peach (symbolizing immortality) in the other. His face is long, gentle, and smiling, and he is always depicted with a bald, enlarged head (symbolizing his collected wisdom) and a long, white beard.

While it’s widely held that noodles became the food metaphor for longevity simply due their length, there is another explanation that could account for the longevity noodle’s origins. According to one myth, longevity noodles originated during the Han Dynasty. One day, Emperor Wu Di joked to his ministers that the length of the groove between the nose and upper lip (ren zhong) correlates to the length of one’s lifespan. Minister Dongfang Zhuo joked back that Pengzu, a legendary man from the Shang Dynasty who lived for over 800 years, must have had an extremely long ren zhong. People afterwards believed that a long face was therefore indicative of a long life. And since the Chinese word for face, mian, is homophonous with the Chinese word for noodles, everyone associated eating noodles with longevity (longevity noodles in Chinese is chang shou mian, literally “long life noodles”).

Although longevity is most commonly associated with birthdays, it is also a theme in traditional Chinese funerals. The deceased is clothed in longevity clothes, the coffin is made of shou mu (“longevity wood”), and a longevity portrait of the deceased is displayed for worship. Some households eat longevity noodles on the day of the funeral, while others believe that to be taboo.

The concept of longevity at a funeral may seem incongruous, but the idea of duality is long-held in Chinese culture. It makes sense – what makes a long life so precious is knowing that one day it will end. Longevity is about hoping for a long life, celebrating a life that has been lived well, and mourning life when it is gone. It’s an acknowledgment of your hopes and fears, wrapped up in the long strand of a noodle. 

生日是相当标准的事情对我的成长, 有一种例外情况。 在切割之前入海绵蛋糕层鲜奶油和水果加满, 我的父母都会煮上一碗金蛋面条的晚餐。 被称为长寿面条, 他们是这里的丰盛和令人满意的。

就像在很多中国的家庭, 很多食品我吃的是伴随而来的往往是故事或迷信。 吃鱼对中国新的一年的一天会带来好运。 饺子是当有人离开城。 和一碗面条是订书钉碟每个生日。

但面条的发明大大超过 4000 年前在中国西北部的想法的长寿面条成为流行的时候唐朝 618- 907)。 一首诗, 唐朝诗人刘孙玉玺曾经写道, “拿面条用筷子而引用的诗句, 祝新生的光明的未来” 意味着一种蓬勃发展的传统, 吃泡面庆祝生日。 另一案例回顾如何皇帝玄宗和他的妻子经历了困难的时期, 在他执政期间在唐王朝。 但尽管资源有限的情况下, 慈禧秘密生活是可以交换的紫色披肩的一碗长寿面给皇帝的他的生日。

长寿是最受人尊敬的理想在中国文化中, 与幸福、财富和繁荣。 道教的理念贯穿在中国的宗教和文化, 说, 没有生活, 没有任何的意义, 因此具有较长的生命意味着所有的东西。

中国特色的长寿是寿、及其组件的每个单独的意思是旧的、工作和时间。 一、寿体现的是硬盘的工作放到了生命、确保生命将会延续很长时间。 也有神的寿命包括在中国神话称为寿兴, 从字面上翻译为 “星级的长寿。” 他生活在宫的南极和保持一种花园的长生不老药草, 通常是看到手持木制的工作人员一手拿着桃红色(象征着长生不老的。 他的脸是长的、轻柔的、面带微笑, 和他始终是描绘的秃头, 扩大头(象征着他收集的智慧)和较长的、白色的胡须。

虽然它的人们普遍认为, 面条成了粮食的隐喻长寿只是因为它们的长度, 有另一种解释是可以考虑的长寿面条的起源。 根据一种神话、长寿面条起源于汉朝。 有一天, 皇帝吴迪开玩笑说他的部长们的长度之间的凹槽的鼻子和上唇(ren zhong)关联的长度, 在一个人的生命周期。 部长东方卓回开玩笑说, Pengzu、富有传奇色彩的男子从商代居住过 800 多年, 有着极长的 ren zhong。 后来人们认为, 长脸, 因此指示性, 使用寿命长。 由于汉字的脸、绵、是名字谐音的汉字的面条, 每一个人都相关的吃面条长寿(长寿面条在中国是 chang shou mian, 字面上的 “长寿命” 的面条)。

虽然长寿是最常用的相关的生日, 又是主题的中国传统的葬礼。 死者是沐浴在寿衣、棺材是由寿 mu(“寿木”)和长寿的纵向的死者是显示的礼拜场所。 有些家庭吃面条长寿一天的葬礼, 而其他人则认为这是禁忌的。

这一概念是长寿的葬礼看似不适宜的, 但理念的双重性是长期持有的中国文化中。 它使传感-是什么使较长的生命如此宝贵的是知道有一天它将结束长寿是希望有较长的寿命, 庆祝生活的生活, 生活的悲哀当它消失。 这是一种确认您的希望和恐惧, 陷入了很长的线束的一面。