Zhuazhou
| Zhuazhou | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 抓週 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 抓周 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | thôi nôi | ||||||||
Zhuazhou (Chinese: 抓週; lit. 'catch week') is a Chinese ritual held at a child's first birthday party. The parents put various objects before the child. Parents will often put objects that symbolize career choices or personality traits. The child's choice is used to forecast its future. It is said that this custom can be dated back to the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589). Yan Zhitui in his book Yanshi jiaxun 顏氏家訓 ("The Family Instructions of Master Yan") documented a custom that is very similar to Zhuazhou today. The earliest written record of this custom can be traced back to the Song dynasty (960–1279). It is portrayed in a well-known scene in the novel Dream of the Red Chamber.