Since ancient times, giving birth to a child has been a major event. In China, there is even a saying that "continuing the incense". Giving birth to a child is a great joy. Needless to say, if your own family is happy, the protagonist's family also needs If you want to announce the good news to your relatives and friends, especially your mother’s family, let’s take a look at the customs of announcing good news among the people.
The announcement of good news is a ceremonial activity when a baby is just born. After receiving the good news, relatives and friends dye eggs red to send congratulations. This is called "egg hanging".
The main target of announcing the good news is the mother's family, because for the mother's family, whether their daughter will be able to give birth after marriage is a big deal, so the father of the child has to go to the mother's family to announce the good news. Of course, you can't go empty-handed to announce the good news. This depends on the gender of the baby. If the baby is a boy, the father should send sweet soup noodles to relatives and friends. If the baby is a girl, he should send sweet soup balls.
There are also some places where the customs are different. If you are giving birth to a boy, you should write the date of birth of the baby on a piece of red paper, and then use red flowers, grass jelly, and make sugar cakes to give to your father-in-law. If the baby is a daughter, it is much simpler. Usually, the notification is made verbally, which is called Baotiankou.
After receiving the good news from the son-in-law, the parents-in-law’s family will return the gift. They need to buy meat, eggs, glutinous rice, brown sugar and other gifts, and then put red paper on them and go to the son-in-law’s home to congratulate them. In some places, chickens are given as a gift. Two roosters are given when a boy is born, and a hen is given when a girl is born. Then the son-in-law has to give sugar cakes to his father-in-law in return.
This activity of announcing the good news is usually carried out about 12 days after the mother gives birth to her child, commonly known as "waxing".
Nowadays, many places in our country have simplified these customs, and there is not so much emphasis on them. However, the activities of announcing the good news still exist, but the procedures have been simplified. In many places here, it is generally the first time for students to celebrate their birthdays. When a baby is born, some wedding candies, eggs, etc. will be distributed to every household in the village to announce the good news to everyone, and then receive everyone's blessings and congratulations.