If a child is born delicate or is expected to have a hard life, he will be sent to a temple to be a monk or a Taoist priest, and he will be worshiped as an apprentice under the name of the master. The master will give him a Dharma name. Children also wear monk's robes. When wealthy families go to the temple to name their children, the ceremony is very grand. Chapter 44 of "Jin Ping Mei" is written in great detail. But in the book, Wu Daoguan named the official brother Wu Yingyuan, and also gave him a set of Taoist uniforms, a silver collar and some talismans, including "a yellow clue under the position of the Three Treasures, a purple clue in front of the descendants, and a silver clue." The collar is engraved with the words "full of gold and jade, long life and wealth", and a yellow silk talisman written in red to ward off evil spirits, which reads: Taiyi Siming Taoyan Hekang..." These things are meant to be worn on the body for a long time. "A Dream of Red Mansions" mentions that Jia Baoyu often wears a collar and sends name charms, which shows that the practice of children sending names in temples has been very popular since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Children in North China send their names to temples and are commonly known as "monks who jump over the wall". "National Customs of China" records the custom of children jumping over the wall in Tianjin: "Every spring and summer in Beicang Town, Tianjin, there is a custom of children jumping over the wall. The origin of this custom: When a family that lacks children suddenly gives birth to a boy, naturally Love is like a treasure, but on the one hand, we are always afraid of being sick or dying young. Therefore, parents often take their children to the temple to pray for incense and ask the monks to give their children a name. It is commonly known as giving a monk's name, which means From then on, the child is considered a monk. Children who are named monks often wear monk attire until they jump over the wall and return to the secular world. , prepare old copper coins to make coins, and then the parents will lead the children to burn incense and pray to the gods. At the same time, they will have the children wipe the incense table with a dustpan and a broom and sweep the ground. After that, they will ask the barber to leave the child's hair, and then let the child stand on the bench. On the top, each holding four old coins in his left and right hands. The bystanders shouted: "Follow the monk." The child threw the coins in his hands back, jumped off the bench, and ran straight home without looking back. This is the so-called jumping over the wall to return to secular life. "It also contains a strange custom in Wuxian County: "There is a custom in Wuxian County that children send names to gods and Buddhas. This custom is common throughout the country. Most of the children from wealthy families are spoiled, and most of them are weak and sick. Their relatives go to the temple to burn incense and use red cloth. Make a bag and put it in the child's New Year's Eve. It is also known as a post bag and hang it on the Buddha's cupboard. From then on, at the end of every Lunar New Year, the monks prepare meals and send them to the child's home. It is called New Year's Eve dinner. His relatives will give money to the monk and three gifts. At the end of the new year, when it is time to send gifts, the monk names the children. For example, if the gods and Buddhas are surnamed Jin, they will be named after Jinsheng, Jinshou, etc. They will bring the children to the temple to burn incense and call the gods like Jiye. When they reach adulthood and get married, they will give the children red names. Retrieving the cloth is called pulling out the bag."