What does it mean to grab an egg during the week of the lunar calendar?

Grabbing the week, also known as testing the child, trying the week, and grabbing the birthday, is a ceremony that parents hold for their child every time the child is one year old. It reflects the parents' deep love for their children. So what does grabbing an egg mean?

What does it mean to grab eggs during the week of the lunar calendar?

Grabbing an egg during the week-old celebration represents that the child may become someone who is good at managing money and has the code to wealth in the future.

Grasping the first month of the lunar calendar is a traditional custom in China, but the methods and things to be prepared are different in different regions, and many things also represent different meanings. However, in most places, hospitality represents a complete and well-fed life, which means that children will have a better appetite when they grow up.

In ancient times, the purpose of the Zhou ceremony was to find out the child's future prospects, and the items displayed were generally simple. Common ones included writing brushes, inkstones, abacus, coins, books, scales, seals, etc. However, with the development of modern society, the items seen during the Zhou-year-old ceremony are becoming more and more novel, and of course, more and more modern, such as computers, musical instruments, balls, mobile phones, stethoscopes, and the more common mirrors, cosmetics, bags, etc. for girls.

The Origin of the Weekly Ceremony

The custom of grabbing the week was already popular in the south of the Yangtze River during the Southern Dynasties, so it must have occurred earlier. Therefore, some people pushed back the origin of the Zhou-Zhua ceremony to the Three Kingdoms period based on the "Outer Legend of the Three Kingdoms" which was circulated among the people.

According to legend, not long after Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, became emperor during the Three Kingdoms period, his crown prince Sun Deng fell ill and died. Sun Quan had no choice but to choose a crown prince from among his other sons. There was a commoner from West Lake named Jing Yang who asked to see Sun Quan. He suggested that succession to the throne was a great cause for generations to come and it depended not only on the virtue of the prince but also the talent of the grandson. He also said that he had a way to test whether the grandson was virtuous or not. Sun Quan then ordered Jing Yang to choose an auspicious day. On that day, all the princes brought their sons into the palace. Jing Yang brought out a plate filled with pearls, ivory, rhino horns and other items and let the little grandsons grab whatever they wanted.

The children either grabbed jade or took rhinoceros horns. Only Sun He's son Sun Hao grabbed the book in one hand and the ribbon in the other. Sun Quan was overjoyed and appointed Sun He as the crown prince. However, the other princes were dissatisfied and each of them formed alliances with ministers, fighting openly and secretly, forcing Sun Quan to depose Sun He and appoint Sun Liang as his successor. After Sun Quan's death, Sun Liang was in power for only seven years before he was overthrown in a coup and Sun Xiu became emperor.
After Sun Xiu's death, the ministers all wanted to enthrone an older prince as emperor. They happened to choose Sun Hao, who was over 20 years old. At this time, some old ministers recalled the method of selecting successors used by Jing Yang before, and could not help but marvel at it. Afterwards, many people also used similar methods to test the future of their children and grandchildren, thus forming the custom of "testing children" that spread to the south of the Yangtze River.