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Chinese traditions: Ritual for 5-day-old newborn
My Chinese mother-in-law asks my husband to perform a ritual on our son.
24/11/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
In July 2014, my husband and I are in Austria. When our son turns 5 days old, my Chinese mother-in-law (who’s living in China) asks my husband to perform a ritual:
My husband takes a blanket with both his hands and covers the door of our bedroom with it for a few seconds. He then does the same with the window. After that, he puts the blanket over our son for a second. That’s it!
When he’s done, I ask him about the meaning of the ritual. My husband doesn’t know, so we ask my mother-in-law. She tells us that this ritual should help keep illnesses out and away from our son.
Have you ever heard of this ritual?