Zhuazhou - Gift Picking at 1 Year Old

One of the Chinese tradition for kid is Zhuazhou, or gift picking at 1 year old.

Zhua = Grasp Zhou = 1 Year Old

According to the tradition, child at exactly 1 year old (typically at birthday) will be presented with many things, and each of them has a meaning and represents a profession. The child will pick up something he/she is interested, and thus people want to tell what the boy/girl will be when he/she grows up. There is no fixed list of things to present, and obviously things changes from accident China to today. The meanings are also not fixed, and parents can decide what everything means before give them to the kid.

Here is what we prepared for Yifan.

• Book represent scholar
• Red drawing pen represent artist
• The mouse represent IT and computer related profession
• Calculator represents business person
• Shoe represents traveler
• Brush pen represent writer
• Ruler represents lawyer
• Medicine represents doctor
• Ping Pong ball represents sport
• Stamp represents politics and power
• Chopsticks represent epicure
• ….

Later, we added mobile phone to the list. Hmmm.., representing communication, or EE (electronic engineering) major in university.

Yifan’s Pick

Yifan first got his mom’s mobile phone quickly, and keep it on the left hand all the time, then touched the chopsticks briefly before he grasped the calculator with his right hand. Then he played for a long time with the two toys.

So my conclusion is, he will be a engineering major, and turns into a businessman - just like I did. :-) Sounds pretty good for me. Well done, Yifan.

Later, he also spent some time with the mouse - he loves the click-click of the buttons, and the long line behind it. He seems to love computer also.

Finally, pickup the stamp, and changed from left hand to right hand, and back and forth…

Again, happy birthday to Yifan, and thanks for Wendy to bring this wonderful kid to our life, and the effort put to Yifan’s life. Of cause there is no any scientific reasoning behind it. It is just like the birthday party that we prepared for him, to tell Yifan his parents, and grandparents love him, and wish him to have his own great life.