Happy Birthday Everyone! 人日快乐!

Wishing everyone Happy Birthday on the 7th Day of the New Year!

According to our Chinese customs, renri (人日, literally Human Day) was the day human beings were created.

This is new to me : According to Questions and Answers on Rites and Customs (答問禮俗說) by Dong Xun in Jin Dynasty, the days on which different animals were created are:

 First of zhengyue : Chicken 

Second of zhengyue : Dog 

Third of zhengyue : Boar 

Fourth of zhengyue : Sheep 

Fifth of zhengyue : Cow 

Sixth of zhengyue : Horse 

Seventh of zhengyue : Human

zhengyue : First month of the Lunar calendar

We avoid killing the animals on the respective birthdays of the different animals on renri.

Nowadays we celebrate renri (人日) as part of the Chinese New Year. Auspicious food like "7-vegetable soup" (七菜羹), "7-vegetable congee" (七菜粥) and "Jidi congee" (及第粥) are specially prepared for this day.

For Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese, we eat "7-colour sliced fish" (七彩魚生) instead of "7-vegetable soup". :)

农历正月初七，传说这天是人类的诞辰日，即人的生日。

传说女娲初创世，在造出了鸡狗猪牛马等动物后，在第七天造出了人，这就是人类的起源。 所以这一天是人的生日。

“人日”习俗是以七种菜做成羹作为节令食品。在我国有“捞鱼生”的习俗，寓意越捞越高、步步高升。一些地方在这天还有吃面条的习俗，寓意着用面条缠住岁月的双腿，取长寿之意。 

抱着平安，

拥着健康，

揣着幸福，

携着快乐，

搂着温馨，

带着甜蜜，

牵着财运，

拽着吉祥！

生日快樂，人日快乐。

credit : Wikipedia