In fairy tales, the fairy godmother can wave her magic wand and turn stone into gold or a pumpkin into a luxurious carriage. But calling it a magic wand is not so good as seeing it as a wand of hope for all mankind.

The red envelope is like the Chinese wand of hope, and it often carries limitless desires. To give a red envelope at a happy occasion is like embroidering a flower on a quilt; when meeting misfortune, to receive a red envelope is a psychological palliative which just might change your luck.

Whether it be congratulations, encouragement, sympathy, gratitude, compensation. . . just give a red envelope, and not only will the sentiment be expressed, substantive help will also have arrived.

The fact that the red envelope opens so many doors and is so versatile today also naturally has practical advantages. For marriages, funerals, birthdays and illness, send a gift. But choosing a gift is an art in itself, and you can wrack your brains and spend a whole day shopping, and you still won't know if the other person will like it or need it. That's not nearly as good as wrapping money in red paper, which on the one hand saves work and on the other is useful, so everybody's happy. Compared with the way Westerners give gifts, giving a red envelope may be lacking in commemorative sentiment, but it's a lot more practical.

Nevertheless, Chinese haven't always been so "substantive." In fact, it is only in the last few decades that red envelopes have become so commonly used.

A Brilliant Fire Neutralizing the Years: Kuo Li-cheng, a specialist in popular culture who is today an advisor to ECHO magazine, points out that traditionally Chinese did not present gifts of money. For example, when a child reached one month old, friends and family would send a gold locket; when visiting a sick person, people would bring Chinese medicine; upon meeting for the first time, people would exchange rings or jade from their person as a greeting gift. . . . None of these carry, as the Chinese say, the "unpleasant odor of brass," implying penny-pinching greed.

No one knows when money began to replace these traditional gifts. The only certain continuous tradition of using money to express sentiment -- perhaps the origin of the practice of combining usefulness and sentiment, material and spiritual--is the tradition of the "age neutralizing money" (cash given on New Year's day to children), which has been carried down to this day.

"In the past, the New Year's money was simply a piece of red paper attached to a gold yuan, or the use of a red twine to string together cash. When eating New Year's dinner, the money would be pressed beneath the stove, representing 'a brilliant fire, abundant wealth;' only after dinner would it be pulled out and handed out to the small children. The meaning is that, after undergoing a baptism of fire, it was hoped that it could expel evil and resolve dangers, so that the children could put the past behind them ("neutralize" the past) and grow up strong and healthy," says Juan Chang-juei, director of the Anthropology Committee of the Provincial Museum, laughing that in fact "age neutralizing money" should be called "age extension money."

The writer Hsiao Min lived in Peking before 1938. At that time she was just a little sprite of less than ten years old, but because the New Year is quite different today from what it was in the past, she has a very deep impression of the New Year's money.

She recalls that it was not easy to get the "age neutralizing money" in those days. The children had to kneel on the floor and kowtow, and your forehead had to touch the floor, and it would only count if it was hard enough to make a sound. "In the past, floors were made of rough concrete, and we kids often had to kneel until our knees hurt and knock our heads until we were dizzy, before we could get our New Year's money."

It was only with the spread of paper currency that the New Year's money became paper cash wrapped in red envelopes. The reason why the paper is red, or why in early days red thread was used, rather than white, green, or black, is from religious rituals.

Better Red Than Dread: Juan Chang-juei suggests that in primitive times, when man would see a bright red flower in a green field, he would find it quite eye-catching and delightful, so maybe this is why red is an "auspicious" color.

Further, red is the same as the color of blood, and since a sacrifice of blood has a lucky effect, red came to be ordained as having the meaning of avoiding ill-fortune.

"Before the red envelope form appeared, people 'carried red' to represent auspiciousness and evading evil," says Juan. He says that in previous generations people would attach a piece of red paper to a religious offering or to a wedding dress, in both cases having this meaning. It was only after cut-paper techniques had been invented that the red piece of paper was changed to the "doublehappiness" character. Before paper was invented, perhaps they used red cloth or painted on some red pigment instead.

Juan Chang-juei reminds us that because red symbolizes the vitality of life, and all mankind in early times had their magic ways to expel evil, it was by no means unique to China, and in the distant past Westerners also considered red to represent auspiciousness.

For example, shortly after Columbus landed in America, he gave the local natives red cloth to wrap around their heads to show celebration. For this reason, in the past red was always the color used to wrap presents in the West, and only later did it evolve that many colors were used.

But Chinese are relatively more concerned about colors, as Confucius has said: "I hate the way purple spoils vermilion," Colors are divided into "appropriate" colors and "deviant" colors. Red in this sense is the orthodox representation for good fortune, which cannot be altered lightly.

A Not Unreasonable Perquisite: As for using red envelopes as a small consideration in order to get the other person to do something on your behalf, very early on there was the "gratuity" for servants.

Kuo Li-cheng indicates that in novels like The Golden Lotus, you can often see in old style banquets that when the chef serves the main course the guest of honor must give the cook a "gratuity," using silver wrapped in red paper, to express appreciation to the host.

Or, family or friends might dispatch a servant to deliver a gift to your door. For the person giving the gift, it's only natural that they would send a servant, but for the person receiving the gift, the emissary is performing an unusual service, "so the recipient always had to ask the servant to bring back a letter of thanks, and to give a red envelope, which was called a li [strength] or ching-shih [respect for the emissary], to express gratitude for his legwork and provide transportation expenses." Kuo Li-cheng adds that the ching-shih was usually about 1/20th the value of the original gift, so this kind of red envelope was a reasonable perk as far as the servant was concerned.

"The ching-shih was originally a gift of money replete with sentiment, and it's only because modern people use it erroneously that the significance of the red envelope has become muddled," notes Kuo, who cannot help but lament that today "sending a red envelope" is synonymous with giving a bribe.

Some Chinese have adapted to circumstances, and since a red envelope can bribe a living, breathing human being, the effect should be no less in sucking up to the ghosts of the nether world. Today, in some rural townships in south and central Taiwan, especially at Ghost Festival, people wrap up the spirit money in red paper and burn it as an offering to the "good brothers" (spirits), hoping that after they get a red envelope and become a local god of wealth, they will no longer tamper with the affairs of men.

Juan Chang-juei says that in the past there was by no means the custom of sending red envelopes to ghosts, and this is a product of circumstance invented by Chinese in recent years.

Evangelical Red Envelopes: "The red envelope in and of itself is not to blame, and originally it was just to express a friendly intent, a symbol of sentiment," states Juan. Those who can afford to give red envelopes are always the older generation or the boss or the leader. He raises an example, noting that over the New Year's holiday this year, the Provincial Museum sponsored an opera appreciation activity for children. The day work began, the museum curator gave every one of the people who worked on it with him a red envelope, to thank his colleagues for giving up their holiday to work for the museum.

Hsiao Min also believes that there have also been some positive changes in the red envelope as it has evolved.

"In the past, the red envelope was just a simple red packet, without any characters printed on it. Today a lot of organizations, like restaurants or hotels, will imprint relevant auspicious phrases, and will give a set of red stationery to customers as a small gift at New Year's, to add a little more human feeling." For example, the Lai Lai Sheraton prints "May good fortune come, May wealth come. May happiness come" on its red envelopes, a play on the word lai (to come) in its name; steakhouses may print a golden bull, to make a deeper impression on their customers.

It's worth noting that even evangelical organizations cannot underestimate the attraction of a red envelope. Hsiao Min, a Christian, says that every time the passage to a new year approaches, churches will print their own red envelopes, which congregants can use at no charge. Because propitious proverbs from the Bible have been imprinted on the set, they are very popular among the congregants, so that supply can't keep up with demand. Since they integrate traditional customs, they can also help the evangelical church spread and adapt to local conditions.

"However, no matter how much money is in the red packet, how can a few pieces of paper currency take the place of or outweigh the feelings in one's heart?" says Hsiao Min. She concludes that a small gift given with a big heart, the act of giving and receiving, and mutual affection are the real meanings of giving a red envelope.

[Picture Caption]

A red cloth at a sacrificial ceremony serves a similar purpose to that of a red envelope, to accompany the gift of a "little something," in this case in return for blessings from heaven.

"I'm really giving fleecing to this one." [Literally: "I'm taking in a big fat sheep," which means getting a red envelope. Doctors often receive one before an operation.] (Comic by Cho Wen-kui)

Getting red envelopes adds to any festivity. Yellow "red envelopes" appear in this Chinese new year print from Japan. (print courtesy of Li Kung-heng)

Their "age-neutralizing" money in one hand and a sparkler in the other, children find Chinese New Year's the happiest time of all.

Red envelopes are an indispensable gift from wedding guests.

"I'm really giving fleecing to this one." [Literally: "I'm taking in a big fat sheep," which means getting a red envelope. Doctors often receive one before an operation.] （Comic by Cho Wen-kui）

Getting red envelopes adds to any festivity. Yellow "red envelopes" appear in this Chinese new year print from Japan. （print courtesy of Li Kung-heng）

Their "age-neutralizing" money in one hand and a sparkler in the other, children find Chinese New Year's the happiest time of all.

Red envelopes are an indispensable gift from wedding guests.