A symbol of good fortune
Traditionally, those Taiwanese who trace their ancestry to southern Fujian Province have believed that grains possess a supernatural “grain spirit.” At major festivals and celebrations, they would take rice products decorated with auspicious symbols and use them for offerings.
According to the customs of Southern Fujian, on the third day of a child’s life, sesame-oil chicken and sticky rice are presented as offerings to the baby’s ancestors and as gifts to relatives. When the child reaches a full month old, the maternal grandparents present red glutinous rice balls in celebration. Then at one full year, two red turtle cakes are prepared and placed one under each of the baby’s feet in anticipation that the child will have a life as long as a turtle’s. Meanwhile, a puffed rice cake is rubbed on the child’s lips so that its fragrance will make him or her a popular person.
When the bride and groom are brought to the bridal chamber after their wedding, they eat “bride rice balls.” Each time two balls must be scooped up together as a representation of two lives becoming one and of sweetness attained. Meanwhile, at New Year’s, the fagao or “wealth cakes” made from rice symbolize the arrival of wealth, whereas the niangao or “year cakes” represent the prospect of rising higher year after year. Then there are the wormwood cakes presented to ancestors on Tomb Sweeping Day, and the red turtle cakes that are said to protect one’s descendants’ money-making business schemes. At the Dragon Boat Festival rice-filled zongzi dumplings are presented to one’s ancestors, and in the 12th lunar month devotees bring eight-treasures rice and eight-treasures rice congee to the lips of the Daoist deity Wangye in the hope that he will bring peace and good harvests.
Throughout the year a huge variety of rice treats enrich the lives of Taiwanese families.
The “rice” culture of Taiwan’s Aborigines is based around millet, which is known in Chinese as “little rice.” Millet can be preserved for longer than rice, is more resistant to insect damage, and is easier to cook. The methods Aborigines employ to plant millet bear witness to “a culture of taking turns at work,” whereas harvest brings “a culture of sharing.” Millet wine and millet sticky rice balls are the most representative Aboriginal millet products. For funerals as well as weddings and other celebrations, millet dishes are de rigueur. They nourish countless tribal lives.
Wormwood ban buns (light green in photo above), vegetable buns (below left) and thick rice noodles (below right, photo by Chuang Kung-ju) are common traditional Hakka rice snacks.