Language MattersEnsure an auspicious start to Chinese New Year with a traditional prosperity toss
Learn 12 homophonous phrases to accompany the festive practice of flinging ingredients into the air for good fortunes in the Year of the Dog
Have you tossed up good fortune yet this Lunar New Year? Yúshēng (Mandarin) or yùhsāang (Cantonese) “raw fish” – where yu (“fish”) is homophonous with the term for “abundance”, and sheng (“raw”, “life” or “growth”) with “increase” – is a popular festive dish comprising julienne vegetables, raw fish slices and crackers, topped with plum sauce, five-spice powder and sesame oil, which symbolises abundance of wealth and long life.
Historically from coastal Guangzhou, and traditionally eaten on the seventh day of the new year in Singapore and Malaysia, it has evolved into an elaborate performance, where ingredients, each having an auspicious meaning due to its form or pronunciation, are tossed together accompanied by idiomatic good wishes – hence its other name lo hei (Cantonese “mix, rise”), alluding to tossing up prosperity. Interestingly, although the dish hails from southern China, the expressions associated with it are most popularly cited in Mandarin.
Ready? Follow the recipe and repeat the auspicious phrases for a successful start to the Lunar New Year:
1 Gather everyone around to say: gōngxǐ fācái (“congratulations on your wealth”).
2 Add fish: niánnián yǒuyú (“every year have fish”) means “abundance for the year”.