___ Food Symbolism during Chinese New Year Celebrations

Food offerings are a prayer or a wish and can be addressed to ancestors and other beings such as the Jade Emperor and The Kitchen God. The offering of food serves to bring ancestors and other beings in the other world closer to oneself.
The food offerings serve as a bonding tool to bring both worlds together.


Below a brief list of the food's symbolic meaning:

Abalone (sea snail; 鳆; fù) - definite good fortune

Apple (苹果; píngguǒ) - wisdom, peace

Apricot, dried (杏脯; xìngfǔ) - gold, wealth

Arrowhead (bot.: Sagittaria sagittifolia; 慈菇; cí gū) - benevolence

Arrowroot (bot.: Maranta arundinacea; 竹芋) - good life

Bamboo fungus (stinkhorn fungus; bot.: Phallus indusiatus; 竹笙, zhúshēng), also called bamboo pith (竹荪; zhúsūn) - meaning: long life

Bamboo shoots (竹笋尖; zhú sǔn jiān) - wealth (term sounds like "wishing that everything would be well" - xǔyuànchí), new start

Banana (香蕉; xiāngjiāo), on altar, offering - wish for education, brilliance at work/ school

Bean curd, dried/ tofu, dried (豆腐, dòu fǔ)- fulfillment of wealth and happiness (note: dried tofu is not of white colour)
Bean curd sticks (腐竹; fǔ zhú) - blessing the house

Bean sprouts (豆芽; dòu yá, literally "bean sprout/germ" 芽菜; yá cài, literally "sprout vegetable" or 银芽; yín yá, literally "silver sprouts") - 'to your heart's content', positive start into the new year

Black moss (hair moss, hair weed), fat choy (髮菜; fàcài; a black hair-like cyanobacteria) - wealth

Cabbage, Chinese (pak choy, 白菜) - 100 types of prosperity luck
Cabbage, stuffed packages - wealth (the shape symbolises an ingot)

Calms (scallops; 扇贝; shànbèi) - opening of new horizons
calm roll (干贝; gānbèi) - gold, wealth

Carrots (胡蘿蔔; hú luóbo; or 紅蘿蔔; hóng luóbo), red colour- good luck

Cashew nut (腰果, yāoguǒ)- gold, money (the nut's shape symbolises the gold bar of ancient times)

Chicken (whole) (鸡肉; jīròu) - prosperity, togetherness of the family, joy (note: chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness)

Chinese garlic chives (韭菜, jiǔcài) - everlasting, eternity, long life

Coconut, nut (椰子; yēzi), flesh (椰肉; yēròu), juice/milk (椰汁; yēzhī) - promoting togetherness

Daylily buds, golden lily buds (金针; jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles") - wealth

Duck (鸭肉, yāròu) - fertility

Dumplings - dumplings exist in various kind, see: jiaozi dumplings, yuanxiao/ tangyuan/ tangtuan dumplings

Egg (蛋, dàn) - fertility
egg roll (蛋皮春卷, dàn pí chūn juǎn) - money, wealth, gold

Fa Gao (发糕; fāgāo) the steamed "Prosperity Cake"; the sound "fa" means either "to raise/generate" or "be prosperous"

Fish (whole) - The word 魚 (yú), meaning "fish", has the same pronunciation as the word 餘, which is "remain or surplus", 'having leftovers of money', an increase in prosperity
fish ball (鱼蛋; yúdàn) - reunion

Golden lilly buds, Daylily (bot.: Hemerocallis; 金针; jīnzhēn) - wealth

Gingko nuts ( 銀杏; yín xìng; or 白果, bái guǒ)- hope for silver, wealth (the nut's shape represents a silver yuanbao/ ingot)

Dried unbroken glass noodles symbolise long life. Photo: © Valeska Gehrmann

Glass noodles, Chinese vermicelli, cellophane noodle, noodle threads (粉絲; fěn sī; also called "bean threads ", mung bean thread) - silver chain

Grapes (葡萄, pútaó) - wealth, abundance, fertility, many descendants, family harmony

Jiaozi- Dumplings (jiǎozi, 饺子) - wealth (the shape of the jiaozi dumplings is that of a yuanbao ingot, also the word jiǎozi shares the same pronunciation with 角子 (jiǎozi) that is a small jiao coin used in old times. Other meanings: togetherness, heavenly blessing

Jujube symbolise wealth, prosperity, as well as fertility Photo: © nationsonline.org

Kumquat (金橘; jīn jú) - gold, hence fortune, wealth

Lettuce (生菜; shēngcài) - prosperity
lettuce roll, food being rolled into lettuce - having a child soon

Longan (龙眼) - many good son

Lotus seeds/ -nuts/ -beans (蓮子; lián zĭ) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring
lotus seeds,crystallized (蓮子糖; lián zĭ táng) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring

Lychee (荔枝; lìzhī) - close family ties

Maize (玉米; yùmǐ) - growth

Mandarin (瓯柑; ōugān) - gold, wealth

Meat ball (肉丸; ròuwán)- reunion

Melon (瓜; guā) - family unity
melon, candied - growth, good health

Mixed vegetable (什锦蔬菜; shíjǐn shūcài) - family harmony

Muer mushroom, Black fungus, Three ear fungus, Wood ear (木耳; mù ěr) - longevity

Noodles (面条; miàntiáo) uncut - long life

Onion (洋葱; yángcōng) - cleverness

Orange (柑橘; gānjú) - wealth, good fortune, gold

Oyster (牡蠣; mǔlì) - receptivity to good fortune, good business
Oyster, dried (ho xi) - all good things, good luck

Peach - immortality
Peach, pair of (桃; táo) - wealth, abundance, long healthy life, great fortune for many generations

Peanuts (花生; huāshēng) - health, long life, birth of prosperity, continuous growth, multiplication in wealth and good fortune, stability

Pineapple (凤梨; fènglí) - wealth, luck, excellent fortune, gambling luck

Pomegranate symbolises many offsprings Photo: © Valeska Gehrmann

Pomegranate (石榴; shíliu) - many offsprings

Pomelo (柚子; yòuzi) - abundance, prosperity, having children, good health, family unity

Pork (猪肉; zhūròu) - strength, wealth, abundant blessing

Prawn (大虾; dàxiā) - liveliness

Pumpkin (南瓜; nánguā) - prosperity, abundance, descendant's luck, illustrious children, enchantment, fruit draws earth energy to manifest gold

Rice (米饭; mǐfàn) - fertility, luck, wealth, rice symbolizes a link between Heaven (Gods) and Earth (Men)
Nian gao, (Chinese: 年糕; pinyin: nián'gāo) Sticky (Rice) cake, Chinese new year's cake. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao because it has the symbolism of increasing prosperity every year. The New Year greeting 'Nian Nian Gao Sheng' (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng) is to wish people "advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step."
Sticky rice - cohering of family
Rice is one of the Twelve Symbols of Sovereignty

Roseapple (Syzygium jambos; 蒲桃; pú táo) - calmness, peace of mind, no fighting

Seaweed, especially black moss, Fat Choy, (in Chinese: 髮菜; pinyin: fàcài; literal meaning: hair vegetable). The two syllables of Fat Choy in Cantonese sound the same as a Cantonese Chinese New Year greeting "Gung1 hei2 faat3 choi4" (恭喜发财) meaning "congratulations and be prosperous"; additional meanings: - good luck, exceeding wealth.

Seeds - lotus seeds, watermelon seeds, etc. - having a large number of children 籽 [zǐ]

Shitake mushrooms, since long a symbol of longevity in Asia, they also symbolise sizing opportunities Photo: © nationsonline.org

Shitake, Black mushroom (冬菇; dōnggū) - longevity, sizing opportunities

Shrimp (小虾; xiǎoxiā) - happiness and good fortune

Slender Noodle (細粉; xì fě) - see glass noodle

Snowpeas (荷蘭豆; hélándòu) - unity

Spring roll (春卷; chūnjuǎn) - wealth (the shape represents a gold bar)

Sweet corn (甜玉米; tián yùmǐ) - growth, increase

Sweets, (糖食; tángshí, 糖果;tángguǒ) rice cake (年糕; nián'gāo) - safety, good fortune and 'sweeten' the new year

Tangerine (橘; jú) - luck

Tangtuan (湯團, tāngtuán,"round dumplings in soup"), sweet dumplings - togetherness, reunion

Tangyuan ( 湯圓 ,tāngyuán, "round balls in soup"), sweet dumplings - togetherness, reunion

Tofu, dried (豆腐干; dòufǔgān) - fulfillment of wealth and happiness, blessing the houses (note: dried tofu is not of white colour)

Tofu, fried (炸豆腐; zhá dòufǔ) - gold, hence wealth

Turnip cake (萝卜糕; luóbo gāo) - good omen

Vegetable, green (绿叶菜; lǜyècài) - close family ties
vegetable/ tofu (dried) - harmony, happiness and prosperity

Walnut (核桃仁; hétàorén) - happiness of the entire family

Water chestnut (荸薺; bíqí) - unity

Winter noodel (冬粉, dōng fěn) - see glass noodle

Yuanxiao, sweet dumpling (元宵; yuánxiāo) - togetherness, reunion

NOTE:
Presenting a ‘whole’ chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness.
Fresh bean curd / tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the colour signifies death and misfortune.
Fresh fruits symbolise life and new beginnings.
Sugared fruits are supposed to sweeten one’s upcoming year.
Sweets and fruits are served on a round tray, the form resembling togetherness, hence the tray is called the 'Tray of Togetherness'. Sweets offered on the tray add up to the number 8, because eight is a lucky number and symbolises fortune.
A coin might be hidden in one dumpling, and the person who will find it is supposed to be showered with good fortune and wealth.

See also:
Symbolism of Animals
Symbolism of Colours
Symbolism of Flowers, Fruits and Trees in Chinese Decoration and Decorative Arts
Ancestor Worship