Superstitions 101: Why Do People Wear Red Underwear During CNY?

Mina Yan theBeijinger

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If you think the reason people in China wear red underwear is to find love like people in Mexico and other Latin American countries do, you are wrong. There’s nothing romantic about it. Instead, people who need to wear it believe they are likely to face more challenges or troubles than usual in their zodiac year (本命年 běnmìng nián) and that they need to wear red to ward off bad luck every single day of the New Year. Sounds confusing? Here are some stories and explanations behind it.

What and when is a Zodiac Year of Birth (本命年 běnmìng nián)?

There are 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig) in the Chinese zodiac, and each year welcomes a new animal. People are born under one sign and will run into their Zodiac Year of Birth every 12 years, which is on their 12th, 24th, 36th 48th, 60th, 72nd, 84th, 96th, etc birthday.

Every year is considered to be managed by a God of Age (太岁 Tàisuì); if you were born under the same sign as the Taisui of that year, you are more likely to have the Evil Spirit (凶星 Xiōngxīng) get you in trouble.

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How to ward off bad luck in your benmìng nian?

Wear red
The most common and popular way is to wear red underwear. Other than that, a red waist belt, red bracelet, or any other red clothing is supposed to help. But all this red stuff must be purchased by other people; otherwise the effect is believed to be greatly reduced.

Wear jade, crystal, or gold accessories
Jade, crystal, and gold are said to have enough spiritual power to drive away the evil spirit in Chinese culture. That’s why you can see a lot of people, especially old people, wearing these kinds of accessories in China.

Worship the God of Age
As each year is controlled by a Taisui, people also choose to go to temples to worship the God of Age and make a wish every year.

What’s special about red in Chinese culture?

In 易经 Yìjīng (Classic of Changes), one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, red is associated with the “division” trigram of the 八卦Bāguà (Eight Diagrams), which also represents “light”. According to the theory of 阴 yīn and 阳 yáng, red is yang, which can kill the darkness and evil spirits. Wearing red is a simple way to avoid the bad luck that is considered to be yin.

In addition, red is a color that means life and hope in Chinese culture. People choose to wear red for good luck for the new year.