Legend has it that the history of hongbao, a lucky red envelope given at Chinese New Year, began in the Han dynasty. The story tells of a demon, Sui, who would terrorise children on New Year’s Eve. Parents would try to protect their offspring by keeping them awake all night. One mother, in an attempt to keep her child from the demon’s harm, gave him eight coins to play with. When Sui appeared by this particular sleeping child, the eight coins left on his pillow glowed with the power of the mythic Eight Immortals in disguise, driving the demon away. From then on, it became customary to give children coins, tied together with a string or ribbon, to protect them on New Year’s Eve.
Stringing coins together as a gift gave them feng shui. When worn, carried in a wallet or kept in the home, they would attract good fortune and wealth. This gifted money was called Yāsuìqián, a phrase understood to mean ‘money for suppressing or deterring the demon Sui’. The red of the ribbon or string used to tie them was also of visual importance. As a colour, it is particularly auspicious within Chinese culture, and symbolises vitality, life-force energy and protection. The number of coins typically given is also key to the feng shui. The number four is thought to be inauspicious, as in Cantonese ‘four’ sounds like ‘death’, while eight is believed to bring good luck. In this way, ancient meanings played, and continue to play, a key role in the design decisions of the custom.
Unsurprising of a story so old, alternative origins exist, including one version of the legend that includes sealing money in red paper. But the earliest examples of mass-produced envelopes today synonymous with Chinese New Year appear to be from 1961, produced by Wells Fargo. It is tricky to trace the exact switch from giving strings of coins for luck, protection and good fortune to this format. One account claims that an assistant cashier in Wells Fargo’s Chinese department in California, Lyman Jang, popularised red envelopes, introducing versions decorated with the company logo to an American audience, in an effort to make the celebrations more convenient for the bank’s East Asian customers.
Today, strings of coins are essentially obsolete, and red envelopes ubiquitous. The importance of hongbao (literally: ‘red bag’) isn’t the cash inside, it’s the envelope itself. In the roughly 65 years since red envelopes came into circulation, their eye-catching designs are a key part of the arresting visual language of Chinese New Year. In a festival known for its decorations, bright colours and intricate designs, hongbao not only doesn’t let the side down, there is significant design rationale behind its beauty. As a colour, red has many meanings in the culture. It is associated with life-giving energy (think blood, the sun, fire). It is also the colour of prosperity and luck. Writing and illustrations on these envelopes is typically gold, the colour of wealth, abundance and fortune. The strength of these colours within Chinese tradition means that the design of red envelopes has a pretty definitive style guide; illustrations and layouts are where variation comes in.
Traditionally, designs feature zodiac animals. This year, 29 January sees the change from the Year of the Dragon to that of the Snake, and with it plenty of serpentine motifs. Chinese proverbs are also a common trope, and illustrations of coins harken back to the original fable. Similarly, knots are often featured, with the string that once tied the coins of yāsuìqián making their way into the modern visual embodiment. Peaches and pine trees are used to represent longevity, while the carp may also be chosen to represent success. Dissecting each image reveals how deeply tied to meaning the design decisions are.
As these envelopes have entered the era of global mass-production, designs have strayed further away from Chinese tradition and into more modern visual iterations of hongbao. As children are the main recipients of the envelopes, today cartoon characters are often common, as are pet pictures, as well as less traditionally prosperous colours. In a blurring of cultural boundaries, driven by Western design interpretations of East Asian visual culture, Japanese Kuwaii illustrations sometimes randomly sneak into the Chinese custom. China has its own, less well-known version of (and word to describe) these lovable or cute visuals: Keai.
Despite this, long-established symbols and illustrations remain the most common designs, whether in a traditional or more modern style. The longevity of so many of these designs stems from the fact that they are deeply rooted in ancient feng shui; animals, numbers and colour all hold so much meaning and power, they form an invariable style guide. Red and gold prevail, each zodiac animal has its moment every 12 years, and one character frequents the face of the red envelope as each new year dawns: the character for Fú, or fortune.
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