Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia

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A
The Chinese University Press
•
Contents
Foreword
Yih-yuan Li
Acknowledgements
vii
xv
Introduction
1
PART I CHANGING FOODWAYS IN RURAL
SOUTH CHINA
Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
Edited by David Y. H. Wu and Tan Chee-beng
© The Chinese Univer~ity of Hong Kon~ 2001
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be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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system, without pemUssion in writing from
The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
ISBN 962-201-914-5
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1. The Altar and the Table: Field Studies on the
Dietary Culture of Chaoshan Inhabitants
Chen Yunpiao
19
2. The Changing Foodways of a Village in the
Pearl River Delta Area
Su Jianling
35
Siumi Marin Tam
49
David Y H. Wu
71
Sidne1j Cheung
81
Diana Martin
97
PART II FOODWAYS IN COSMOPOLITAN
HONG KONG
3. Lost, and Found?: Reconstructing Hong
Kong Identity in the Idiosyncrasy and
Syncretism of YUl11cha
4. Chinese Cafe in Hong Kong
5. Hakka Restaurants: A Study of the
Consumption of Food in Post-war
Hong Kong Society
6. Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among
Hong Kong Mothers
6
t
•
I~
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy
among Hong Kong Mothers
Diana Martin
Introduction: Overall World Views
It is a general observation that when people are undertaking an im~
portaht venture which is risky or even life-threatening, they are likely
to resort to all available means to achieve success. Sometimes some
of the means appear non-rational, the connection betw"een the method
used and the desired outcome being quite unclear, even to those
within the system. Bringing about the birth of a healthy baby is obvi­
ously one of those ventures, involving a lengthy period of risk dur~
ing which time special precautions are taken by women in most cul­
tures. Even modem obstetric medicine has not solved all the prob­
lems and there are still many questions to which it cannot (yet) pro­
vide answers, such as why a woman has failed to conceive, or has
miscarried or has given birth prematurely or to a deformed baby.
Hence in many cultures, there are proscriptions as to what a preg­
nant woman may not do Or eat in order to safeguard her unborn
child. Many of these proscriptions have to do with avoiding other
problematic events or situations. Often the dead, or ghosts, or other
98 ..., Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
rites of passage such as weddings should be avoided. Scheper­
Hughes (1982:275) writes that in the past in rural Ireland, pregnant
women "were not allowed to witness the birth of farm animals or to
see animals slaughtered" (1982:275). Some of the proscriptions, in­
cluding a wish to avoid the dead, express a fear of the consequences
of the woman's clumsiness in pregnancy and her reduced mobility,
and in addition, combine with a fear of the baby being born with a
deformity. A pregn<mtwoman was not supposed to enter a graveyard,
for if, she twisted her foot on a grave, the baby might be born with c!­
club foot. Scheper-Hughes comments that although thes~ proscrip­
tions have now been consigned by the local people to "old supersti­
tions/' pregnant women feel that it is better to remain at horne.
Gelis (1991:54) in his history of childbirth in France, also men­
tions the dangers of the moment of conception He quotes the story
of a woman who, in 1517, gave birth to a baby with the face of a frog
because - since frogs were considered a cure for fever - she had
been holding one in her hand when the baby had been conceived. It
was believed also that looking at a beautiful doll or the picture of a
handsome face would ensure a good-looking child. Other anthropolo­
gists, such as Manderson (1986:139), claim that the women of Penin­
sular Malaysia, although familiar with the traditional precautions
during pregnancy, avoided few foods, and stressed that fruit and
vegetables and high-protein vitamin-rich foods should an be taken
for energy and nutrition.
The topic of pregnancy in Hong Kong first attracted my attention
when I realized that there were many foods and activities that were
not allowed to pregnant women. It struck me as interesting that two
young women (from whom I first heard about this) working in the
"modem" sector of Hong Kong - one an administrator, and the
other an accountant - were influenced by these beliefs, which
seemed to remain untouched by Western medicine. The more I asked
other women about these restrictions the more I was told. Western
friends who gave birth in Hong Kong told me that their colleagues,
husbands' colleagues and friends advised them not to eat or to do
such and such.
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy arnong Hong Kong MOlhers
.~
99·
Although I had read the work of Marjorie Tapley (1974) and
Margery Wolf (1972) some years previously, I had not associated the
pregnancy avoidances that they report among illiterate and poor
Hong Kong women in the late 1960s, and among Taiwanese village
women of the same period, with the well-educated, urban, profes­
sional women of Hong Kong.
In this paper I argue that far from the restrictions being a leftover
from the past, existing now only among the few remaining village
women in Hong Kong, they are actively observed by many women
of all educational levels, who wish to "play safe," as one highly edu­
cated woman put it. As a result of what I have learned about the
strength and prevalence of the pregnancy restrictions, I also argue
that among the Hong Kong Chinese, only when a woman is preg­
nant is she considered indispensable to the baby. It is the only time
when she has full responsibility for-the child she is carrying. While
this may seem rather an obvious assertion, it contrasts with the fact
that, as soon as the child is born, she is no longer indispensable. The
removal of the newborn baby from the mother in many hospitals
"for observation"j the lack of any emphasiS placed the ''bonding''
between mother and baby; the prevalence of bottle-feeding; and the
preference in many families for the baby to be cared for by a related
or unrelated caretaker (all of which are beyond the scope of this pa~
per), together constitute a definite break in the exclusive and ines­
capable responsibility that the pregnant woman has for her unborn
child. At this time almost everything that she eats and drinks, sees,
does, hears, feels is thought to have a potentially good or bad effect
on the baby. She is also responsible for keeping away from situa­
tions and activities where the actions of others could hann it.
It makes good sense to categorize pregnancy as a rite of passage
(Van Gennep 1960), which in fact continues until the end of the month
after the baby is born. Even if this is not her first pregnancy, during
this time the pregnant woman, like other people during other rites
of passage, is subject to rules of behaviour different from those for
"ordinary" people. She is in a liminal state, since she is more than
one person, but not yet two. Where the baby she is carrying is
100
,"*'
O\al1ging Chinese Foodways in Asia
concerned, she is neither quite a mother nor a non-mother. She looks
and often feels different from other people and from the way she did
in her pre-pregnant state.
What is interesting about the widespread nature of the restric­
tions is that they are observed in a place which is in so many ways
"modern," urban and sophisticated. Although many of its Chinese
traditions have been battered by Western-style market {orces (one of
the English-language newspapers recently reported that people now
spend more money celebrating Ouistmas than celebrating Chinese
New Year), medical and educational systems, etc., they have not, as
has happened during various periods of recent history in China, been
deliberately purged or eroded. The colonial history of Hong Kong
has been one of stated non-interference with local customs. What­
ever the causes, many Chinese beliefs and practices continue and
possibly even thrive in the urban setting.
Two World Views in Hong Kong
It is clear when talking to Chinese women in Hong Kong about mat­
ters to do with pregnancy that two unrelated world views affect their
thoughts and behaviour, and yet these seem to occupy separate
spheres and not to con£l.ict on a day-to-day practical level. The West­
ern medical model is to a large extent adhered to, in so far as women
give birth in hospital, attend antenatal check-ups, mothercraft classes
and so forth. However there are also, quite apart from remedies or
treatments within the system of Chinese medicine, many Wdigenous
non-scientific beliefs and practices in operation. By non-scientific I
mean that the link between cause and effect cannot, at present, be
demonstrated. Nor is there any epidemiological data availabl~ to
demonstrate an association. This does not, of course, mean that there
are no scientific or medical groWlds for observing the restrictions,
merely that these have not yet been shown. Nevertheless many
women (and men) of all ages and from all socia-economic and edu­
cational backgrounds (including "westernized" Chinese who have
lived for some years in Western countries) will say that when a woman
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothets .-., 101
is pregnant she should not eat and drink certain foods and bever­
ages and she should not undertake certain activities or be present
when these are Wldertaken. Medical personnel and obstetricians are,
in my experience, as likely as any lay person to go along with these
ideas.
Thus the foods (e.g., shellfish, dark-coloured food or drink) and
certain activities (e.g., att~nding funerals, hanunering nails) are
thought to be detrimental to the health and well-being of the baby
from various different dimensions, and with varying degrees of
severity.
The Restrictions as Reported in Field Studies
Let us look first at what Wolf and Topley reported in the early 1970s.
Wolf reports that in the village where she worked in Taiwan:
There are many restrictions placed on a pregnant woman, but
few of them are for the protection of the mother. Her diet is not
supplemented to assist her body in its task of building another....
In fact nearly all of the restrictions placed on the pregnant woman
are designed to protect the foetus, not the mother. The little god,
Thai~sin becomes a major character in the household's daily plan­
ning. An old lady told me that a truly virtuous woman consults
the almanac before she does anything, particularly when she is
pregnant. Thai-sin is a vindictive little god who moves about a
great deal. The ;:1lmanac tells whiCh room of the house or part of
the yard he is in on any given day. If Thai-sin is in the bedroom
and out of ignorance or arrogance, a pregnant woman should sew
in that room, she might poke the little god in the eye. In retribu­
tion her child will be born blind. If a knife or other sharp instru­
ment is used in the room Thai-sin is visiting, the child may be
born with a cleft palate. In Sanhsia I was shown a dilld with a
sadly deformed hand, the result of her mother crocheting fish
nets (a cottage industry) in Thai-sin's presence (1972:152-53).
In addition, a pregnant woman must avoid Taoist religious
102 .-... Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
ceremonies as these are dangerous for her (Wolf 1972:15). Pregnant
women must also keep out of the way of brid~s "since the meeting
of MO personS in an auspiciouS state ... is dangerous to both" (Woll
1972:137). She must not cuddle other people's children as this might
make them kui khi, meaning expensive or difficult to raiSe. It is as­
sumed that her own children are kui khi during their mother's preg­
nancy.
Wolf describes the Taiwanese villagers' perception of a pregnant
woman as someone whose actions can seriously damage her unborn
baby, as the case of the child with the'deformed hand shows. Con­
sulting a higher authority - in this case the almanac - is especially
necessary for the pregnant woman if she is to escape the malice of
TIUli-sin (who must surely represent the arbitrary cruelty of fate). It is
not only ignorance on her part which will cause problems but also
arrogance, a deliberate flaunting of the rules of behaviour. At all
events there is certainly scope for blaming the mother if a child is
born disabled.
Marjorie Tapley received a different picture of the condition of a
pregnant woman from the poor, illiterate urban villagers among
whom she conducted research. The condition is far more a "medi­
cal" one and less within the mother's control. She found that:
A pregnant woman is temporarily like a poisonous entity: forces
pulling in opposite directions are contained in one body. She is
described as "four-eyed" - having two eyes in the head, two in
1
the belly. The whole entity, so to speak, is k'ei k:waai. She herself
is polarized in the direction of cold, and the fetus in the direction
of hot. The woman is considered cold because internally she is
losing blood to the fetus. Each month women move from cold
toward hot, which they reach in the middle of the month, and
then back to cold as blood is passed as menstrual fluid. Because
the woman and the fetus have opposite polarizations, "vvind" is
generated and poison condenses in the womb. Because of this
condition which is like the incubation period of a strange disorder,
the fetal soul (t'oi-shmd wanders around outside the mother's
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers ..... 103
body to avoid danger. The pregnant woman should avoid poi­
sonous foods or her "disorder" will erupt, i.e. she will go into
labour prematurely and lose the child. She should also avoid foods
that are either definitely either cold or hot, for they will polarize
the two entities further, generating more poison and wind. Her
ideal diet is very restricted: no vegetables, and little meat besides
pork, which is regarded as neither hot nor cold but perfectly bal­
anced. Chicken is barred because it is hot and fish because it is
either cold or poisonous. Some informants also believed that preg­
nant women should avoid all places of worship (1974:237).
It can be seen that Topley's account, which was presumably ex­
plained to her by some of her informants, shows the woman as at the
mercy of her body during her pregnancy. Her condltion borders on
the pathological and can be controlled only by her taking extreme
care over what she eats. In this respect it is not unlike any other kind
of sickness. Her condition is such that her body is no fit place for the
fetus, which "wanders around autside." Here the fetal' soul, t'oi-shen
clearly takes the place of the little god of the Taiwanese villagers,
Thai-sin, where he is extrinsic to the mother and the baby and has an
independent existence. Among Topley's informants, it is intrinsic to
the mother, being seen as the soul of the baby.
These accounts contrast with that given by Elizabeth Johnson of
her work among Hakka women in Kwan Mun Hau village, in the
New Territories of Hong Kong in the late 1960s. She mentions only
restrictions followed by the mother after she has given birth and deals,
in one sentence, with behaviour during pregnancy: "Pregnancy is
attended by few restrictions" (1975:234).
Parish and Whyte collected infonnation in the early 1970s about
many aspects of life in south China from informants who left sixty­
three different villages in Guangdong province to go to live in Hong
Kong. They observe (1978:252) that there are differences of opinion
among their informants as to whether there are any "important pre­
natal taboos" placed on pregnant women. They say;
In some villages pregnant women are not supposed to eat certain
104 ,.,., Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
foods, or attend funerals, or to engage in certain activities (for
example, stepping over another person or over a carrying pole),
and there are beliefs that violating these beliefs will bring harm
to the unborn child or others in the community. For example, one
informant claimed that pregnant women were not allowed to eat
dog or snake in his village, for fear the infant would be born with
skin ailments or deformities. But generally, these taboos seem
minimal, or absent entirely, and they do not sharply restrict the
activities of pregnant women (parish and Whyte 1978:252).
De Groot, writing about Antoy (Xiamen) in Fujian province does not
tell us what should be avoided by a pregnant woman. Rather he ad­
dresses a possible problem. He reports that "should a woman be
troubled by pangs of pregnancy, the first thing necessary is to re­
move nails, which have inadvertently been driven into a wall, door,
etc., or heavy things which have been placed upon or against others,
as they may be harassing, squeezing or crushing some earth spirit"
(1892:1257-~8). I mentioned above that a pregnant woman should
not knock nails into the wall, and Wolf recounts that "[T]he ritual­
ized act of driving nails into a coffin is also very dangerous" (1972:
153).
Present Study
In the present study I have looked into the extent of the survival of
these beliefs and their consequent practice in Hong Kong among the
different sodo-economic groups. For the purposes of this research I
consider three groups. The first are white collar workers, working in
offices as clerks, in shops as salesgirls, some of whom live in private
housing and some in public housing. It is women in this socio­
economic bracket who give birth in one of Hong Kong's subvented
hospitals whose prices are in the middle range. The second group
are those who are less well-Qff financially, who work at less skilled
occupations, live in government public housing and have babies in
government hospitals or charity-run hospitals. These women are
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers .... 105
likely to live in public housing or cheap and old private housing or
possibly a room rented in someone else's flat. The third group are,
predictably, those with considerably more resources, both financial
and sometimes educational, at their disposal. I anticipate that this
group probably divides loosely into two subgroups: professional
high-fliers, fluent in English, who have studied or worked abroad,
who earn good salaries; and wealthy self-made business women and
business men's wives who do not necessarily speak much English,
nor mix much with foreigners socially, and are not particularly well­
educated in a formal sense. This last group gives birth in expensive
private hospitals. As already stated, I interviewed women in three
Hong Kong hospitals in these categories. I did not find any differ­
ences among the different groups as regards the pregnancy
restrictions.
Food and Its Avoidance
The traditional Hong Kong Chinese way of eating is that food is pur­
chased daily and cooked at home for three meals a day. Freslmess is
extremely important (Anderson 1988). However it is being increas~
ingly deplored in the media that fast food chains, serving what is
erroneously considered to be "western" food, are getting a hold on
the Hong Kong population. The traditional Cantonese diet is low in
animal fat, yet Hong Kong schoolchildren have been found to have
the second highest cholesterol levels in the world (Robinson 1993). It
is common to see office workers having breakfast in cafes and fast
food shops, and it is said that there are families all of whose mem­
bers eat in such establislunents three times a day. However, as far as
I know, no studies have been done on tl'lis phenomenon. Clearly such
research would be worthwhile both for what it would reveal about
eating habits and health from a medical perspective, and also for
what it would say about changing social and family relations.
For the purpose of the present study, it is sufficient to say that
unlike in China at certain periods, an enormOUs range of foods is
available in Hong Kong and well within the financial means of the
106 .-., Changing Chinese Foodways in AsIa
working population. One third of the income of an average house­
hold is spent on food. Restaurants abound, producing meals from
every region of China, Southeast Asia and, increasing!y, Europe. Ea t~
ing out is a favourite local past-time when families get together,
friends are entertained and business deals conducted (see also Ander­
son 1988).
Given the range of foods available, no woman is going to suffer
nutritional deprivation, or be likely to perceive herself as deprived,
if she is enjoined from eating certain foods for a specific period of
time.
While asking the women for a certain amount of biographical
information of a factual kind, I asked them whether they had heard
that during pregnancy there were any foods or activities that they
were supposed to avoid. It was left to them to initiate the details,
and then I would prompt with details of other foods that I had heard
about. All of the women knew about a large core of the avoidances,
although a few of these were only mentioned by a few women. Most
of the women claimed to have observed at least some of them.
Many of the foods avoided fit in with the Chinese humoral theo­
ries of "hot" and "cold" food. This topic has already been covered
extensively (Keo 1987, Anderson 1988, Chang 1977) so I shall con­
fine my comments to the way that this categorization of food affects
pregnancy. "Cold" or "cool" food must not be eaten in early preg~
nancy for fear that it will cause a miscarriage. Late in pregnancy, in
the last two weeks or so, its consumption is encouraged as a way of
starting labour and encouraging contractions. Some food is intrinsi­
cally "cool" and others are "cold" in a physical sense as well, such as
ice-cream or soft drinks that are drunk straight from the fridge. Some
"hot" foods are intrinsically hot and others are not because of the
method of cooking such as deep~fried or spicy food. "Hot" food is
generally thought to cause pimples and sore throats and should at
any time be consumed in moderation. Most people know what is
"hot" and what is "cold" and what their own system is comfortable
with.
The one food mentioned by all informants as detrimental in preg-
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers
.'6>
107 '
nancy was bananas. This is thought to cause a miscarriage if eaten in
early pregnancy and the likelihood of convulsions in babyhood or
even sickness in later life if eaten by the mother at a later stage of
pregnancy. In fact, at the end of an earlier discussion at a govern­
ment hospital with a group of midwives who were for the most part
sceptical about the restrictions, the head midwife took my helper
aside (a Cantonese-speaking English woman obstetri~anwell-known
to the midwives) and emphasized to her"A pregnant woman really
mustn't eat bananas." As with all the other restrictions, however, the
causal connection between the food and the outcome is not known.
Other foods to be avoided are fruits such as mangos and pineapples
(said to cau,se allergies in the baby and regarded as "hot" and "wet")
and watermelon which, by being too"cool," can cause a miscarriage
(Young women also say that watermelon eaten during menstruation
can cause a heavier flow of blood. Some say this is simply because it
is kept in the fridge.) Dried green beans are also "cool" and the sweet
soup made from them should not be drunk by the pregnant woman.
The same applies to grass jelly and turtle jelly, both of which are
routinely on sale in the supennarkets and food markets.
Shellfish is very popular in Hong Kong and there are many res­
taurants calling themselves "seafood restaurants" in the urban areas
and especially on the outlying islands. However, in pregnancy, shell­
fish should be avoided, as prawn and crab are thought to cause ec~
zema and other skin problems. The body of squid can be eaten but
not the tentacles as the suction pads could cause a miscarriage by
pulling out the foetus. There is also another less "medical" aspect to
the avoidance of crab and that is its effect on the baby's character.
Some women (among whom were the midwives referred to above)
say that the sideways walk of the crab can produce a baby with a
character which is not ,?traight forward. The fact that a crab has many
pincers can produce a child with too many hands (duo sau), or in
other words a pickpocket. Eel and snake are bad for the baby's skin
which will take on a scaly appearance. Snake is a very popular food
in the winter months of January and February as it is considered
very warming. However, it is also to be avoided on the ground tllat
108 ..... Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
the rapid in-and-out movement of the snake's tongue will in addi­
tion produce a baby with a tongue that sticks in and out. Lamb will
cause epilepsy and indeed the term for this disease is faat yeung Or
lito do like a sheep/lamb'" which I am told refers to the juddering
movement of the sheep's teeth. Linda Koo's work (1987) on Hong
Kong Chinese views of the causation of illness upholds this idea as
16 per cent of her informants thought that epilepsy was caused by
the mother having eaten lamb. Lamb is in any case not eaten much
in Hong Kong, it being a meat from the north of China. It is not easy
to buy fresh in the meat markets, although it is easily available in the
frozen meat supermarkets, and it is also not very popular as many
people say they find the smell too strong. (It is however eaten by the
small Hong Kong Muslim commUl'lity, as pork, the staple Hong Kong
meat, is of course off-limits. I have not asked local Muslim women
whether they eat lamb in pregnancy.) Dog and frog are contraindi­
cated although the reasons were not known to my informants. Frogs
are available in the "wet" markets. The eating of dog (a winter deli­
cacy also regarded as warming) is illegal in Hong Kong but is known
to go on. Dog meat is also easy to buy in the markets across the bor­
der in Otina. Dark foods such as grass jelly (a sweet dish), chocolate,
coffee and Coca Cola were thought to give the baby a dark skin. In
Hong Kong, only those involved in outdoor manual occupations in
the fields, on road construction, building sites, or on fishing boats,
have dark, suntanned skins. As in many other parts of the world, a
light skin is desired and some mothers told me they had increased
their intake of beancurd (a creamy white colour) and mil.k in the hope
of having a fair-skinned baby.
The avoidance of these foods is not total and the observance seems
to vary from woman to woman according to what she has heard
about. If a woman eats some of thes~ before she knows she is preg~
nant it is not a serious matter. Thus consciously going against a re­
striction is seen to have a more harmful result than contravenihg it
unWittingly. Notions of responsibility are at play here. Some also
say you can eat a little of -this food or that, and that the important
thing is to know when to stop. Some women said "I like it so I eat it.
food l(estrictions in l'regnancy among .Hong Kong Mothers .'"
1U~
But then they must take the consequences if there turns out to be a
problem. I have an acquaintance, a professional woman (the Hong
Kong-born daughter of Shanghainese parents whose husband is
Cantonese), who ate seafood during her pregnancy in defiance of
her mother-in-Iaw's advice. When her baby developed eczema it was
considered her fault. Other women take the experiences of friends
and relatives as guidelines, and say liMy mother ate lamb and her
babies were all fine," or liMy friend ate lamb and her baby became
epileptic, so 1'd better not eat it."
To a large extent, as I have said above, the beliefs surrounding
these foods in pregnancy fit in with the Chinese theories of "hot"
and "cold" as attached to foods and to people. Some of these foods
are also contraindicated for people in a poor state of health, for very
young children, or for people recovering from an operation. For
instance, shellfish will slow down the healing of a wound so that it is
also not eaten by women recovering from the wound caused by an
episiotomy or a Caesarian section.
There is nothing in these beliefs to encourage pregnant women to
make a paint of eating any particular foods. Moreover all the restricted
foods are thought to harm the foetus not the mother herself. Nor do
the food" cravings" that women in the West experience seem to fig­
ure very prominently among the Hong Kong Chinese. People say
that pregnant women generally like sour food, such as preserved
plums; which are eaten as a snack, but individual "cravings" do not
seem to be part of a pregnant woman's expectations, as is the case in
other cultures. In ante-natal classes women are now told they should
eat the same kind of iron~rich, vitamin-rich foods recommended to
their Western counterparts.
II
The Activities Avoided
Apart from the restrictions placed on foodstuffs, whose medical value
has not yet been investigated, there is a range of fairly ordinary
activities which are also to be avoided by the pregnant woman. Many
of these are to do with what happens within the home. The first
110 ..., Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
activi ty that was usually mentioned by informants as proscribed was ­
daap deng or knocking nails in the wall In addition- a woman should
not move house, renovate the home, move furniture around, or have
it done around her. Nor must the stove (the symbol of family unity)
be moved or repaired.
Sewing and knitting in bed or on the bed, using it as a surface, are
also not allowed for fear of the baby haVing marks on its face. In­
deed any domestic activities involving knives, scissors or other sharp
objects are problematic during pregnancy. There are m~y tales qf
the unfortunate consequences that have occurred, from violations of
these rules.
One theory mentioned by Tapley (1974), that I have referred to
above, to explain the fear of cutting and hammering is that the foe­
tus' soul is not fully attached inside the mother in the early months
and floats around the bedroom. Any of these activities could there­
fore unintentionally damage it. But none of my informants mentioned
this idea, being content to say that the "old people" (lou yahn ga) had
told them not to do it.
These ideas are fairly selective. For instanc~, ceiling fans and stand­
ing fans are in very common use in Hong Kong in the summer
months, and yet no one considered that the cutting and slicing ac­
tion of the blades could cause problems. I have not asked about the
use of food-processors and blenders which are increasingly popular
with young people.
A woman should not watch horror films, or look at nasty or ugly
sights. She should surround herself with pleasant sights.
Apart from avoiding disastrous consequences, there are also ways
in which the pregnant woman can try to bring about a desired
outcome. This was referred to by some of my informants as to; gau or
foetal educ~tion. A woman told me that she had listened to a lot of
English-language songs during her pregnancy in the hope that the
child would be able to learn to speak English well. The mother is
also supposed to be calm and serene and not lose her temper. These
ideas are described by Furth (1987:14) in her account of the manage­
ment of pregnancy by elite Chinese women of the Qing dynasty
rood I{eslnchons ill l'regnancy among 1"1ong I'o.o"g Momers ....,
J Il
(1644-1911) when lithe gestating woman's most serious responsibil­
ity was to regulate emotions: the intemal 'heat' of anger or sexual
excitement. 'Miscarriage from anger' or 'miscarrige from lust' awaited
the woman whose belly accumulated too much 'fire' in this way."
In Hong Kong one can buy large coloured posters of healthy beau­
. tiful babies as a popular wall decoration which can also influence
the looks of the unbom baby. I have also seen them in Fujian province,
in the capital dty of Fuzhou. A friend of mine, who wanted her baby
(now 16 years old) to have eyes that ressembled her nephew's rather
than her own, carried a photograph of him around in her wallet dur­
ing her pregnancy. The desired outcome was achieved.
There are also activities connected with other rites of passage
which are aVOided, such as funerals. Some informants also say that
weddings should be avoided, and also the banquet held one month
after the birth of a baby.
The above constitutes a body of restrictions to be observed by
women during pregnancy. Some women were aware of all of them;
others of most, others of only some of them. They claim that their
sisters and friends and most women of their acquiantance follow
these restrictions.
It was from these people that my informants all claimed to have
heard about these restrictions, and also from "old people," by which
they meant their mothers and mothers-in-law. No one had come by
the information through reading or any more formal source. The tra­
dition is obviously largely an oral one, in spite of the fact that the
restrictions are said to be listed in books. Although people tell me
that handbooks listing the restrictions are for sale irl."the bookshops
in Hong Kong and in OUna, I have not been able to find' any. Whether,
therefore, these books exist or whether the claim that they do is a
way of giving validity to an oral tradition is a question I cannot
resolve. The information is not in any way exclusive to women, as
husbands are also aware of the avoidances, and I have heard of
fathers advising their daughters on these matters. Indeed they seem
to be fairly commonly discussed. A thirty-five year-old bachelor of
my acquaintance is extremely well-informed, and when asked by an
112 ..... Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
incredulous unmarried female friend who was present how he
knew so much, he answered that he had overheard elderly women
talking.
To some extent the husband's behaviour is thought to affect his
unborn child - for instance, there is a story of a girl born with a
black facial birthmark because her father was writing a letter. Al­
though a few women have confirmed that the husband is supposed
to act in a generous way, doing good deeds and giving money to
beggars, most claim that nothing changes for him. However, on one
home visit to the parents of a three-week-old baby girl the husb~d
was wearing a bandage around his ankle. He explained that he had
injured himself during his wife's pregnancy, and that·he had only
been able to apply Chinese medicine to his leg in the previous three
weeks because he had been afraid that if his ankle had inadvertently
touched his wife it would somehow have affected the child. His wife
had told us 'nothing about this in the many interviews that preceded
the visit.
Osgood (1975:902) writes that in Hong Kong the husbaIl.d of a
pregnant woman should not take part in the Dragon Boat Races as
his presence will cause his boat to move slowly.
Understanding Avoidance Behaviour
What can one make of this body of restrictions, many of which
appear to be unscientific and to be logically unconnected with the
desired outcome?
Pregnancy and childbirth are universal by dint of being biologi­
cal phenomena, but are, as anthropologists have shown in the last
few years, culturally managed in all societies. In China and Hong
Kong a birth affirms the daughter-in-law's place in her marital
family. The arrival of a son, especially, transforms her outsider status,
as a stranger and member of another family, into that of an insider
and contributor to the lineage. As she continues to bear children
her standing improves and especially the treatment accorded her by
her husband's mother. Her children, or rather her sons, are also her
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers ..., 113
insurance against a lonely and impectmious old age. Most young
peopl~, both married and unmarried, still make substantial financial
contributions to their parents whether they live in the same house­
hold or not. Unlike in the past, even as recently as fifty years ago,
however, most young people choose their own spouses, and live in
their own homes separately from the older generation. Nevertheless,
contacts between the generations are frequent, especially after the
arrival of children. Although young women claim to be equally con­
tent to have either a son or a daughter, especially if it is the first child
(for many express a wish to have two children), many still seem to
feel pressure from the mother-in-law to produce a son. Midwives
have confirmed this. There is one local hospital which, I was told,
makes newly-delivered mothers of girls declare out loud "I have a
daughter," presumably to avoid any claims of mistakes or mixed
identities. If there is still greater value placed on sons than daughters,
it is perhaps curious that there are not thought to be any ways to try
to ensure the sex of the baby. All that some of the women could tell
me was that you should eat more meat if you want a boy, and more
vegetables if you want a girL But this did not seem to be taken very
seriously. When I asked older women in their 60s and 70s whether
they had known of any ways to ensure having a boy they all said
they did not.
As already suggested, pregnancy is a time of marginality; the first
time a pregnant woman is leaving the status of childless wife, and at
the end of nine months becomes a mother. With subsequent preg­
nancies she is in the state of becoming the mother of the child she is
carrying as it takes shape. As time progresses she looks more an~
more different from other women, others treat her differently and
she often feels different from her pre-pregnant self. The traditional
culture of separation from ordinary eating and other activities rein­
forces the difference. This <;I.ifference is in modem times further rein­
forced by ante*natal visits to the hospital, first once a month. then
every two weeks and finally once a week until the baby is born.
At these visits the women find themselves surrounded by rows of
other women all at different stages of pregnancy. I waS told by an
114 ..., Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
obstetrician that Hong Kong women are very conscientious about
the visits and that they "do as they are told," and are "very good
patients." They receive instructions sheet about what to eat, how to
behave, what to wear, and so forth. If they develop diabetes, as seems
to be not uncommon, their diet is further restricted.
Clearly, then, pregnancy is a rite of passage involving a partially
marginal peliod, culminating in a brief total separation from hus­
band and family. It is not common for husbands to be present dur­
ing the birth, although this is changing.
During the pregnancy itself, the inside/ outside dichotomy is
underlined by the foetus-being inside the mother but its spirit, ac­
- cording to some informants, being outside and at least for some of
the pregnancy, wandering around in the mother's bedroom. It is this
spirit which can be offended by the moving of the bedroom furniture,
or be injured by having a nail knocked into it, or be cut by the mother
using scissors. One Canadian-educated Hong Kong Chinese male
acquaintance explamed these prohibitions in practical terms. If you
move the bedroom furniture about, he said, and the mother needs to
get up in the night to go to the bathroom, she may accidentally hurt
herself in the dark on account of the unfamiliar arrangement of the
room. Likewise she could hurt herself using a hammer or scissors.
This is a perfectly reasonable explanation, and many other people
have suggested to me that the restrictions make very good sense as a
way of preventing the mother becoming upset, overtired and so forth.
The explanation is also a way of not giving up restrictions that, on
the one hand, one feels more comfortable following, but on the other
hand lay one open to the charge of following "superstitions./I (This
same man told me that after a few months of failure to conceive on
his wife's part, they had called in afung sui (Chinese geomancy)
specialist who had recommended costly alterations to their flat. The
man had balked at the cost - around HK$100,OOO (about 10,000
pounds sterling). But his wife, a professional woman earning a good
salary, had carried out the specialist's instructions. The couple now
has a fine baby. He assured me that several friends of theirs had
followed the same course with the same result. Another similar story
Food Restrictions il'l Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers .... 115 .
was told me by a university lecturer whose wife's failure to conceive
was explained as being caused by the incompatibility of the charac­
ters making up their names. The characters (but not the sounds) were
changed by a specialist and the couple now has a child.
Since for the most part I am questioning women and discussing
these issues with them and others, and am not, as in traditional an­
thropological fieldwork style, living among them and closely observ­
ing actual practice, I need to be careful that I am not merely being
giVlm normative answers. However, accounts of what women should
~d shduld not do are supported by what women tell me they did
and did not do when they themselves were pregnant. Also, my im­
pression is that the issue is relatively neutral in that most women are
not attempting to persuade me of anything. But, verbal statements
do not necessarily mean what they seem to mean. When I visited
one of the new mothers and her three-week old baby, and her
husband, I learnt two things that had not emerged in the six inter­
views that I had had with her between early February and her deliv­
ery in mid~April. One was (as I have already meI'lt;ioned) that the
husband had injured his foot some time before and had not wanted
to use Chinese medicine for fear that the smell might be too strong
for the foetus, or that it might in some way be hannful to it. The
other was that the couple had moved house during the pregnancy.
Moreover the mother had not absented herself but had played a major
part in the activity, directing where the furniture should be placed,
and so forth. The parents pointed out to me that the baby had two
red spots on her face, one near her eye and one by her ear. The
husband's mother thinks that these are the result of the couple's move
and the presence of her daughter~in-law at the time. (When I saw the
baby again the following year these spots had become much more
obvious.)
In addition, some people say one thing and do another. It is nearly
always pOSSible to justify a course of action one wishes to take, or
even merely to confess an error. "I know I shouldn't but I did," say
some women. But what kind of risk do these women imagine they
are taking? In general stories abo~t what has happened to other
116 ..... Changins OUnese Food-ways in ~ia
peoples' babies seem to be quite influential, and I have been told
many stories.
In interviews with about 25 older women in their 60s and 70s
(Martin 1991), I was surprised to hear many of these women say that
they had not followed the restrictions because their mother-in-law
had not been with them. Some had followed them for the first preg­
nancy while under the same roof, but claimed that in subsequent
pregnancies in the absence of the mother-in-law "1 did what I liked.
" I hardly ever came across this reaction with the women I talked to
in Hong Kong. A woman in her 30s said she had been in Singapore
away from her mother-in-law during her pregnancies and hence had
not felt bound by any avoidances. For the older women, keeping the
peace with the mother-in-law by obeying her was clearly necessary.
This was obviously the salient aspect of the restrictions as far as they
were concerned. I can surmise that the restrictions were passed down
in an authoritarian fashion with no explanation by a mother-in-law
who was, by custom, expected to bully her daughter-in-law. In her
absence the daughter-in-law's principal reaction seems to have been
one of relief that she could follow her own inclinations. In addition,
many of them said to me, there was very little choice of food, be­
cause of the war with Japan, and they had had to eat wha t they could
get.
- What do pregnant women believe the restrictions to be about, if
they feel they can ignore them in the absence of the mother-in-law?
For the older women, they cannot be connected with the welfare of
their child but with the control the mother-in-law ha~ over them.
The fact that my younger informants did not mention this aspect
suggests that their own relationships with the older generation are
more relaxed, now that the generations for the most part live apart.
If they do live together later on, it is likely that the older woman lives
with the YOW1ger generation in a flat that the younger generation
have rented or owned. However, younger people still often like to
keep the peace with the older generation by either going along with,
or appearing to go along with, their recommendations.
It does not appear to me that the women resent the avoidances or
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong MOlhers .-., 117
regard them as a nuisance but either take them in their stride or as
something that marks them out as special-and different. It is notice­
able that Hong Kong Chinese pregnant women start to wear mater­
nity clothes very early in pregnancy.
Two Case Studies
When I firSt discussed the pregnancy restrictions with Mary, a Hong­
Kong-born woman whose parents were from Shanghai, she was 35
years old and had a seven-month-old baby girl. She said there was
pressure on her from her Cantonese husband and his parentS· to try
agctin soon to have a son and indeed she now has one. She herself is
a university administrator and is married to a doctor, a Western­
trained consultant at the university hospital. Mary told me that it
was her mother- and sister-in-law (husband's sister) who were the
main proponents of the restrictions. She added that her mother was
very open-minded and did not force any of it on her. "She did not
even force it on my sister-in~law [brother's wife]," Mary corrunented,
implying that she herself and the coming baby would not be her
mother's concern but that of her mother-in-law. However, the
mother-in-law, who lived apart from the couple, knew that she could
not force her ideas on Mary. She Simply insisted that Mary should
eat ginger after the birth of the baby, and Mary went along with this.
During her pregnanC)!i Mary was told not to eat mango because it is
"hot"; that to eat banana in the early months would cause a miscar­
riage and in the last months a premature birth. She was told not to
eat crab or prawns as these would give the baby eczema. The side­
ways walk of the crab would also give the baby an undesirable char­
acter (not straightforward, other people subsequently told me). How­
ever, Mary did eat crab and prawns, because she likes them, ane!.
now that her child suffers from eczema, her mother-ill-law blames
her for it,
Of prohibited activities, she W?\S told not to sew or use scissors in
bed as to do so would give the baby a harelip. A harelip would also
result if the parents moved their bed. Mary told me that her friends
118 .-.. Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia
had told her there were many documented cases" of that happening.
To move house in the first few months would bring about a miscar­
riage, and is not advised at any time during the pregnancy. Mary
and her husband did move house a short while before the baby was
born, and her mother insisted that she should take no part in the
move and go somewhere else for the day. Mary was told that a preg­
nant woman must not attend a funeral as the ghost would hann the
baby. The baby would be able to see the ghost and this would frighten
it. Mary took this restriction seriously. Nevertheless she believed that
a crying fit that the baby had was caused by the baby seeing "hor­
rible things" that she herself could not see.
r also had a discussion with three medical scientists, all of whom
had had children within the preceding five years. All are Hong Kong
born and bred and all of Cantonese parents. I shall call them Angela,
Terry and Carmen. They reiterated that watermelon and banana
would cause a miscarriage if eaten in the first three months of preg­
nancy. Mango and pineapple were also harmful. Lamb should not
be eaten. They also said that snake and eel should not be eaten as
their scaly skins will give the baby skin problems. Goose and pigeon
were also to be avoided. They knew that using scissors on the bed or
knocking nails in the wall were bad for the baby and would cause
marks on its face. Terry's grandmother had told her that moving the
bed would make the god who guards the bed angry. Terry did not
know which god. Angela had moved her bed, shortly before the
baby's birth to fit the cot in beside her. Carmen explained the restric­
tion on moving house as having to do with the avoidance of lifting
heavy things and of stressful situations.
With regard to funerals: Terry said she would not have attended
one; Carmen said she would have; and Angela had done so, since
her father-in-law had died a few days before the baby was born.
The funeral parlour attendant had instructed her to observe
certain precautions. He gave her a red ribbon to tie around her
abdomen, to which she was to attach a piece of ginger, some pine
leaves, and a small pair of chopsticks. Her child now uses the
chopsticks. She does not know what the ginger or the pine leaves
II
Food Restrictions in FYegnancy among Hong Kong Mothers .-.. 119
signified. When the corpse appeared she had to turn away so as not
to look at it.
Conclusion
On the domestic level and concerned primarily with ~e maintenance
of good health and the prevention of illness, are many'health beliefs
'- one might call them folk beliefs - which are passed on down the
generations and within families. These relate to the foods to avoid
after a swgl.cal operation to prevent scarring, in pregnancy to pre­
vent foetal defomuties, in old age, during menstruation and so forth.
These beliefs are not on the whole part of the diagnostic repertoire of
practitioners of Western or Chinese medicine who, nevertheless, re­
tain a tolerant attitude toward them.
It would follow from the above, therefore, that there is an opposi­
tion. operating in pregnancy between the Wes.tern and the Chinese
ways of managing it between the public/Western domain as repre­
sented by the hospital and the private/Chinese domain in the house­
hold on the level of folk beliefs. Very few of the women interviewed
had consulted a Chinese doctor (a practitioner of Chinese medicine)
about anything to do with pregnancy, or in fact, at all. All had given
birth in hospitaL or were about to do so. In hospital they behave as
instructed by the doctors and nurses.
Thus, it will be seen that the pregnant woman follows the
obstetrician's advice and dictates, at the same time adheres to at least
some of the food and behaviour restrictions instructed by her mother,
mother-in-law, sisters or colleagues and sometimes male relatives.
Women only rarely cross the traditional/modern boundary to ask
an obstetrician about the necessity or efficacy of these restrictions,
Obstetricians and pregnant women and mothers have all told me
that this is the case. However, the response that women receive from
doctors if they do ask their advice is that there is no harm in doing
what the older people tell them in order to preserve harmony be­
tween the generations. It was made clear to me that most women
who follow the restrictions cannot explain what it is about the food
Food Restrictions in Pregnancy among Hong Kong Mothers ,'" 121
120 .... Chnnging Chinese Foodways in Asia
or activity that is problematic. They are quite content to say that the
"old people" told them not to eat it or do it. As far as many of the
younger generation are concerned, this is probably a very compel­
ling reason. Although the famous maxim about "not rocking the boat"
originally r.eferred to the political situation in Hong Kong, it applies
equally to tl\e behaviour that is valued in intergenerational and in­
terpersonal relationships. lntergenerational relationships in Hong
Kong, and relationships between siblings, are still to an extent hier­
archical (Baker 1993).
Of course it is also easier to obey instructions that are in addition
enshrined in some waYt and which sometimes are seen to involve
gods or ghosts. These are not open to argument, in the way that in­
structions given for solidly practical reasons are. They are disobeyed
at one's peril.
Although it is said that the pregnancy of a married daughter is
the mother-in-Iaw's business and nothing to do with the woman's
mother, many women say their mother told them about the
restrictions. Some also say that their sisters and colleagues told them.
Feelings run deep, however, even with regard to people who are not
family members. One acquaintance told me that a woman at a mar­
ket stall was very reluctant to sell her bananas even though she
assured her that they were for her husband and older children. An­
other friend, an Indian woman married to an Englislunan, bought a
big bunch of bananas and placed them on the dining table. The day
that her 50-year-old Chinese domestic helper came to clean the flat,
the bananas disappeared.
Primarily, however, it is the pregnant woman's business, aI)d also
the only time that the well-being of the baby is exclusiv~ly her con­
cern and her responsibility.
A topiC that I have not addressed is the question of whether the
mother, or the parents, are regarded as responsible for the birth of a
handicapped child. This is obviously not a topic to be raised with
pregnant women, But it can be raised with medical personnel and
with parents of handicapped children who gather together to dis­
cuss their problems. There is such a support group in Hong Kong.
Such an investigation could have implications for helping families
with a handicapped member to accept and cope with this event. Par­
ents of children in Hong Kong's children's cancer ward are reported
as feeling ashamed and wondering what they had done wrong to
have caused it (South China Morning Post, 31/1/94) in such a way.
Notes
1. This is the Cantonese pronundation which is kui khi in Hokkien, the dialect spoken
where Wolf was working.
2. T' oi-shem is the Cantonese pronundation and Thai-sin the Hokkien pronunciation.
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