Ceremony of Exiting the Spiritual Garden (Chu Hua Yuan 出花園)

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Category:	Other

Dear All,

Upon request, this is the brief write-up on the Ceremony:

A lot of people might not be able to understand, what do I mean by Ceremony of Exiting the Spiritual Garden? Actually this is a Ceremony conducted for Teenagers who reach the age of 16 (Chinese Age).

In Hokkien Religious Customs, the Ceremony is known as Chu Huey Hng or in Chinese known as Chu Hua Yuan. And this Ceremony is usually being conducted on the 7th Day of Lunar 7th Month (農曆七月初七日), known as Qi Xi (七夕).

Why the Hokkien called the Spiritual Garden as Garden (Hua Yuan)?

Cos according to Hokkien Religious Customs, all Children under the Chinese Age 16 are known as Kids staying in the Spiritual Garden (花園) under the Protection of Zhu Sheng Niang Niang (注生娘娘) and Chuang Mu (床母 Mother Maiden of the Children).

PS: Why the Custom called it Garden, cos in Folks Belief, Children are being represented by 2 types of Flowers – Red & White, and so, Flowers will stay in a Garden in-order to allow the "Flower-Protectors" to look after, etc.

Once a child reached the Chinese Age of 16, he/she will be considered as an Young Adult which no need anymore Protection from the "Baby-sitters Deities (嬰孩守護神)" and so, a Ceremony will be conducted for the family of the Child and the Child him/herself to pay their gratitude to Zhu Sheng Niang Niang and Chuang Mu.

So how shall the Ceremony go about?

Before the Child reached the Chinese Age 16, the family will needed to search for a Temple (廟宇) or Taoist Sect (道壇或法壇) that know how to perform the Ceremony, once the Priest or the Spiritual Master agreed to perform the Ceremony, the Spiritual Person will advise on the family on what to prepare, etc.

Usually on the Chinese 16th Birthday, the family and the child will need to report to the Temple or the Taoist Sect where the Spiritual Person conducting the Ceremony.

During the Ceremony, the Spiritual Person will do a short report to the Deities on what event is going on, why the event is needed and who are involved in the event, once the reporting is done, the Spiritual Person will lead the child to walk in certain formation – to symbolize the Exiting of the Spiritual Garden, once the Ceremony is done, the whole thing will consider completed and the child will be a Young Adult from the day onwards.

After the Ceremony, parent of the child will need to engage banquet dinner for the whole family and relatives, officially announced that the child is no long a kid but a Young Adult.

As a form of blessing, Grandma (外婆 mother side), will need to buy a set of new clothing, prepared a couple of red eggs, a watch for grandson, a necklace for granddaughter, chicken, duck and other auspicious items for the child. This is to symbolize that the child is an Adult now and can prepared him/herself to be part of the Adult World, etc.