Like so many of us, I used to run from anything that felt too fresh off the boat or traditional. The older I get, I’ve realized that I’m also getting more Chinese.
Yuezi has been one of the best experiences I have ever had and I’m exploring other oral traditions that Chinese mothers pass down to their daughters.
If you come from a traditional Chinese home, then you probably know what I'm talking about.
Yuezi is a month long, Chinese postpartum tradition that combines diet, hygiene, and spiritual renewal.
Some of it sounds a little bit like an old wives tale - such as no showering, no washing hair nor going outside for 30 days so that cold winds don't enter your pores. You know, the typical ying yang stuff.
What must have made a lot of sense during the First Dynasty seems just a little out of date now.
On the other hand, some of the ideas sound positively 21st Century. The need for an iron- rich diet without excess calories. Small meals - four to five times a day. No TV, no blackberry, not even books.
Things that keep your body young and healthy while restoring all that you lose during labor and delivery.
Traditionally, yuezi is executed by the mother- in-law. In my case, that was impossible as my husband is Jewish . His mother is an excellent chef, just not a Chinese one.
My mother started with some foundation. In fact, when my parents first came to the country, she and my dad bought a hamburger stand. They'd later move onto more successful ventures, but through it all my mother cooked with variety and flavor.
She also had a pretty firm grasp of TCM and little things Chinese women know to keep themselves young and slim.
And while she had never walked anyone through "the month," or gone through it properly herself, she was definitely up for a challenge. She researched endlessly on the web, interviewed friends and her sisters.
In anticipation of her trip to NYC, she conducted extensive research - learning the basic do's and don'ts from family members and Chinese yuezi sources.
There was nothing definitive out there - not one source for what she needed which were the actual yuezi recipes. That monthly regiment she would have to create herself.
By the time she arrived just days before my labor, she had loaded her iPad with everything she needed… plus all her favorite Taiwanese soap operas to watch during downtime.
On November 21st, 2010 , I gave birth to Io Esther Gerald. We call her LL – Little Leopard. I guess the love of animal print kinda runs in the family.
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I started this blog to share what I learned. The recipes. The wisdom. The crazy ass Chinese superstitions. It is my ultimate hope that it might become a network where mothers and daughters can share their stories and ideas of their own yuezi experience.
