One Of Those Chinese Traditions

One of my fellow teachers, went through a hell of a lot these last few months i.e. her dad died of illness, and she's discovered a growth in her body. Consequently, she retired from teaching, because she finds it gives her too much pressure, and perhaps after a year of recuperating, she will try and find another job unrelated to teaching. She's still relatively young, roughly in her early-thirties.

She came in today to give out some white packets. Now I don't know the proper English name for these white packets, because I couldn't find any English reference to them, but they are the complete opposite of the red packets given out during Lunar New Year. In Chinese, they are called 吉儀. White packets are given out if a member of the family has past away. When I looked inside it, it contained a sweet and a dollar coin, traditionally it would also contain a tissue.

The tissue is used to wipe away the tears and pain shed for the dead. The sweet is to be eaten, and for your sorrow to gradually disappear as it melts away. The one dollar coin is given to express gratitude for donations/gifts/support given to the sufferer. It's also said that (in the past) one dollar was enough for a one-way journey, so that you can't return to those past feelings.

By custom, the white packet and its contents should leave your possession before going home. The white packet should be thrown away; the sweet can be eaten or thrown away; and the dollar should be spent as quickly as possible or else given to a beggar, otherwise misfortune will be brought to the home.

Interesting isn't it? Its the first I've heard of this tradition. I've eaten the sweet, and used the dollar for bus fare, but man am I gonna miss her, she's such a nice, gentle person. It's highly unlikely, and I'm probably thinking too optimistically, but I hope she shared out little bits of her pain and sorrow into those sweets and dollars, so that they are spent and eaten away. (Prayers welcome, her name is Ms Yip.)