{"id":14501,"date":"2018-08-27T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14501"},"modified":"2018-08-26T03:49:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-26T07:49:44","slug":"postpartum-chinese-tradition-the-sitting-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/postpartum-chinese-tradition-the-sitting-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Postpartum Chinese Tradition: The Sitting Month"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sitzend by Torsten Mangner from Flickr.com is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

An old Chinese custom became controversial in recent years: the \u5750\u6708\u5b50 (zu\u00f2 yu\u00e8 zi) tradition. \u5750 (zu\u00f2) means \u201cto sit\u201d, \u6708 (yu\u00e8) means \u201cmonth\u201d, and \u6708\u5b50 is the first month after giving birth. This ancient practice takes care not of the new born, but of the new mom, who have just been through a long, painful procedure.<\/p>\n

\u5988\u5988 m\u0101m\u0101 = mom<\/p>\n

\u8eab\u4f53sh\u0113nt\u01d0 = body<\/p>\n

\u5206\u5a29 f\u0113nmi\u01cen = to give birth<\/p>\n

\u6062\u590d hu\u012bf\u00f9 = to recover<\/p>\n

Giving birth can take hours and hours of arduous contractions. After the exhausting delivery, the body needs to heal not only from the delivery itself, but from the long pregnancy as well, all while sustaining the fatigue that follows the milk production and the breastfeeding every three hours. The Chinese believe it takes about a month for a woman\u2019s body to recover.<\/p>\n

\u5988\u5988\u4eec\u5206\u5a29\u540e\u9010\u6e10\u6062\u590d\u3002<\/p>\n

M\u0101m\u0101men f\u0113nmi\u01cen h\u00f2u zh\u00faji\u00e0n hu\u012bf\u00f9.<\/p>\n

Mothers gradually recover after childbirth.<\/p>\n

During this time, the new mom\u2019s body is still weak and can easily get sick. Mothers, hence, must rest a lot and strictly avoid any chance of getting cold. Although \u5750\u6708\u5b50 is translated to \u201cthe sitting month\u201d, the women definitely don\u2019t have to sit all month long. It is highly recommended, though, to stay at home as much as possible and mainly to rest.<\/p>\n

\u4ea7ch\u01cen = to give birth, to produce<\/p>\n

\u4f11\u606fxi\u016bx\u00ed = to rest<\/p>\n

\u4ea7\u540e\u7684\u5988\u5988\u4eec\u7684\u786e\u8981\u6ce8\u610f\u4f11\u606f\u3002<\/p>\n

Ch\u01cenh\u00f2u de m\u0101m\u0101men d\u00edqu\u00e8 y\u00e0o zh\u00f9y\u00ec xi\u016bx\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Postpartum moms need to rest.<\/p>\n

To avoid catching cold or other illness, women must avoid exposure to wind, or being wet for too long. They should stay at home, wear warm clothes, give up hair washing, take a shower over a bath, stay away from open windows and air conditioning. These specific recommendations provoked rumors that gave a bad name to the sitting month practice. People heard women are not allowed to take a shower, brush their teeth, or eat vegetables and other cold dishes. This animated video is determined to refute those hearsays:<\/p>\n