In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. (Quoted from this site.)
Is this a Chinese manna?
This undistinguished shrubby tree gives us bdellium (pronounced "delm"), once an adulterant of myrrh, which bdellium resembles in color and shape but not smell. In sacred rites, it was steeped in wine to increase its fragrance and is associated with Mars. The name comes from Hebrew, bedolach, for something that is stuck together, like rice.
The Bible gave two sets of colour to manna, white and bdellium. Is this a contradiction? I was told by my mother-in-law that in making nian gao, the grounded glutinous rice would turn brown on its own. The colour, texture and taste of nian gao is quite like what is mentioned in the two verses.
The sixth similarity is, according to a legend, an old man came down from the mountain telling the people that they should write words on their door posts to chase away the Nian that comes to destroy them. This was how the spring couplets originated.
Seventh, taboos such as:
Next, would be a speculation on the origins of Chinese people.
Is this a Chinese manna?
- The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Exodus 16:31
- Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. Numbers 11:7
This undistinguished shrubby tree gives us bdellium (pronounced "delm"), once an adulterant of myrrh, which bdellium resembles in color and shape but not smell. In sacred rites, it was steeped in wine to increase its fragrance and is associated with Mars. The name comes from Hebrew, bedolach, for something that is stuck together, like rice.
The Bible gave two sets of colour to manna, white and bdellium. Is this a contradiction? I was told by my mother-in-law that in making nian gao, the grounded glutinous rice would turn brown on its own. The colour, texture and taste of nian gao is quite like what is mentioned in the two verses.
The sixth similarity is, according to a legend, an old man came down from the mountain telling the people that they should write words on their door posts to chase away the Nian that comes to destroy them. This was how the spring couplets originated.- You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deut. 6:9
Seventh, taboos such as:
- Avoid housework on New Years day: this activity runs the risk of washing or sweeping away good luck. It is important not to use language which is negative- having an argument on New Year's day is to be avoided at all costs.
- Words related to sickness and death are to be avoided. This even extends to the use of words which sound like the words for death or sickness. (Quoted from this site.)
Next, would be a speculation on the origins of Chinese people.
Comments
I notice that you are from Ipoh. That is my hometown too!
You are right, this is highly speculative, but it is also of special interest to me. I am an American who has lived in Taiwan as a tentmaker-type missionary for roughly 4 years, and I have often pointed out some of the similarities between the two holidays to my students. I have thought that perhaps it could serve as a bridge for the Gospel, but I was hoping to do more research on it. Your blog is all I've found online so far. Thanks for pointing out a few things I had not seen before!
I thought I would point out a couple more similarities I have discovered here in Taiwan. First, the very words themselves "Guo Nian" seem related to Passover. Monster Nian "passes", just as the angel of the Lord "passed over". Second, in Taiwan it is said that Monster Nian does not just eat people in general but specifically goes after small children. This would seem connected to the angel of the Lord having killed the firstborn Egyptian children (though the Bible doesn't specify the ages of the firstborn). Finally, it is my understanding that the Monster Nian was said to come down out of the mountains to the east. Interesting that Israel and Egypt lie to the east of China as well, and this is the path the story would have traveled.
Also, I noticed that you posted links to articles on other ancient Chinese legends and you commented on their similarities to other biblical stories such as the flood story of Noah. They were very informative to me, so thank you. Are you aware of the traditional stories of the Miao Zhu of southern China. Apparently since time immemorial, they have traced their lineage back to Adam, the "dirt man". They have all the stories of Genesis 1-11 with the exception of the fall, and the similarity is astounding! I first encountered this info through ICR. You can find it at icr.org. Just run a search on the Miao within their site search engine.
The Lord bless you as you continue to follow Him.
Sorry that I am replying so late because I am struggling with my thesis writing. I am currently in Sheffield for two weeks.
Please share your experiences on how this can be used for your missionary work in Taiwan. (Btw, I will be in Taipei from 17 to 20 March 2008.) I have not been successful here in Malaysia and even my local church community is rather skeptical about it.
thanks for leaving a comment. Yes, its size is like that of coriander seeds. But, I was reading the following phrase, ".. and its color like the color of bdellium" when I wrote about the colour. So it looks like coriander seeds in size but the colour is bdellium (sometimes white?). ;-)