In another ancient classic called the Book of Rites, a bow is hung on the left side of the door if a boy is born, and a piece of cloth is hung on the right side of the door if it's a girl. Evidently, the bow and cloth have distinctive gender features.

After the birth of a child, a name was also given in the first few days. Usually, the new father would report the good news reported to relatives and friends, especially the wife's parents, who the son-in-law would present with a red egg.

The three-day celebration

It was held when the child was three days old. The main customs included:

Shooting arrow to the sky

According to the Book of Rites, three days after a boy was born, the parents would carry him outside of the room, and shoot an arrow in the four directions. This symbolizes the belief that a boy should have high ambitions. This practice was not applicable to girls.

A bathing ceremony would be held three days after a child's birth. The practice first appeared in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and became popular in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The infant would be put into the basin for its first bath.

The visitors would bring various gifts of different meanings. For instance, dates and chestnuts expressed hope that the baby could stand up early, and lotus seeds were used to express the wish of giving birth to another baby, because these presents are homophonic to their symbolized meaning in Chinese. Sometimes, a shallot (cong) was used to pat the baby, as it sounds like intelligent in Chinese.

Friends and relatives would give red packages, and the host would serve cakes and noodles to the guests. After the bath, another important ceremony was held, in which the rest of the umbilical cord would be removed.

That same day, the mother would also begin to breastfeed the child. To help the baby better endure hardships in the future, some Chinese goldthread water, which is very bitter, would be sprinkled on the nipples, before the baby could first taste breast milk.

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