IN Chinese communities, firecrackers explode all night long.

Is It Greed?

In the Orient, people observe the custom of giving special monetary gifts to children during the New Year’s holiday. The Chinese use red packets of money. They believe that the color red will not only bring good luck and prosperity but also exorcise evil. The Japanese, though, use small white envelopes with auspicious signs on them. What do such practices promote?

“I used to look forward to the New Year’s holiday,” recalls a Japanese man, “and my main concern was how much otoshidama (New Year’s monetary gift) I would get that year.” Could this custom affect children? Yes, answers the column Vox Populi, Vox Dei in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, which states: “Children secretly rank adults in the order of the amount of ‘otoshidama’ received from them.” The amount of money given has kept going up, reaching about 20,000 yen ($130, U.S.) per child in 1985.

Would not this custom promote greed? The adults are eager to have more prestige and the children more money.