Tossing for LOVE

Mom, typical Chinese lady from Ipoh, small town, big family. I spoke to her recently about the hype of this Ba Chang festival. I went to two Chinese restaurants and ba changs were all sold out. She told me ladies who throw ba chang out into the sea are those seeking for love, a husband perhaps. Mom, lady with so many made-up theories, you can never quote her on it. I may not agree with mom but I have to say I like the idea of it. There are a number of theories about the origin of this Ba Chang Festival. But before we get into that, let me describe the perfect ba chang filling that would make my day. It has got to be in a pyramidal shape, I don’t like those in rectangular form. It has to have half a salted egg or duck egg. There must be no peanuts! No chestnuts! Mushroom is a must and pork is mandatory. That’s how I like it. Now back to my very limited knowledge of Chinese folklore, Raymond whom I had lunch with told me tossing ba chang into the sea is to ward off disease or evil. It made perfect sense to me as I tried to sense a collective nostalgia of what my Popo or Kung Kung would have said to me as a form of their folklore. But really after a lot of googling, the reason why we toss ba chang out into the sea is because of this ONE MAN! He must be someone really special innit to have people all over the world do that. Here is one of the many theories of the origin. It is meant to honor Qu Yuan (340-278 BC.), the pioneer poet of ancient China. Qu Yuan was a famous poet who was also concerned about the fate of his government. Unfortunately his stature aroused the jealousy of the king, who banished him to a remote area. The poet despaired of the government and its policies. When the state's capital was captured by enemies, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (on May 5th according to the Chinese lunar calendar). The Chinese people felt this loss deeply, as he was a much beloved poet. Local folk searched for him in the river, meanwhile dropping dumplings of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves into the river in order to keep the fishes from attacking Qu Yuan's body.

Another story I heard had something to do with the king’s mistress. The King’s interests were in wine, women and songs. And this man who cared for the kingdom delivered his advice to the king but it fell on deaf ears. He drowned himself as a way of proving to the king that the intention of the King’s mistress was not genuine and to create bad blood in the kingdom. There are so many different takes on it but I have to say mom’s story really hit the roof. All my friends laughed as I told my family’s version of the story. It was a good day nonetheless; we had fun, watched the sunset, made a wish and toss our ba chang into the sea. Raymond challenged me in a game of making an egg sit. It is one of the many other traditional activities that are still practiced in this festival.