Create your Lucky Red envelopes 🧧
Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon. (Courtesy of Warner Brothers)
By Christopher T. Fong
Creative Director of “We Are Bruce Lee”
Updated 2/3/2021 11:02 pm: Added a black-and-white template
of the red envelope for those with red color paper around the house.
Lunar New Year begins on Feb. 12, renewing hope for good fortune, health, and the opportunity to wish for change. To that end, we clean ourselves and our homes to remove the clutter from the prior year before entering the new year. Cleaning during the new year celebrations sweeps away good luck.
2021 ushers in the Year of the Ox, one of 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Bruce Lee, born in 1940 during the Year of the Dragon, used his zodiac animal for his Chinese screen name, “Little Dragon” (Lee Siu Lung; 李小龍). I, along with many cousins, were born during the Year of the Horse, but none of us got cool horse-related nicknames.
New Year traditions may vary depending on the family's ancestral roots, but the ubiquitous red envelopes, known as lai see in Cantonese (利事) or hong bao in Mandarin (红包), are given to children and unmarried adults by elders and married couples. The envelope’s red color offers good luck and happiness, while the “lucky money” wards off evil spirits.
If someone gives you lai see, always receive it with both hands (you’re doubling your luck) while expressing your thanks. And never open it within the presence of the giver (bad juju and disrespectful). Keep the envelopes for the duration of the Lunar New Year celebration (15 days) for the full effect of the displayed symbols and blessings. (See the list of meanings at the end of blog).
Jump ahead to 3:35 in the video when Ronny Chieng jokingly explains how Chinese New Year is all about getting rich. [Warning: Language]
恭禧發財! 身體健康! 新年快樂! 多謝,多謝嗮!
As a kid, I would practice quickly saying in Cantonese, “Gong Hay Fat Choy! Sun Tai Gin Hong! Sun Nien Fai Lok! Do Jeh, Do Jeh Saai!,” or “Wishing you happiness and prosperity! Wishing you good health! Happy New Year! Thank you, thank you very much!” when greeting my aunts, uncles, and grand elders, who handed out lai see before our New Year family feast.
My younger self would hope for a bounty to put into my savings account, so it’ll grow with earned bank interest as I come of age. Yup, you’ve guessed it — my folks are accountants.
Each new year brings increasingly new American and international pop culture infused designs, featuring Disney, Peanuts, and Sanrio characters on our cultural decorations. But my parents and elders would remind us what the Chinese images and symbols on the red envelopes meant.
My Caucasian fiancée and I started sharing my Chinese cultural traditions with her family and our non-Asian friends, presenting red envelopes to their children and wishing them a prosperous future and good health. We hope to open their young minds to multiculturalism and inclusivity.
In the spirit of Bruce Lee and honoring tradition while adding a creative spin, the “We Are Bruce Lee” exhibit team invites you to join in on a new activity to welcome the new lunar year.
Design your own lucky red envelope
Red envelope designs from 1970s to 2000. (Photo: Courtesy FW&AG Lee Collection)
During our shared challenges with COVID-19, you might not be able to visit your Chinatown and international district to buy red envelopes. Or you, or your kid(s), need a new activity after binging through Bruce Lee’s movies and “Green Hornet” episodes.
Let’s create your own red envelope design and share them with the world! So, bring out some markers! And flex those creative muscles!
Click on the above image to download the color template. (PDF)
How it works:
Click on this image to download the black-and-white template if you have red color paper. (PDF)
Download the red envelope template by clicking on this link or the image to the right.
If you’re fortunate to have red-color paper around the house, download the black-and-white template.
Print out the template. The envelope must be entirely red, otherwise, it wouldn’t be lucky. (FYI, white envelopes are distributed at funerals and considered bad luck when given/received during Lunar New Year.)
Your envelope can feature the symbols and phrases mentioned below. Don’t stress about writing the phrases in Chinese. English is perfectly acceptable.
Post your constructed red envelope art on your social media account(s) and hashtag your post with #BruceLeeCNY, along with @wearebrucelee.
If you do not have a social media account to share your art, then share your design with friends or family.
We’re looking forward to seeing your designs! We’ll feature some of our favorites on our social media accounts. Follow us on:
Facebook: @WeAreBruceLeeSF
Instagram: @wearebrucelee
Twitter: @WeAreBruceLee
Symbols and images:
Ox — The Chinese zodiac mascot for 2021. The Ox is known for its work ethics, reliability, stubbornness, gentleness, calmness, and trustworthiness.
Lion — Chases away evil spirits; Strength and stability.
Fish — Chinese character sounds like an overflow of abundance; Being well-feed through the year.
Peach — A heavenly fruit that offers longevity and immortality as mentioned in the Chinese legend of the Monkey King in “Journey to the West.”
Citrus — Oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines symbolize plentiful through the new year. Their golden colors represent wealth, sunshine, happiness, success, health, and balance.
Tangerine — Additionally, the Chinese character for tangerine (桔, “Gat“), sounds and looks like the character for luck (吉, “Gat“). A leafy tangerine means abundance of luck; fertility.
Plum Blossoms — Enduring beauty and strength.
Lotus — Rebirth and renewal. In Cantonese, the phrase “lotus seeds” (蓮子, “Lin Zi“) sounds like to have many children in the coming year.
Lanterns — The round lantern with tassels means a bright future with peace and forgiveness.
Firecrackers — Scares away evil spirits.
Child Playing — Success in life, happiness and enjoyment.
God of Money — Pretty self-explanatory but my favorite comedian Ronny Chieng best explains this Chinese deity in his Netflix stand-up special, “Asian Comedian Destroys America!” [Warning: Language]
Ancient Chinese Currencies — Brings wealth.
Character(s) and phrases:
福 — “Fook,” Prosperity; Good fortune; Blessing and luck
恭禧發財 — “Gong Hay Fat Choy,” Wishing you happiness and prosperity!
新年快樂 — “Sun Nien Fai Lok,” Happy New Year!
大吉大利 — “Daai Gat Daai Lei,” Best of luck and abundance of fortune and prosperity
吉祥如意 — “Gat Coeng Jyu Ji,” Good fortune with a flow of good wishes and peace
