Longevity vermicelli 長壽麵線
Birthday of an old person
壽誕
In Taiwan, people at the age of 40 and 50 do not hold a birthday celebration, because this time is the middle-age of life. It is the decisive age that a person would have success or failure. If the condition is successful the person would be busy with job and have no time to hold a birthday celebration. On the other hand, it is inadequate to celebrate in a failure. As a result, at the age of 60, a person’s success or failure has been decided and it’s time to celebrate a birthday.
四十歲和五十歲一般不「做生日」，四、五十歲正當中年，也是決定成敗的年齡，若是失敗，要做什麼生日，若是成功，忙於事業，何來時間做生日，必須直到六十歲，成敗已成定論，才「做大生日」。
In the early period, people have the impression that longevity is an old man with white beard. As a result, people eat vermicelli in the birthday feast. However, in a common birthday celebration there are some rules to follow. For example, when men's age ends with 3, 6, 9, and woman 2, 5, 8, they must celebrate. Furthermore, 49 is the most doom time of life. So, the birthday will be celebrated one year earlier and called 50 years old. At that time, people must hold a grand birthday celebration for three consecutive years or it cannot be held in casual.
或許是因為早期人們對於「長壽」的印象是留著白鬍鬚的老人，而壽宴裡吃的白麵線看起來就像是白鬍子，早期就以此概念來形容健康、長壽。
然而一般的壽誕還是有所忌諱的，如男怕三、六、九，女怕二、五、八。四十九歲是人生大厄年，最為忌諱，故其壽辰多提前一年，以五十歲稱之。且須盛大舉行，並連續三年，否則不可輕易舉辦壽誕。
There are two things to caution in the birthday celebration feast. The first one is the birthday person cannot accept “Hong Bao” (red envelop), because the purpose of the feast is to show blessing and kindness. The second one is he cannot bite off vermicelli or use chopstick to cut it off, because it has the meaning of "ending".
[8] Hong Bao紅包: A red envelope with money
做壽時宴客有個幾個要注意的事項第一個就是壽者不能收紅包，因為做壽的目的在於彰顯福氣與恩澤，希望將恩澤施與別人；第二個是在壽宴中吃的麵線不能用筷子或牙齒咬斷，因為含有終結的意思。
壽誕
In Taiwan, people at the age of 40 and 50 do not hold a birthday celebration, because this time is the middle-age of life. It is the decisive age that a person would have success or failure. If the condition is successful the person would be busy with job and have no time to hold a birthday celebration. On the other hand, it is inadequate to celebrate in a failure. As a result, at the age of 60, a person’s success or failure has been decided and it’s time to celebrate a birthday.
四十歲和五十歲一般不「做生日」，四、五十歲正當中年，也是決定成敗的年齡，若是失敗，要做什麼生日，若是成功，忙於事業，何來時間做生日，必須直到六十歲，成敗已成定論，才「做大生日」。
In the early period, people have the impression that longevity is an old man with white beard. As a result, people eat vermicelli in the birthday feast. However, in a common birthday celebration there are some rules to follow. For example, when men's age ends with 3, 6, 9, and woman 2, 5, 8, they must celebrate. Furthermore, 49 is the most doom time of life. So, the birthday will be celebrated one year earlier and called 50 years old. At that time, people must hold a grand birthday celebration for three consecutive years or it cannot be held in casual.
或許是因為早期人們對於「長壽」的印象是留著白鬍鬚的老人，而壽宴裡吃的白麵線看起來就像是白鬍子，早期就以此概念來形容健康、長壽。
然而一般的壽誕還是有所忌諱的，如男怕三、六、九，女怕二、五、八。四十九歲是人生大厄年，最為忌諱，故其壽辰多提前一年，以五十歲稱之。且須盛大舉行，並連續三年，否則不可輕易舉辦壽誕。
There are two things to caution in the birthday celebration feast. The first one is the birthday person cannot accept “Hong Bao” (red envelop), because the purpose of the feast is to show blessing and kindness. The second one is he cannot bite off vermicelli or use chopstick to cut it off, because it has the meaning of "ending".
[8] Hong Bao紅包: A red envelope with money
做壽時宴客有個幾個要注意的事項第一個就是壽者不能收紅包，因為做壽的目的在於彰顯福氣與恩澤，希望將恩澤施與別人；第二個是在壽宴中吃的麵線不能用筷子或牙齒咬斷，因為含有終結的意思。
