Renri or Yan Yat (Chinese: 人日, literally Human Day), refers to the seventh day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This year’s Renri falls on 29th January which is today.
According to Chinese legends, Nuwa (女媧) was the goddess who created the world. She created the animals on different days. Chickens were created on the first day, dogs on the second day, pigs on the third day, sheep on the fourth day, cows on the fifth day, horses on the sixth day and humans on the seventh day. Humans were created from the mixture of earth and water. Thus the seventh day was the birthday of mankind. To feed mankind, she then created cereal on the eighth day.
If the weather on Renri is fine, it can be forecast that God will grant good luck to all people on earth while rain means a tough year ahead.
Since the first six days of the first lunar month are considered birthdays of different animals, Chinese people avoid killing these animals on their respective birthdays. Prisoners will not be punished on Renri.
To celebrate Renri on the seventh day of Chinese Lunar calendar, a dish of seven types of salad with raw fish called yee sang “Seven-color sliced fish” (七彩魚生) is eaten both at homes or restaurants. Just toss the ingredients with a pair of chopsticks. The higher you toss them, the better luck you will garner. Don’t forget to utter auspicious phases as you toss the yee sang!
So, Happy Birthday to one and all!
初七人日撈魚生慶生日
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188 Hugh Low Street, Ipoh 
Another interesting post, Frances 🙂 I hope you had a wonderful CNY. Did you go back to Ipoh? I was back for a few days and I thought of you when I passed by your former house 🙂 I also heard something interesting during my trip this time. Not sure if you know or not. The Kong Hing Coffeeshop now has a boutique hotel above it. It is called “Sekeping Kong Hing” and developed by the same people who developed “Sekeping Serendah” resort (http://www.serendah.com) I tried to google for more information but still nothing yet. We wanted to check it out but couldn’t find a parking space that day. Old town was packed to the brim during CNY 🙂
Hi Barb,
Thank you 🙂 Yes, I have a wonderful CNY 🙂
I managed to cook a big pot of delicious ingredients for our Reunion Dinner, it was a Hakka dish called “Poon Choy.” My family loved it very much. You know what, I played cards for the first time with relatives and won some money which was later spent on yee sang with them.
Oh yes, I went back to Ipoh for three days and have a good time with my relatives there. Went makan makan with them, Ipoh was awefully jammed with cars and people during CNY. I did not go to old town. It was too difficult to find parking space there. We ate in Ipoh Garden and Pasir Putih areas.
It has been a year since we last went to Kong Hing, so it was a surprise to learn that they have a boutique hotel. Most probably will drop in for a look on our next trip back. I think they got the idea from Malacca nyonya restaurants and hotels. Good for them. And I could see you have a good time too with your family!
Reblogged this on 188 Hugh Low Street, Ipoh and commented:
Happy Birthday to you, me and everyone人日!
Be careful with the Fishes Yee Sang in view of the Japanese Fukiyama Nuclear Fall Outs polluting the Pacific Ocean ,be sure to know where your Sources of the Fishes come from ! in Japan the Fugu Raw Fishes have been killing the eaters by the poisoning from their bodies by rigor mortis within minutes ! Then it won ‘t be Yan Yat Human Day but Kwai Yat Hantu Demon’s day ! If you thinking of eating Hum Yee or Kiam Hoo Salted Fishes I have news for you they have been found to cause upper oesophagus cancer and organs cancer in the body ! Just so you know don’t want to spoil your Yan Yat Yau Fook Fatt Choy !
Gerald Heng Sr.
Washington DC, USA.
Dear Gerald – Yes, fish caught in Japan sea waters could contain radioactive materials. We do not have a nuclear power station in our coastal areas hence any fish, particularly salmon (for the Yue Sang) caught in Australian waters will be OK to eat. Maybe you can be our US agent for good and clean Australian fish. Anyway, my friend, Kung Hey Fatt Choy to you and most importantly, wishing you the best of health.
Hey Ipoh Boy Australia is in the Pacific Ocean where the Fukiyama nuclear wastes excreted into so the fishes within are potentially at huge risks of radioactivity !in California bay areas of west coast USA on that Pacific Ocean front they are taking extra precautions on fishes safety that include all marine edibles there ! In any case Thank God I never took to fishes of any kind since age one especially the Ipoh Kiam Hoo-Hum Yee,I was proven wise after I have family members younger than who died from cancer and the researches in Hong Kong and elsewhere where Hum Yee was the diet of the young Chinese showed a direct relationship between salted fishes and cancer of th upper oesophagus and body organs like kidneys !the Nitric Acid ++++ preservative is the chief culprit when the fishes are salted and air dried with the nitric acids within ! I trust the Australians where you are haven’t renamed the Pacific Ocean into an Aussie and Kiwi Ocean have they ? Gerry
Dear Gerald. Australia is in the southern hemisphere and looking at the sea currents chart, the Japanese waters will circle in the North Pacific and may not go pass the Equator. Yes, we would like to name the South Pacific as Ocean Australis and NZ as our East Australia.
Like all things, eat them in moderation but eating salted fish regularly is a problem because, as you say, they are carcinogenic. In the old and poor days, they fried the salt fish, hang it in the middle of the dinning table, the family members take a sniff and followed by a few spoonful of porridge. You don’t eat it just sniff it! Of course the best salted fish in Penang was Tana salt fish, and I don’t know what fish they use.
Ipoh Boy,salted or not I never liked fish even up to this day !the best Cantonese Cusine Salted Fish dish is to have it steamed with minced pork with plenty of ginger ! Known As Hum Yee Chee Yoke Pan ! The little kiddies who ate this in HongKong, Guangdong or Nanyang never realized its carcinogenic propensities to kill !until the recent researches of 1970’s or thereabouts !just like red blooded beef steaks here cause big problems of high cholesterol levels and hyper tensions that presage heart attacks , and cancer too ! researches in medicine nowadays save many lives as it’s mission so go do !
Let ‘s hope you are fight about the sea-currents affecting or not affecting Australia/New Zealand,Japan cannot be relied upon to tell the truth about the Fukiyama Nuclear Wastes spewing the Pacific Ocean in its sheer quantity, as in this day and age even the Governor of Japan NHK media Even denied the Rapes of Nanjing China the Asian Chinese Halacaust even happened can you believe your eyes and ears on such Denials of History ? So I wouldn’t be surprised that they make a Puki -Yama of this whole bloody mess of wholesale pollutions globally !r
Like in most poor families, I grew up eating a lot of salted fish, eggs and vegetables in those days. Grandma and Mom were both uneducated and they do not know the dangers of eating such foods. All they ever care was such foods are very cheap and affordable and could filled up our stomachs. We used to eat them all year round, years after years. Thank our lucky stars none of us was afflicted with cancers then. But now, we knew better. I won’t touch them for anything in the world. BTW cancer of the upper esophagus is also known as “Kwangtung Cancer” or “Cantonese Cancer” because most of its victims are of Cantonese descent and they have one thing in common – a love for salted food.
Oh yes, one more thing, Yee Sang dish without the fish slices is just as great. Good news for those who eat very little meat or none at all. You just need to get use to it and have compassionate for the poor fish, then you won’t notice the fish slices were missing from this dish! Treat it as another salad dish and you will be very happy 🙂