Dou du, the bib
The cloth a child ties against the chest and belly. The grandmother on the mother’s side brings one at the month-old feast; the one worn at chu huayuan is new, and holds twelve longans and two copper coins.
Pronunciation dù dōu｜Rites of life｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
The dou du is a piece of cloth tied close to the body, guarding the chest and the belly, with tapes knotted behind the neck and behind the waist. When a child reaches a month, it comes in the load of clothes the grandmother on the mother’s side brings: gown, red shoes, cat hat, cradle, and this among them.
On the day of chu huayuan the bib is new, and twelve longans and two copper coins go inside it. That day the child changes into new clothes, new shoes and a new bib, so that the layer next to the skin is changed too.
When you see it
In two places: in the gifts carried at the month-old feast, and in the change of clothes at chu huayuan. The new bib at chu huayuan is recorded everywhere as a thing of the old days.
Words easily confused
The dou du is not the huan chang du: one is cloth tied on the body, the other a bowl of pork offal on the table, and only the shared character for belly makes them look alike at a glance. Nor is it the belly band worn by adults; this is the child’s version.
Read next: Chu huayuan: coming of age at fifteen by the old count.
See also: Birth rites: the month-old shave and the grandmother’s gifts.
Same group: chu huayuan, the flower bath, the month-old feast.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026