Huan chang du, the changing of the intestines
After the offerings at chu huayuan the child drinks a bowl of pork offal soup, the sign of beginning again from the inside.
Pronunciation huàn cháng dǔ｜Rites of life｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
A bowl of soup made from pork offal, five parts of it: intestine, tripe, liver, kidney and heart. It is brought in once the bed goddess has been offered to, and the child drinks first — the point being that the old insides are exchanged and he starts life anew.
The bowl also has its place on the noon garden table: in the five bowls recorded around Rongcheng it comes first, its meaning written as the changing of the intestines, a new beginning.
When you see it
On the day of chu huayuan, eaten as soon as the offerings are done and before the noon meal is laid. On other days this bowl is not made on purpose.
Words easily confused
It is the name of a bowl of soup, not a set of actions. Nor is it kai xing, the first taste of meat: that is about eating meat for the first time, while this is about changing a status.
Read next: Chu huayuan: the date, the offerings and the order of the rite.
See also: Rites of life: the five thresholds side by side.
Same group: chu huayuan, biting the chicken’s head.
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Last revised: 4 November 2026