Kai xing, the first taste of meat
The rite that lets a child eat meat for the first time: three meats and rice cakes are offered to the bed goddess, and each item on the tray carries a meaning.
Pronunciation kāi xīng｜Rites of passage｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Three meats and rice cakes are set out for the bed goddess, and among the offerings there must be small dried fish, a chicken’s tongue, a chicken’s thigh and dried tofu. They are laid on the wooden lid of the water vat, the child is held while incense is burned and the family bows, and then, at the vat, the child is fed a token mouthful of rice: from here it may eat meat.
Each item carries its sense. The small dried fish stands for the saying that even the tiniest fish has its swim bladder — the wish that the child have nerve from the start. A chicken’s tongue is pointed, for cleverness. Dried tofu is square like an official’s seal, for holding the seal one day.
When you see it
The day differs by county: some keep it between the seventh and the twelfth day, some wait until the child is four months old. Around Chenghai the child is carried to bow to the bed goddess on the day, and afterwards a little fish and meat is taken up for the child to lick.
Words easily confused
This is the beginning of eating meat, and not the same thing as the first haircut at the full month; some places do both on one day, some apart. What is worshipped here is the bed goddess, not the ancestors, so no table is set in the ancestral hall.
Read next: Birth rites: the third day, the full month, the first birthday.
See also: Rites of passage: five thresholds.
Same group: the first haircut, the full month, the third day.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026