Red envelope

Red envelope
Assorted examples of contemporary red envelopes
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese紅包
Simplified Chinese红包
Literal meaning"red packet"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinhóngbāo
IPA[xʊ̌ŋ.páʊ]
Hakka
Romanizationfung bao
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationhùhngbāau
Jyutpinghung4 baau1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJâng-pau
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese利是 or 利事
Literal meaning"good for business"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinlìshì
IPA[lî.ʂî]
Hakka
Romanizationli si
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationlàihsih
Jyutpinglai6 si6
Southern Min
Hokkien POJlī-chhī
Burmese name
Burmeseအန်ပေါင်း
an paung
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetlì xì
mừng tuổi
Hán-Nôm利市
𢜠歲
Thai name
Thaiอั่งเปา
RTGSang pow
Japanese name
Kanjiお年玉袋
祝儀袋
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburnotoshidama-bukuro
shūgi-bukuro
Malay name
Malayangpau
Filipino name
Tagalogᜀᜅ᜔ᜉᜏ᜔ / ᜀᜋ᜔ᜉᜏ᜔
angpao / ampaw
Khmer name
Khmerអាំងប៉ាវ
ăngpav

A red envelope, red packet, hongbao or ang pau (traditional Chinese: 紅包; simplified Chinese: 红包; pinyin: hóngbāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: âng-pau) is a gift of money given during holidays or for special occasions such as weddings, graduations, and birthdays.[1] It originated in China before spreading across parts of Southeast Asia and other countries with sizable ethnic Chinese populations.

In the mid-2010s, a digital equivalent to the practice emerged within messaging apps with mobile wallet systems localized for the Chinese New Year, particularity WeChat.

  1. ^ "Red Pockets". chinesenewyear.net. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.