Kit Hung
Passing the Torch: Red Envelopes and the Queer Stories entangled with Lunar New Year
In this photo series I would like to share with you the queer feelings and stories entangled with the practice of giving red envelopes during Chinese New Year. The practice of giving red envelopes is rooted in Sinophone culture all over the world. During festive season, especially Chinese New Year, the elderlies or married relatives will give red envelopes to the youngsters for good wishes.
I am the oldest son in the family. When I was 19, I came out to my parents as gay and ran away from home and didn’t talk to my mom for 6 years. During this period, I was studying in the U.S. and moved to live in Europe afterward, so I didn’t spend Chinese New Year with my family. Even after I went back to in Hong Kong, as we are not living together, I might just visit them for a few hours on the 1st day of Chinese New Year or the evening before. Although I am married (in Switzerland, not in Hong Kong), I seldom give away red envelopes as I often feel these Chinese customs and old practices reminded me of the responsibility of the eldest son in the family, which I am not willing and impossible to take, and I constantly feel guilty about it.
This year, I spent Chinese New Year in Switzerland with my husband, which is a perfect reason for me to escape from the guilt and not to give away any red envelope. However, on the contrary, I especially handmade 10 red envelopes and sent them to Hong Kong, to give away to relatives and my friends’ children. And this is how I want to start this photos series.
Kit Hung graduated from the MFA program from the Department of Film, Video and New Media, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His films have won numerous international awards, and was screened at over 160 international film festivals. His debut feature "Soundless Wind Chime" (2009, Hong Kong/Switzerland/China) was nominated for the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and won him Best Director and Best New Director in Spain, Italy and Canada. HIs second feature “Stoma” was primed in the Taipei Gold Horse International Film Festival, Taiwan. He is currently working between Hong Kong and London, being a researcher in the PhD program in Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK and is teaching film studies and film production at the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. His main research interest are Cinema Affects, Hauntology and Queer Asian Cinema.
The above are 2 photos of my nieces, the 2 sons of my middle sister, Matthew (6) and Gabriel (4). Matthew is holding the red envelopes I sent them. In front of them is the candy box of more than 35 years old. These photos are taken in my parents’ home where I grew up.
The two in the above photos are Quentin (11) and MiuMiu (4). They are the children of a very close friends, with whom I worked together in many projects. We know each other for many years, they are also holding the red envelopes I sent them.
The one in Photo 5 is Michaela (3), our god daughter from Switzerland. She is a mixed race child, whose mother is from Switzerland and her father is from Mainland China. They are living in Hong Kong.
Next, I would like to show you a decoration in my living room in Switzerland that I constantly “re-decorated”.
It is a handmade Christmas present my husband received many years ago from one of his nieces. It’s a chain of blue plastic peals with paper clips in between, it allows you to clip your photos and hang it around. But for many years, me and my husband used this decoration to clip all the red envelopes we received from my parents, so it is constantly redecorated. Unclipping the red envelopes from the chain, there’re around 20 red envelopes given to me/us from 2009-2017. What is interesting to me is that not only the time-stained, colour faded red envelopes, but the words and best wishes written on the back of the envelopes from my parents. “Happy Birthday, 2009” “Protection of Safe and Calm”, most importantly, the one written “Gerbi 2012 Spring Festival” and “Mon and Dad to Gerbi 2016”, which signify a process of acceptance of different culture, different race and different sexual orientation into a Chinese traditional family.
“Gerbi” is the nickname of my Husband adapted from his family name “Gerber”. The Chinese New Year 2012 was the 1st time my partner received a blessing from my parents. If we count the stonewall riots in 1978 as a starting point of the LGBTQ movement of the world, although there’s enormous effort being put on, starting from decriminalizing LGBT act, voicing-up, increasing visibility to positive representation, till the almost out-dated same-sex marriage and recently rainbow family and biological child, it seems to me that - it really takes much longer, or even a completely different dimension of effort for my closest blood-kins, to accept that I am gay, or put it in a subtle Chinese way — to accept my same sex husband, to accept that they will not have a grandson. It seems to me the mainstream, westernized queer movement, exactly the one sharing in Hong Kong, is omitted the “local culture” the unique characteristic in our queerness in our culture, that needs to be talked about, be visible, and be imagined. After 6 years of silent with my parents, topics of homosexuality are usually muted in my family conversation. The latest shock to them, is when I announced my same sex-marriage to my partner, which meant to them “my gay is forever, and the grandson is gone forever, and the family name stop in my father’s generation.”. It takes years of effort between us, for us to visit each other in Switzerland and Hong Kong and get to know my partners with their broken English, to accept their “new son”. So, with the little power I have, I produced and directed the short film “Forever 17”, which begins with a futuristic moment of Ricky finding the old red envelopes of his dead partner, which was given by Ricky’s parents. And I especially re-enacted this moment of seemingly very normal, but significant in my queer experience, when my parents are giving the red envelope to my partner.
Opening Scene, Photo stills from “Forever 17” (Hong Kong, 2020, 36mins)
Chinese New Year, video stills from “Forever 17” (Hong Kong, 2020, 36mins)
It takes me a very long time, facing only obstacles and continuous failure trying to gain recognition and status for my husband in Hong Kong. Finally, I accepted that our marriage does not mean anything to the Hong Kong immigration which he will not be able to go back to Hong Kong with me as a spouse nor a husband during the pandemic. Living between Switzerland, London and Hong Kong really feels like splitting my mind to fit in different social understanding of “same sex marriage”. Following my heart as a gay man has almost detached me from my heritage, traditions, rituals, my family and my root. In the context of Chinese Culture, I have a feeling that I am expected to do so much things as a grown, eldest son in the family, but I am not entitled to do it because of my sexual orientation, and my unrecognized marriage — especially, giving red envelope away to the youngsters as a married uncle. The covid19-social-distancing indeed haven’t made much difference between me and my already-distanced-family. But this Chinese New Year is different - Thanks to a friend, I received the “rainbow” red envelope produced by Viu TV which I ordered 2 years ago. In 2016, the new TV station in Hong Kong “Viu”, produced a series of TV ads promoting same sex love, encouraging queer people to bring their partner home during Chinese New Year, promoting the slogan “Love is Love, we are all one”, together with the below “rainbow” red envelope to be given away for free. Since each of them are individually printed, hand cut, folded and glued, only a small amount of order can be placed, I was very lucky, this friend helped me to get 4 of them. With my family name and my partner’s family name printed on it.
It was one night in the beginning of Feb of the covid-19, I looked at these red envelopes and the old ones clipped-up beside the wall. Thinking of continuing the lovely tradition of Chinese New Year, especially during this covid-19 period, with the extended physical distance and desire of getting closer motivated me to give away red envelopes. I started to unfold and open the clued envelopes, scanned them into the computer, and printed another 10 copies out of it, hand cut them one by one, folded them and glued them up again and send them to Hong Kong. I didn’t say one word about the envelopes but just to ask the parents to put money inside and give it to their child. And I think, these rainbow red envelopes with our name on it, which stand for the diversity of race, a same-sex domestic unit, their gay uncles whose have been together for more than 20 years, speak more than thousand words in their heart.