A Smashing Success: The Surprising History of the Piñata in Latino/x Culture

Born in China, christened in Italy, and raised in Mexico . . . the little donkey everyone loves has come a long, long way! Read about the surprising origins of the piñata and how it became an iconic symbol of Hispanic and Latino/x culture!

What’s the History of the Piñata? Why Is It So Popular in Hispanic and Latino/x Culture?

The piñata is a well-known part of Hispanic and Latino/x culture that has also become quite popular in the U.S. — even among people who don’t have Hispanic or Latino/x roots. Walk into any big box store across the country, and you’re likely to find a variety of a piñatas in the party section, ready to be filled with treats and to bring a touch of magic to a kid’s birthday party. But, even though the piñata is soooo popular, most people don’t realize how far back its history goes and how many different cultures played a role in the evolution of this important part of celebrations all over Latin America. So, where did the piñata come from, and how did it become a part of Hispanic and Latino/x culture?

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Historians believe that the iconic burro piñata we know and love today likely evolved over the past 700 years from a mix of Chinese, Spanish, Aztec, and Mexican cultural, religious, and artistic traditions. In short, the most widely accepted theory is that the piñata was: made in China, christened in Italy, and raised in Mexico!  

From China through Europe and on to the New World and its presence in the celebrations of many Hispanic and Latino/x cultures.

Born in China

In the late 13th century (the 1200s), Marco Polo, an explorer and merchant from Venice (Italy), traveled the “Silk Road” — the name for what was then the main trade route between Europe and Asia. He wrote a famous book about his experiences, and he also brought home interesting things and ideas that later spread across Europe.

An 1954 Italian postage stamp celebrates the 700-year anniversary of Marco Polo’s travels between Venice and China along the Silk Road.

While in Asia, Marco Polo came across a New Year’s tradition involving hollow sculptures shaped like the local farm animals (cows, oxen, and water buffalo). Villagers would craft the sculptures out of a paper-like material and stuff them with seeds. As part of a celebration, they would hang the sculptures and hit them with sticks until they broke and the seeds poured out, symbolizing their hope for good weather and an abundant harvest in the coming year. The sculptures and seeds were then burned in a bonfire and the ashes gathered for good luck.

Marco Polo is believed to have brought a Chinese New Year tradition back to Italy that inspired an early European version of the piñata.

Christened in Italy

Marco Polo is said to have brought a few examples of the Chinese sculptures home with him that inspired Italians to adopt a similar tradition, give it a European name, and use it as a symbol in Christian religious ceremonies. In the early 14th century (the 1300s), Italians began to fill clay cooking pots called “pignattas” with treats and break them to celebrate the first Sunday of in the Catholic season of Lent.

Instead of animal sculptures, the Italians used clay pots called pignattas.

The Spaniards later adopted this tradition with slightly different clay pots and a Spanish spelling: piñata. Although the pots were plain at first, over time, the Europeans began to decorate the piñatas with colorful ribbons and paper.

Raised in Mexico

The piñata really “took off” (pun intended) and began to make its way into Hispanic and Latino/x culture in the 1500s, when Catholic missionaries began traveling across the Atlantic to Mesoamerica (parts of modern-day Mexico and Central America) with the Spanish Conquistadors.

The Missionary Transposition

The missionaries discovered the happy coincidence (from their point of view, of course) that similar traditions already existed among the native Aztec and Mayan populations. Religious missionaries have long known that converting other peoples is easier if you can associate your religion with something they already do or believe in. The Aztecs celebrated the birthday of Huitzilopochtli, their god of war, with a piñata-like ritual every December (which is also the month in which Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus). Aztec priests would decorate a clay pot and fill it with small gifts and then place the pot on a pole in the temple of Huitzilopochtli. The clay pot was then hit with a stick until it broke open, showering the god with the gifts in honor of his birthday. The Mayans (who were very much into sports and competitions) also played a game in which the players’ eyes would be covered and they would have to try to hit a hanging clay pot.

The Spanish missionaries took advantage of the similarity of the piñata to these existing traditions to help attract the native populations to Catholicism. The first recorded (written down in the historical record) use of the piñata by Spanish missionaries took place in 1586 in the town of Acolman de Nezahualcóyotl (now a part of Mexico) close to Teotihuacan. Augustinian friars organized special masses in the 12 days leading up to Christmas where they used the piñata to help teach the native people about the principles of Christianity. The priests decorated the piñatas with seven cones to represent the seven deadly sins: envy, sloth (laziness), gluttony (overconsumption), greed, lust, anger, and pride. Smashing those cones and the piñata with a stick to release its treats was likely meant to symbolize the defeat of evil and the rewards of good behavior.

Photo Credit: Alejandro Linares Garcia via Wiki Commons CC BY-SA 4.0/Statue of a Franciscan friar hitting a piñata in Acolman, Mexico State.

A Donkey in the Manger