Author Archives: Aidan Bradbury-Aranda

Chinese Riddle/Tongue Twister

“men wai you shi shi shi zhi shi shi zi,

hui shi you shi shi shi zhi shi shi zi ?”

Listen

 “Beyond the door are 44 stone lions, or are they 44 dead lions?”

“This one is really common in schools, at least in my experience, because not only is it a riddle or a play on words, but the best way to describe it is a tongue twister. To be able to say it would prove your aptitude with the language, because Chinese works on a system where you have four pronunciation levels; there’s a flat, a rising, a dip and then a fall tone, and with the tone itself it changes meaning. Anyway, its a very short phrase, and translated it means, “Beyond the door are 44 stone lions, or are they 44 dead lions?” Usually the person hearing the rhyme is not expected to have an answer for it, in the context I learned it its not so much for that as it is can you say it and not mess up, and if you don’t mess up then you’re pretty good.  One of the most important things about speaking Chinese is to be aware of the difference in meaning one change in tone can make. I mean for me it was a lot of fun, and kids get a lot of bravado because they feel they know how to pronounce words properly. So it was a way to encourage kids to learn tonal differences. I never really studied why this tongue twister became so popular, but I do know that a lot of old Chinese houses like stone lions in front of their doors, as guardian spirits.” (see entry: Chinese Door Guardians)

The informant who told me about this tongue twister was born and grew up in Hong Kong for a great part of his life. He speaks fluent Chinese and has had significant exposure to Chinese culture, given the fact that he and his family still speak the language and practice many of the traditional customs. He moved to the US in 5th grade.

The informant remembers first learning this tongue twister in school about 9 years ago, when he still lived in Hong Kong. China has a very established culture of tongue twisters, given that the language is difficult to speak and tonal differences are key. He says that this is one of he most prolific and popular tongue twisters in China, and like the others, it relies on the difficulty of its pronunciation to create the challenge. Apparently this is a shortened version of a longer, more difficult tongue twister that is practiced by people schooled in traditional Chinese, however, this is the more popular one.

Chinese New Years

Chinese New Years

The informant who told me about the traditions associated with Chinese New Years was born and grew up in Hong Kong for a great part of his life. He speaks fluent Chinese and has had significant exposure to Chinese culture, given the fact that he and his family still speak the language and practice many of the traditional customs. He moved to the US in 5th grade.

Chinese New Years usually takes place during the end of January or in the beginning of February based on the Gregorian Calendar, because it is lunar based in comparison to the Western Calendar and therefore follows the moon. It is formally a fifteen day celebration, however, the informant’s family usually doesn’t celebrate past the second or third day and then the fifteenth day because it is significant in its own right. Throughout the New Year’s celebration, there is a tradition of saying auspicious phrases, which are usually 4 character phrases, related to good luck and happiness in every situation (See entry: Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years).

On New Years Eve there’s a big dinner, where the family eats a lot of food. The informant’s family, like a lot of Chinese families, places a lot of emphasis on abundance so the meal is a lot about saving up to have an abundance and then not wasting it. It is traditional to clear the table of food. There are puns, given that some of the foods have significant meanings – for example fish is eaten during New Year’s Eve dinner because fish sounds like the Chinese word for “abundance”. Tonal difference again is important. You eat foods like this to get good luck, homeopathically. In a more modern context on New Years Eve, you turn on the TV to a station that is celebrating. It is a really big deal, with people doing traditional plays or traditional performances like the dragon dance, which all come from stories about monsters and how New Years originally was a way to scare away those monsters with noise and fireworks. According to the informant, there is not too much of a liminal sense to the way in which his family celebrates New Years, other than making noise. Although here in the US there are stricter regulations on fireworks, back in Hong Kong, streets explode with fireworks, especially in more rural areas where the tradition stays really strong. New Years Day is a day when the entire family spends time with the fathers side of the family. Visiting his father’s parents is very convenient for the informant, given that the informant’s grandmother lives with them. It is therefore a pretty normal day, however there is a tradition for the elders to give kids red pockets or red envelopes. Giving a red envelope with money to a child meant that you hoped they would live long enough to use it. It used to be a reality that before the age of 1, many children in China died. The giving of red envelopes was an assurance that they would survive. New Years Day also involves more food, but it is a different set of food. This includes a vegetable that sounds exactly like the Chinese phrase for good luck or prosperity.

The Second Day, you visit the mom’s side of the family, which can be difficult for some people like the informant’s family since his mom’s family lives in Hong Kong. Instead he calls. The third day is called ‘Red Mouth’ which is connected to the fact that you are not supposed to talk to people that day. In a modern context, no one really practices that anymore, but it used to be practiced because apparently you risked making inflammatory remarks, angering people, and ruining relationships. The informant’s family doesn’t observe it. In fact his family primarily observes only Day 1 and Day 2 because that is all about visiting family and congratulating everyone for making it to the new year. An interesting fact is that in China, instead of saying “Happy New Year” you say “Congratulations”. This is due to the belief back in the old days that there were monsters that terrorized villages, and to escape being eaten by the monster on New Years Eve and to survive and make it to the new year was a big deal. Fireworks have something to do with why monsters don’t exist anymore, because they scare them off and starve them to death. The informant doesn’t really know what happens from day 4-14, given that his family doesn’t observe these days. Day 15, however, is the end of the New Year period, and it is celebrated with the lantern festival. Traditionally people would make lanterns with riddles on them. Its all about riddles, poetry and also eating dumplings, since the word for these dumplings is a pun of “lantern festival” in Chinese. The informant knows that in China and Hong Kong give breaks from school for students, but due to the fact that it is not the case here, he and his family work around and celebrate the most significant days of it. As he says, “It’s Chinese New Years in a very light sense.” He also said that his family used to dress traditional dress during this time, but after immigrating to the US a lot of things got watered down because people do not have the time. The informant has celebrated the traditional Chinese New Year for the entirety of his life.

Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years

Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years

“These are nice, compacted ways of wishing very generic and relatable positive thoughts during New Years. They are usually 4 character phrases… It is interesting that there is an entire canon of what you’re supposed to say at the event of greeting people during the New Year. There’s a certain ring to the way these phrases are said. And to be able to say these things, the more you’re able to say and the more pertinent they are to the recipient, the more impressive they are. Also, the more metaphorical they are and the more artful they are, the more impressive they are to the recipient.”

The informant who told me about these auspicious phrases was born and grew up in Hong Kong for a great part of his life. He speaks fluent Chinese and has had significant exposure to Chinese culture, given the fact that he and his family still speak the language and practice many of the traditional customs. He moved to the US in 5th grade.

 

出入平安 “Chu ru ping an”

“May you have peace wherever you enter and wherever you exit”

“Peace and safety to all who come and go”

This is said to someone who travels a lot, because it means you have peace both in and out. It is also popular to put over entranceways.

 

学业进步 “Xue ye jin bu”

“Improvement in studies”

This phrase is about good luck and success in academics. People say this when they greet each other during New Years, especially to younger people, students, who are indeed studying.

 

恭喜发财 “Gong xi fa cai”

“Congratulations on your luck”

People wish each other congratulations on New Years because of the old belief that there was a monster called “Nian” (which is a pun in and of itself because the Chinese word for “year” is “nian”) that would come out every New Year’s Eve and eat villagers. To survive that was good luck and something to be celebrated. In a more literal sense, the phrase is a pun, since it means “surviving” the year as well as surviving the monster. This is the traditional way of wishing “Happy New Year”, and is used most frequently in China.

 

新年快乐 “Xin nian kuai le”

“Happy New Year / New Year Happiness”

This is the modern way of saying “Happy New Year”. It is used more commonly now due to the fact that it comes closer to the meaning of the wester phrase of “Happy New Year”. This phrase is used more frequently in Hong Kong and the West.

“Spune-mi cu cine te insotesti ca sa-ti spun cine esti.”

“Spune-mi cu cine te insotesti ca sa-ti spun cine esti”

 “Tell me who your company is and I will tell you who you are”

The informant who told me this proverb was born and raised in Romania until she came to high school in the US. Given the fact that she is a native Romanian, she knows a lot about the customs and traditions of the country, especially due to her large family, and the setting she grew up in from an early age.

The informant remembers hearing her grandmother say this proverb a lot during her childhood. It essentially means that your friends, the circle of people you interact with, are a mirror of yourself, and that you can learn a lot about the person in question by finding out about their friends. This rings true in many ways. The people you keep around you are people you like, they share your views, your values, your opinions to a great degree. Therefore, expecting to find information about someone by knowing the traits and characteristics of his/her friends, is often very helpful. There are times when someone’s friends are the complete opposite of who they are, and that’s why they like to keep them around, but even at this level there are bound to be some fundamental values shared by both of you. Friendship is based on shared interests, therefore, this proverb draws on a true fact of chemistry and relationships between people.

Sharing Food in Romania

 Sharing Food in Romania

“If you offer people some of your food, you have to take the first bite and the last bite. If someone else takes the first bite, it means that they are going to steal your significant other, and if they take your last bite, it means they are stealing your luck.”

The informant who told me about this folk belief was born and raised in Romania until she came to high school in the US. Given the fact that she is a native Romanian, she knows a lot about the customs and traditions of the country, especially due to her large family, and the setting she grew up in from an early age.

Romanians have many folk beliefs about spouses being unfaithful and being either metaphorically or physically “stolen”, as well as many beliefs associated with luck, how to keep it or how to lose it. This folk belief associated with the sharing of food seems to fuse both of these genres together, in a very literal way. Food is very important in Romania and a lot of time and effort goes into making it, so having someone else take the first and last bite of your food may show disrespect and could be the reason for why it has negative connotations.