Text:
“There’s a guy
Chinese: 后羿
Phonetic: Hòu yì
Transliteration: Back Yi
Translation: Hou Yi
and in his world there are ten suns and everything is super hot and he basically went and he basically shoot nine of them down and the one we have is the one he left alone and yeah he is a hero for doing this”
Context:
Informant (CQ) is a student aged 19 from Shanghai, China. He attended high school in the U.S. and currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned the story from a Chinese fairy tale book when he was in elementary school. He sees the meaning to be that one hero must do what they can for the good of all.
Interpretation:
This story demonstrates a belief in Chinese culture that one must do what he can for the betterment of the many. In this case, Hou Yi must shoot down nine suns for the good of the world.
For another version of this story, see here:
https://www.timelessmyths.com/gods/chinese/hou-yi/
Author Archives: John Cabaniss
The Dragon Boat Festival
Text:
The festival is called:
Chinese: 端午節
Phonetic: Duānwǔjié
Transliteration: End Noon Festival
Translation: Dragon Boat Festival
“I think the festival is around his death, so it really is just a festival to commemorate him the guy who jumped into the river and killed himself the guy who suicided I guess I mean it’s in the name although it’s not really a tradition anymore it’s really more about the food nowadays more than racing dragon boats they still do it in southern china. It still happens but it’s less common than just eating the food thats what we do mostly. We don’t really do much we just know that day is a day off and we eat Zongzi as a family.”
Context:
Informant (XY) is a student aged 19 from Changsha, China. He spent a few years going to elementary school in Canada but has spent almost his entire life in China. He currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned about this from his family. He doesn’t really see any larger meaning behind the festival.
Interpretation:
This piece demonstrates how festivals have changed with industrialization. As (XY) mentions, this festival today is more seen as a day off than anything else. The piece demonstrates how festival practices have changed with industrialization, and, in China, how the Cultural Revolution has impacted traditional cultural practices.
Story Behind Zongzi and the Dragon Boat Festival
Text:
“The story behind the food I mentioned is that theres like this poet figure or something back in ancient China I’m not sure but what happened was he like during the warring states period he he advocated for like changes in the political systems he was like a political advocate of that time like a politician he had like this view for the country but like the country betrayed him by like banishing him and treating as like a traitor or like how communists were treated before the civil war and he felt very betrayed by like the country and he had no hopes for the future and so he killed himself by jumping into the river and he was really loved by the people because he was a really nice person and the people knew what he did so to commemorate him they would make this food to prevent his body from being eaten by the fish in the river the food wasn’t meant for them to be eating–this is also a myth story about the food–they would throw it into the river and they would eat the food instead of his body and thats how they wanted to preserve him i guess during that kind of festival.”
Context:
Informant (XY) is a student aged 19 from Changsha, China. He spent a few years going to elementary school in Canada but has spent almost his entire life in China. He currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned about this story from school. He feels like the story is promoted by the government to promote patriotism.
Interpretation:
As (XY) already mentioned in his own interpretation, this story has experienced recent growth in retellings as a result of the Chinese Government. This is an example of governments using folklore for nationalistic purposes. In this instance, it is to support those who criticized the old regime.
Anti-Imperial Ghost Story
Text:
“Well, there’s this one that I do know. I don’t know the details but there’s this one well inside the palace museum in Beijing. So there’s this well that makes strange noises at night or something and people say it’s because there was this one princess, or–I don’t think it was a princess–I think it was a servant for the nobles and what happened was she was mistreated and she was very young and she just decided to kill herself in the well, and that became her spirit there, and people say they can see her ghost wandering around the well late at night.”
Context:
Informant (XY) is a student aged 19 from Changsha, China. He spent a few years going to elementary school in Canada but has spent almost his entire life in China. He currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned about this from Chinese TikTok. To him, the story is an example of the evils of the past nobility.
Interpretation
This piece demonstrates how new stories are told as a result of modern media. TikTok has created a new medium for folklore to be communicated amongst people. It is also rather interesting to note that this story came to (XY) not from family or friends, but from strangers on the internet. The story also demonstrates anti-imperialist ideas amongst the Chinese people. It is even possible that the story’s circulation was positively impacted by its anti-imperialist nature. It’s a well-known fact that the Chinese government has a group of people creating fake pro-CCP posts on Chinese social media. Could this even be an example of a fake ghost story being circulated by such groups? That question is beyond the scope of this interview.
Zongzi
Text:
“So there’s this interesting food we eat during this one special holiday, the Dragon Boat Festival. It’s a special kind of rice wrapped around some other food. Like we can put meat or sticky rice inside and then we wrap it in like a tree leaf. Then we steam it. It’s a lotus tea leaf. The food is called:
Chinese: 粽子
Phonetic: Zòngzi
Transliteration: Rice dumplings son
Translation: Zongzi, a type of rice dumpling
We don’t usually eat that food during other times of the year. It’s mostly a variation of it during other times of the year or the traditional form during the Dragon Boat Festival.”
Context:
Informant (XY) is a student aged 19 from Changsha, China. He spent a few years going to elementary school in Canada but has spent almost his entire life in China. He currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned about this from his family. He doesn’t really see any larger meaning behind the food.
Interpretation:
This particular food demonstrates how one food specific to a particular festival can undergo variation with the growth in wealth of the lower classes. This dish was originally eaten very sparingly, but due to economic developments, it is now eaten outside of the original festival. In order to preserve its traditional meaning, versions eaten outside of the original festival must vary.