Author Archives: Matthew Wu

Leaving the Stove On and the Faucet Running – Chinese Joke

Context: This joke was told by one of my coworkers at a boba place. We had closed early that day and the manager had brought us pizza, so we ate and took turns telling jokes. I chimed in and asked if I could use some of them for my folklore project, to which my coworker (KC) agreed. This is the last joke that she told us.

Story: 

“An old married couple went out for dinner one night. The wife suddenly shouted ‘Oh crap, I forgot to turn off the stove, there could be a fire’. She urged her husband to hurry home with her. The husband thought about it for a while, then comforted her saying ‘don’t worry, I also forgot to turn off the faucet.’”

Background: My coworker got this joke from her dad, who heard it from his dad. She thought the joke was funny because it played off of stereotypes of old couples in China and how they are always forgetful. The punchline is that while the wife forgot to turn off the stove, the house wouldn’t burn down because the husband also forgot to turn off the faucet and left the water running.

Thoughts: This joke actually made me laugh out loud, and the punchline is pretty unique. One thing that I’ve learned from hearing a lot of Chinese jokes through my parents, friends, and different television channels is that there are a lot of jokes about old married couples where the wife is often annoyed at the husband and the husband often has to comfort the wife. The funny part of most of these jokes is that at least one of the two is forgetful of something. I’ve often seen my parents and friend’s parents point to each other and say “that’s you” jokingly when they hear an old married couple joke, which I think sheds insight into how the joke contributes to Chinese culture in the sense that these stereotypes have at least some sort of universal truth to them.

Chinese Legend about Zeng Zi

Context: I heard this legend from my friend (AL) in one of our calls where I asked him about Chinese tales and legends. This is one of the three stories that he told me. 

Story: 

AL: “I think I heard this one from my Chinese teacher, but it also could have been from my grandparents who I was living with at the time. Do you know who Zeng Zi is?

Me: “Never heard of him, really.”

AL: “What about Confucious.”

Me: “Yea he’s that Chinese philosopher dude.”

AL: “Yeee. Zeng Zi was kinda like his disciple, and he was a very respectable and honest person. So one day, Zeng Zi’s wife was going to the market, and his son wanted to go to the market, too. Zeng Zi’s wife was in a hurry and didn’t want to bring her son along, so she told him to stay home. Her son started throwing a tantrum, so the mother told him that if he stayed home, she would kill a pig later so that they could have pork for dinner. I’m pretty sure that back then, pork and other good meat were only really eaten over holidays or special occasions, so the son was excited and agreed to stay home. Zeng Zi’s wife had no intention of killing a pig of course and only lied to her son to make him behave. However, when Zeng Zi’s wife came home from the market that day, she saw Zeng Zi sharpening a knife and getting ready to kill a pig. Zeng Zi’s wife told him that she wasn’t serious and only told their son that they were going to have pork for dinner to make him behave. Zeng Zi sternly replied that parents should not teach their children to lie because children won’t listen to their parents if they lie. He said that if she had lied to their son, their son would think that it is okay to lie to others as well. Because of this, Zeng Zi killed the pig and the family had pork for dinner.”

Me: “Who do you think the legend is aimed towards?”

AL: “I would honestly say that it is applicable to everyone. It serves as a lesson to both adults and children to be careful with what they say. There’s also the idea that although children have to respect and listen to their parents, their parents also have to act responsibly.”

Thoughts: When I heard the legend, I also thought that it was a lesson aimed at everyone. I think that the legend demonstrates the Chinese values of honor and respect. I also did some further research and realized that in this legend and most Chinese legends, the name of women are seldom mentioned unless they are the main characters or supposed to be regarded as extremely beautiful. Although this specific story is a legend, this reinforces what we’ve learned in class about tales and stories being sexist because history is sexist.

Nuwa’s Creation of Humanity – Chinese Myth

Context: After learning about myths in class, I was interested if there were any Chinese creation myths. I called up a friend of mine (JK) who knew a lot about creation stories, and he told me this one about Nuwa creating humanity. 

Story: 

JK: “This myth is about the creation of humanity, and the main divine being in the myth is Nuwa. Nuwa, sometimes called Nugua, is basically the mother goddess in Chinese mythology and is one of the most compassionate gods. The story goes that after the creation of the world, Nuwa was filled with feelings of loneliness, which only grew more and more intense. In order to solve this problem, she molded yellow clay into a smaller version of herself. These were the first humans, but Nuwa soon realized that molding individual humans one by one was too time-consuming, and devised a new method by dragging a piece of string across the dirt. And that’s really all there is to it.”

Background: My friend first learned about this myth from hearing that Nuwa was the creator of humanity in his Chinese school. He did some more digging and asked his parents if they knew more about Nuwa and humanity’s creation, and his father told him the story. My friend’s outlook after some research on the myth is that those on top of the social hierarchy in ancient China created this myth for their own gain because the rich nobles at the time thought that they were the first people who were hand crated by Nuwa. They believed that the commoners were those that were created by Nuwa dragging string through the mud, which is why the nobles were more privileged and important to society.

Thoughts: After doing some further digging, I learned that Nuwa did a lot of things in order to help humanity in Chinese mythology. When the fire and water gods were fighting, they tore up the sky and Nuwa was the one that had to calm them down. She single-handedly patched up the sky and stopped all the storms that were the result of the fighting. I thought the myth of humanity’s creation was really interesting because of the way the nobles used it and perceived themselves to be naturally born into a higher class due to a difference in their creation from the peasants. I also learned that a lot of other cultures had similar ideas of mankind being created from earth or clay. One example of this is Prometheus creating humanity from clay in Greek mythology. 

For more stories about Nuwa, please visit https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nu-Gua.

Turning a Metal Rod into a Sewing Needle – Chinese Legend

Context: I was curious about more legends after I went home for lunch over the weekend, and after hearing about the legend behind the Dragon Boat Festival, I asked my mother to tell me more. 

Story: 

SS: “So this legend is about another famous Chinese poet *pause*, probably the most famous Chinese poet actually. You know about Li Bai?”

Me: “Oh yea everyone knows Li Bai.”

SS: “Well according to legend, he wasn’t always so studious and focused. He was actually very mischievous and would cause trouble all the time as a child. A lot like you and your brother when you two were younger actually.”

Me: “…”

SS: “I’m only half-joking don’t worry. Anyway *pause*, oh right. So Li Bai wasn’t always so studious. But one day, he came across an old lady near a river when he was skipping his lessons. The old lady was grinding a metal rod on a stone repeatedly, and this intrigued Li Bai. He asked what she was doing this for, and the old lady replied that she was grinding it into a sewing needle to…”

Me: “Wait a sewing needle?”

SS: *smiling dryly* “Yes. I would imagine that Li Bai was as surprised as you are. He told the woman that grinding a metal rod into a needle would take many years, but the old woman replied that as long as she persevered in doing so, there was nothing that she could not achieve in the world. That day, Li Bai was moved by what the old woman said, and focused on his studies. That is why he became one of the greatest poets in China. 

Background: This legend is another very popular one in China, and is one that my parents have both heard from their teachers in school when they were young. This legend is used to teach children the value of hard work, and if these children are mischievous, they could relate to Li Bai and see that they are also able to work hard if they put their minds to it. My mother said she interpreted the legend as “if an old woman can grind a metal rod into a sewing needle, then surely you can do anything if you set your mind to it”. 

Thoughts: At first glance, I thought that the legend was a bit absurd. I thought that there was no way that a metal rod would ever be able to be ground into a sewing needle. However, my mother pointed out that I had missed the point of the legend. The focus of the legend was the work ethic of the woman, and that seeing the determination of the woman kindled something in Li Bai. This also connects with the other legend that my parents shared about the myth of the zodiac ox, as both show the importance of hard work leading to results in life. This would also show why education was valued so much throughout Chinese history. My interpretation after reflecting on what my mother said led me to see another lesson in the legend, which is that the people you surround yourself around can have a great impact on your life. 

“授人以鱼不如授人以渔” – Chinese Proverb

Context: I asked my friend if he knew any proverbs for my folklore collection, and he told me this one that was very famous in Asia and that there are many translations that have the same idea. He said that he has heard the same proverb in both Korean and Chinese from his parents and that they use it often when teaching him the conceptual explanation behind a problem and not just the answer. 

授人以鱼不如授人以渔

Roman Phonetic: “Shou ren yi yu bu ru shou ren yi yu”

  • Transliterated Proverb:
    • shou: give
    • ren: person
    • yi: to
    • yu (鱼): fish (noun)
    • Bu ru: not as good as
    • yu (渔): to fish (verb)

Full Translation: This means giving a person a fish is not as good as giving them the knowledge to fish. 

Explanation: The meaning behind this proverb is to say that providing for someone or doing something for them is not as good as teaching them how to provide or to do that thing for themselves, as this will help them more in the long run. Giving someone a fish will satiate their hunger for a bit, but when they are hungry you will still have to give them more fish. However, if you teach them how to fish, they can always find a way to get food when they are hungry, and that is much more valuable. 

Thoughts: I found the proverb to speak a lot of truth, as it is applicable to many cases in one’s life. The proverb can refer to teaching someone the concept of math and not the answer to a math problem, or greater life skills in general. Its applications are pretty much limitless. I also found it interesting that the same proverb existed across many different ethnic groups, and also recently found out that there is actually an English equivalent to the proverb that also has to do with fishing. It also demonstrates the core values in my friend’s family, as I’ve always known him to be hardworking and looking past the simple answers to questions in life and towards the bigger picture explanations, skills, and concepts.