Tag Archives: Chinese

Shanghai Proverb Against Forgetfulness

Text: 

Original Script in Mandarin Characters:

阿拉做事体伐好脱头落襻

Pronunciation in Shanghai Dielect, Noted in Mandarin Pinyin:

ā lā zù zi tì fá háo té te lò pie

Transliteration:

We do things better not with a fell-off button and a dropped button loop.

Translation:

The proverb is used to remind people to not be forgetful.

Context: 

The informant is a 24-year-old female who was born and raised in Shanghai, and currently studies in the United States. Shanghai dialect is her first language. The informant first learned this proverb from elder family members, who oftentimes use this proverb to educate younger generations to mind their habits and social upbringing. The informant found the metaphor of button and button loop to be quite intriguing.

Analysis: 

Though the informant did not know about the origin of the metaphor “脱头落襻” (button falling off and the button loop dropping) when she first heard it from older generations, she later deliberately searched for the proverb’s origin. As it turns out, it’s likely that this proverb first emerged in the Shanghai dialect in the late 19th or early 20th century, when the old-fashioned clothes from that time period were known for having buttons and button loops to fasten. Hence Shanghai people started correlating a person being forgetful and being slovenly in their appearance with worn and unattended clothes characterized by their fasteners falling off. After learning about the button metaphor, the informant was both intrigued by it and surprised to find out that the proverb has been so natural in Shanghai dialect that she never actually found it to be incomprehensible.

Correspondingly, this proverb helped us learn about old-fashioned Shanghai clothing, but more importantly, it inevitably revealed how much Shanghai people value social upbringing and decency as reflected in their clothing and manner. Shanghai is historically known for its cosmopolitan lifestyle, and in this highly modernized metropolis delicacy, dignity and pride for themselves are highly valued. It’s no wonder that Shanghai people choose a metaphor regarding one’s looks to remind themselves to pay extra attention to their self-image, sending a social signal that they are decent, mindful people who don’t easily forget.

Cantonese Proverb Examining Appearance VS Reality

Text: 

Original Script in Mandarin Characters:

扮猪食老虎

Pronunciation in Cantonese:

baan[6] zyu[1] sik[6] lou[5] fu[2]

Transliteration:

Play pig and eat tiger.

Translation:

The proverb is used to describe ambitious individuals who pretend to be dumb.

Context: 

The informant is a 23-year-old female who was born and raised in Guangzhou, and currently studies in the United States. Cantonese is her first language. The informant could not remember when, where, and from whom she learned the proverb, but it has always been natural for her to both understand and use it regularly herself.

Analysis: 

The two animal metaphors in this proverb play their own parts, and combined, they work together to describe someone who appears to be ignorant and simple, but is in fact dangerously ambitious. Pig, often seen as a carefree animal, is featured to suggest someone’s simple appearance whereas tiger, the animal correlated with strength and superiority becomes the pig’s prey in this proverb. The seemingly absurd scene of a pig devouring a tiger suggests a dangerously ambitious individual can play dumb to achieve great means, touching on the discrepancy between appearance and reality.

The informant never researched but instinctively understands the proverb and has been using it quite regularly herself. Born and raised in the folk culture, she has no trouble understanding exactly what the two animals symbolize and is able to identify that the “pig” is actually what the proverb is describing. Despite the proverb is only made up with 5 characters, its concise and humorous message fascinates her even today.

No Crowmouthing yourself

Context

“No Crowmouthing yourself” means to not say things like car crash, suicide, cardiac arrest, especially in correlation to anyone in the family. “Joking things like “I’m going to die” is definitely going to get me scolded by my grandparents even in a joking way, and they’d call that “crow mouthing.” big nono, not safe, and they’d give a whole lecture about how to be better in a well being since… they had it rough in their life,” reports my informant. Her parents and grandparents lived through many different wars, and thus they believe that dangerous things like swimming in the river, riding a roller coaster, or speaking of things related to death put your wellbeing at risk. In China, this proverb is used quite often and is a big theme in Chinese culture. Younger people tend to say it to themselves to scold themselves. 

An example of this proverb being used genuinely goes as follows:

Person 1: “Oh god, I have a flight this afternoon, I hope the plane won’t crash haha.”

Person 2: “Stop! Do not crowmouth yourself, saying plane crash is such a bad thing.”

However, later this proverb has evolved into a dark joke, akin to saying “Haha imma kill myself.” An example of it being used in this way goes as follows:

Person 1: “I’m going to die because of this assignment”

Person 2: “Haha, crow mouthing yourself, huh?”

As my informant says, “it’s a bit morbid but silly funny.” She believes because society has become more safe, “the past concerns of war, hunger, limits and so on don’t exist in this modern time in China,” and thus a proverb that may have held great weight in the past doesn’t scare the youth today.

Analysis

I find it interesting how proverbs can change from being held with great meaning to being used in a sarcastic joke. Perhaps a combination of a change in environment, like my informant said, and the fact that proverbs are typically widespread and are a collective knowledge have a hand in this evolution of the ways certain proverbs are used now.

White Watchers

Nationality: Cantonese/American

Primary Language: Cantonese

Other Language(s): English

Age: 58

Occupation: Engineer

Residence: Yorba Linda

Performance Date: 19th of November 2023

This story was recounted through email to me and takes place in their family’s apartment in Hong Kong between during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unfortunately due to how young the informant was at the time, they do not remember a lot of details and also did not feel comfortable going into more detail than they provided. After recounting the story, they commented that they are glad they no longer see the apparitions. They still believe that we are not alone and that other beings can cross into our dimensions even though they are not supposed to.

P as a child saw apparitions in their family apartment. They were described as white shaped human figures that would float across the apartment. The figures would float aimlessly and not interact with anyone, they would simply move across the house. P described their movement as if they were flowing through the air. One night when P and their siblings were sleeping, they woke up and P saw the figures in the room watching them. P said that that was the first time they really interacted with anything or anyone in the house. From then on, the figures would make a habit of watching P and their siblings sleeping, just silently watching, staying completely still. In the day when P saw the figures, they would continue to float around like they normally did, but at night sleeping became horrifying. P recalled that they would often times be unable to fall asleep, but be too afraid to open their eyes because they could feel the figures’ presence. All P could do was tightly shut their eyes and hope the figures would leave or that they would fall asleep soon. Shortly after, P and his family would move to the United States where they would no longer see the apparitions.

P is my uncle and is known in the family for having this “3rd eye” or “true vision” and my dad, his brother, used to tell me all the time that P used to see things because of his special sense. Often time when I see P at family functions he stares off into the distance, he’s very well known for doing that. My dad thinks he does this because he’s seeing something. I always thought this was a little funny seeing him zone out, but after hearing his stories and how uncomfortable he was about talking about it, I can’t help but think it’s at least a little bit true. That being said, my family is already pretty open about superstitious belief, it’s not just my dad’s side of the family as my mother believes in ghosts too. I think being raised around the idea that ghosts are real definitely makes this story more believable to me too. Admittedly, this was the first story P recounted and he wasn’t feeling entirely open just yet, so the details of the story were heavily limited.

Professional Mourning


Text: 

After someone dies in China, you throw a large celebration in their honor, and during these events, people often hire a professional wailer to aid in mourning. These wailers stand vigil and scream and cry for hours following a burial. They wear all white as a sign of mourning and respect.

Context: 

The last time the informant went to China when she was 9, she was walking the streets with her mother and sister in the province of Hunan when she encountered a large funeral celebration, complete with firecrackers, lights, and banners. However, at this celebration she encountered a professional wailer for the first time, dressed in all white and screaming loudly near a grave. Her mother told her that wailing is a way to honor the deceased in China, and the louder the cries, the more you honor their memory.  

Analysis: 

Chinese culture is known to promote the restraint of emotion in public settings. This culture makes it difficult or taboo for individuals to publicly cry and mourn (Cheukie). However, at the same time, not doing so at a funeral would be disrespectful towards the dead, so as a result, the practice of professional mourning was born. This is both a way of honoring the dead while also preserving the honor of the self since it is not socially proper to cry in public, and many might have a difficult time doing so when the situation does call for it. For this reason, I believe professional wailing became popular in China as a way of showing respect and reverence for the dead while also upholding the norms of social propriety. The wailers manufacture emotion, allowing negative feelings to be expressed in a way that is more culturally acceptable.

Cheukie. “Emotional Suppression in Chinese Culture.” Medium, 9 Sept. 2019, https://medium.com/@ckwan95/emotional-suppression-in-chinese-culture-b27325ec493. Accessed 1 May 2023.