Monthly Archives: April 2019

Tomb Sweeping Festival

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/22/2019
Primary Language: English

Background:

This piece is a cultural tradition that the subject was introduced to through her family, and that she has done since her childhood.

Piece:

AQ: So… once a month—I mean not once a month, I think it’s once a year… um, I think a lot of Chinese families, what they do is they go to the cemetery.  I think that it’s called Tomb Sweeping Festival, and what happens is you go there and then um you kinda like bring food for your ancestors or whoever has passed away.  You bring incense sticks and you put them in the ground and then you also, um, lay out food for them to eat in their afterlife.  And there’s also like a huge trash can that we have, alright, and what we do is we usually burn a lot of money.  And then, ok it sounds very, like, Satanic but it’s not. But yeah, so you burn money, and it’s supposed to—I think they called it hell money, but I don’t really know—and then it’s supposed to also be for them in the afterlife, and then sometimes you also burn clothing, watches, cellphones, and whatever for them to use.

JM: So all this stuff you’re burning is for them to use?

AQ: Yeah, like, later on—wherever they are now.

JM: And you’ve done this?

AQ: Yeah, I do—like I, well I haven’t done it the past two years because of college, but I’ve done it every year.

Context:

This conversation was recorded during an in-person conversation with the subject, where I asked them if there were any special traditions or customs that their family followed.

Analysis:

The subject seems to have an interesting relationship with the piece of folklore that they are describing—it is evidently something that they are not completely confident about their knowledge of, yet it is still something that they participate in.  As a side note, what is called the ‘Tomb Sweeping Festival’ here seems to be most commonly referred to in English as ‘Tomb Sweeping Day’.  This folk custom does not seem to have any heavy spiritual associations for the subject, though it may have taken on new meanings as a yearly tradition that connects families to their cultural past, both literally through their ancestors and through the traditional practice of ancestor veneration..

For another version of this piece, see:

Song, Li. The Tomb-Sweeping Day. Paths International Ltd., 2015: Pg 138.

Lunar New Year

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Manhattan Beach, California
Performance Date: 4/21/19
Primary Language: English

Abstract:

This piece is about a festival tradition at the lunar new year and the process of “wishing” something to your family members.

Main Piece:

“Every lunar new year, we go to my uncle’s house and then the entire side of my mom’s family comes. Like my grandparents, all her siblings, all their kids, their spouses. And we all have this big party, so you show up and then, um, well we usually bring food. Like a potluck situation, we’re all close. You’re in charge of this, you’re in charge of that… You bring this, you bring that… So we usually have egg rolls, this dish that has flour patties and shrimp sprinkled on it. And then we have like spring rolls and beef… We have noodles and papaya salad, like shredded young papaya that’s still green. We have a sauce with it and fish sauce with everything else. So we eat all the food and then afterwards, we cut up fruit. Fruit is a really big Asian thing for desert. Whatever is in season. Afterwards, the tradition is that it’s oldest to youngest. So all of the kids of my grandparents have to go to them and wish them something for the new year. So it’s either like good health, um, like, lots of money. Usually the grandparents will wish back lots of money or something. So we wish them good health or happiness or wisdom or whatever. So my mom has four siblings, so she is the oldest of the five, so her and my dad will go first. And the same follows for the next generation. Like then the grandkids will go and it’s the oldest there too.”

Context:

The informant is a 19 year old student who is Half-Vietnamese and Half-Polish. The tradition stems from her mother’s side. She was born in Anaheim, California, but now lives in Manhattan Beach, California. She participates in this event every year with her family.

Analysis:

The very specific foods that are eaten at the celebration reminds me of the very specific German foods that are eaten at celebrations in my own family. I think food and celebration are often correlated in every culture and it is interesting to examine the differences of cuisine as well. One aspect of this festival celebration is the aspect about different ages and the importance of order of birth. It seems like this culture values birth order due to the custom in this culture that oldest needs to go first.

Enter through the Dragon Door

Age: 25
Occupation: Student

Background: This was is a common tradition in Taiwan and China, with religious significance.

Context: This story was performed in the Architecture studio, for an audience of two, in order to pass time while working on projects.

“If you are entering a temple in Taiwan, there are three openings in front, and a statue of god inside. On the door to the left is the Chinese dragon, and on the right is the tiger based on the god’s view. The middle is the door for the god. When you go through the door, you have to go through the dragon door, because you don’t want to walk in through the tiger’s mouth, and you exit through the other door. Always. You just have to. Usually there will be some donate box. ”

This seems to be indicative of the Taiwanese attitude towards dragons versus tigers: Tigers being viewed as a source of bad luck, and dragons being good luck.

Verbum Sap Sat motto

Nationality: American
Age: 13
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arlington, VA
Performance Date: 3/16/19
Primary Language: English

Abstract:

This piece is about a saying at a middle/high school in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area that shows their ideals of independence and responsibility.

Main Piece:

“Verbum Sap Sat is latin and it means “A word to the wise is sufficient.” and that kind of goes along with HB Woodlawn’s idea that we should be independent, like if a teacher tells you, “hey this is important you should take notes on it – then a word to the wise is sufficient. They don’t need to keep telling you. You should just know.

M: What other examples of this phrase can you think of?

L: A lot of teachers when they’re doing important notes, they say “hey guys you have to focus, remember ok? Because Verbum Sap Sat!” At my school, you don’t need to wear shoes and you call your teachers by their first name. It just kind of goes along with the idea of Verbum Sap Sat. It’s like a motto, like a thing to that. Like for example our theater program is very big and they’re always building sets on the stage, but sometimes we still have class. So if you’re not wearing shoes and a teacher is like “hey there might be some nails on the ground. You might want to put something on your feet so you don’t get tetanus – then Verbum Sap Sat!”

Context:

The informant is a 13 year old girl who is an 8th grader at HB Woodlawn. She learned this phrase before even attending the school as a student and learned it when she toured as a prospective 6th grader. She plans to graduate from the school, attending from 6th to 12th grade. She does not view this phrase as a social one, more of an academic one.

Analysis:

I think it is interesting that they learn the phrase in Latin, though the main message is mostly understood in English. It is like an unspoken motto through the entire school that both students and teachers know of. I think the phrase emphasizes the ideals of the school to be those of independence and responsibility, but from the outside looking in it does seem like there are less rules and more freedom. They want the rules/deadlines that are set up at a traditional school to be found within the students themselves, rather than stating them outright.

Banshees

Nationality: Irish-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Athens, Georgia
Performance Date: 3/15/19
Primary Language: English

Main piece: It is said that the howling winds of the Irish coast are formed from the screams of women suffering and dying – otherwise known as banshees. Therefore, any time you hear a particularly loud or chilling gust of wind, a woman is in agony somewhere.

Context: The informant (BN) is half Irish and half American. Her mother’s side of the family is originally from and still resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Her paternal extended family live in Sligo, Ireland. She grew up culturally Catholic, but she does not consider herself religious. Our conversation took place in February on my couch at home in Atlanta after she began recounting her recent trip to visit family in Ireland. BN originally heard this myth that explains Ireland’s winds from her cousin and godmother, who both reside on the coast of Ireland. As she told me about banshee winds, she visibly sunk in on herself and god chills multiple times. “Those winds will always be branded into my memory, because it’s kind of traumatizing as a child, since they really do sound like screams.” When asked if she believed in the myth in a literal sense, she said that only when she’s in Ireland does she truly believe: “everything in Ireland is just so magical and ancient.”

Personal thoughts: What I find most intriguing about this myth is that it touts the age-old trope of a woman’s suffering becoming immortalized through nature or supernatural occurrences. It is not difficult to realize that you don’t see many folk tales, legends or myths that emphasize male suffering – rather, male-centric stories tend to be about heroism or strife that is overcome through perseverance. Women, however, are historically known for subjugation and suffering, which is perhaps why when people first heard the harsh winds of Ireland, they thought of a dying woman rather than a dying animal, a shrieking child, or even just harsh weather at face value. Additionally, what makes the banshee wind myth of Ireland a myth is that it seeks to explain a very prominent and ancient natural phenomenon in Ireland with a concept we are familiar with: female suffering. For external reference of this myth, see “THE BANSHEE.” The Louisville Daily Journal (1839-1868), Nov 25 1839, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. 18 Apr. 2019 .