Genre: customary lore

Category: custom/ceremony

Collection date: Apr.20th, 2022

Main piece:  

“Chinese have the tradition of visiting the tombs of their ancestors on the Qingming Festival. However, in my family, we go visit the tombs of our ancestors on almost all holidays and memorable dates, including the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the anniversary of their deaths. We would adjust the scale of the ceremony according to what holiday it is. In the morning, the family would go to the market to buy food for the ceremony. Thick, fat pork belly and chicken are the mandatory items. Other items are flexible. Generally, we buy fresh, good food for the ceremony. During the ceremony, we would talk to my grandfather, who already passed away. We would talk to him about what is happening in our recent lives, wish him good luck in the afterlife, and ask for his blessing. The final one is the most important. We also need to burn incense. Three sticks per person. If someone’s not here, their direct kin needs to do the job for them. The total number of incenses needs to be right. We burn two incenses outside the door, so the departed can see where you are.”

Contextual data:

Social context:

Every family in the area has similar traditions of tomb sweeping. However, each family has a slightly different way of doing it. It is a tradition that passes on from generation to generation, and it changes slightly throughout this process. The informant’s grandmother is the one who conducts these ceremonies. In the past, it was mandatory for each family member to attend the ceremony. However, now, everyone usually goes there when they have spare time. The more formal ceremonies conducted on bigger holidays have more people attending. 

Cultural context:

The informant is a Hakka Chinese. She grew up in Shenzhen, China, and she came to the U.S. for post-secondary education.

Informant’s comment: 

“The ceremony is usually arranged by my grandmother. It is very important to her. This is a chance for a family gathering. She wants her family members to get together using this chance. This is a family tradition, a routine. I haven’t thought much about it, but it has become a necessary part of holidays. If you don’t do it, you feel there is something missing.”

My comment:

I feel that tomb sweeping is one of the more private traditions in China. The general concept is well-known, but each family has different traditions and customs

Genre: verbal lore

Category: proverb

Collection date: Apr.21st, 2022

Main piece:  

“May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead. ”

Contextual data:

Social context:

The informant learns this proverb from her family members, specifically her mother, who is Irish. This proverb is usually performed at a death. She heard this saying mainly at funerals from her family and extended family. It is related to Irish Catholicism, which is a very big tradition. 

Cultural context:

The informant is an American. She has a mixed cultural background of Irish and Bohemian. 

Informant’s comment:

“It’s something I’ve been wanting to investigate. My kind of roots is, as I said, mainly Irish. When I hear things like that it does connect me, it makes me feel a sense of connection, which again I think most people in the United States don’t have that sense of like connection to their family history. I’m hoping to do more investigation about Irish rhetoric, Irish life, and culture.” 

My comment: 

Proverbs are some immediate ways to identify with people who are from the same culture. It is revealed usually unknowingly in conversations, and it can bring a sense of connection immediately between people. 

Genre: customary lore

Category: folk medicine

Collection date: Apr.21st, 2022

Main piece:  

“Gargling salt water is a habit that keeps you healthy, just like brushing teeth. Salt can be used to kill bacteria. You use it to cure meet. Therefore, gargling salt water can clean your teeth and mouth and throat.”

Contextual data:

Social context:

The informant learned this lore from her father when she was in high school. It is a personal habit and family tradition kept since then.”

Cultural context:

The informant is Chinese. Her family is from Shanghai, China. 

Informant’s comment: 

“My family taught me, so I learned it. I think it is effective. I was having a toothache, I kept gargling saltwater for a while, and the pain was gone. Then it became a habit. Every morning and night I would gaggle saltwater when I brush my teeth.”

My comment: 

This is folklore that I’ve seen in both Chinese and western cultures. It makes me wonder how this folklore emerged and if there is a single origin for this tradition. It is commonly seen in news articles about health and wellbeing. 

Genre: verbal lore

Category: mythology

Collection date: Apr.27th, 2022

Main piece:  

Original script:

“古时候，天上有十个太阳。热死了，老百姓们活不下去了，庄稼也活不了。有一个英雄，后羿，弯弓搭箭，射下了九个太阳，天上只剩下一个太阳，大家就安居乐业了。”

Full translation:

“Once upon a time, there were ten suns in the sky. It was so hot. People could no longer live under such hot temperatures, and the crops could not grow anymore. There was a hero, named Houyi. He took a bow and some arrows and shoot nine suns down from the sky. There was only one sun in the sky, and people live happily ever after.”

Contextual data:

Social context:

The informant learned this story from a storybook when he was a child. This is a well-known story that people would bring up when thinking about traditional Chinese folktales. It is one story that kids in China would learn about from either storybooks or their parents. The story is usually narrated as a heroic story. It has some educational values for children. 

Cultural context:

The informant has a mixed cultural background of northern and southern Chinese. He defines himself to have a stronger connection with northern China, specifically Beijing. 

Informant’s comment:

“This is a story that I don’t have much thought about. It is a tale, a myth. In all cultures in the world, there was a certain time period when people believe in these magical things. When I was a child, I really wanted to go back to this magical world.”

My comment: 

This story shows people’s desire in having a hero or savior to resolve their problems. In the past, people had little control over natural phenomena, and they resolve these problems by creating stories to explain, rationalize, and imagine a solution.

Genre: verbal lore

Category: Mythology

Collection date: Apr.27th, 2022

Main piece:  

Original script:

“愚公是一个老头，然后，他家门前有两座大山，一座山叫太行山，一座山就王屋山，这两个山特别大，把他出门的路给堵死了，出门特不方便。所以愚公立志，我一定要把山移开，然后他带领他家里的人，每天去山上搬石头，每天搬一点。他有一个邻居，邻居叫智叟。智叟和他说：‘你这个山，什么时候能搬完，这种行为太愚蠢了。’愚公就说，我搬的很少，但我有孩子，我孩子有孩子，我孩子的孩子有孩子，一辈辈搬下去，总有一天，我会把山移走的。”

Full translation:

“Yugong was an old man. There were two mountains in front of his house. One is the Taihang mountain; the other is Mount Wangwu. The two mountains were so big that they blocked his way out. It was inconvenient to go out. Therefore, Yugong made a decision that he will remove the mountain. Then, he leads his family to take some stones from the mountain every day. He had a neighbor named Zhisou. Zhisou told him: ‘This is a big mountain. How can you move them? You’re doing stupid things.’ Yugong answered: ‘I can only move a little of the mountain, but I have kids, my kids will have kids, and the kids of my kids will have kids. As long as we persist, eventually, the mountain will be removed.”

Contextual data:

Social context:

This lore is one of the most prominent folktales in China. The informant learned this story from textbooks when he was in elementary school. It is often used by teachers at school to educate kids and encourage people to put effort into work. 

Cultural context:

The informant has a mixed cultural background of northern and southern Chinese. He defines himself to have a stronger connection with northern China, specifically Beijing. 

Informant’s comment:

“ The word choice in this story is smart. It uses characters’ names to metaphor bigger concepts. Yugong (愚公, direct translation: stupid man) seems to be stupid, and Zhisou (智叟, direct translation: smart man) seems to be smart. However, in fact, Yugong is a real smart man, and Zhisou only has small cleverness. I think this represents the spirit of the Chinese. As long as you pay an effort and be consistent, you can achieve your goal eventually.”

My comment: 

This is lore that has an author recorded in history. However, as it gets spread in communities, more variations of the story developed and the original author is no longer remembered by most people. Now, most people perceive this story as a tale spread through words of mouth.