Author Archives: Kevin Lin Ye

QingMing Festival

Nationality: Taiwanese/Singaporean
Age: 21
Occupation: Student

Description: It is a Taiwanese holiday where people would visit the graves of their ancestors and loved ones. 

Background: It was considered a national holiday in Taiwan, where she lived.

Transcript:

BL: So there is a holiday in Taiwan called QingMingJie or QingMing Festival, some people call it Tomb-Sweeping day. It’s when we go to family burial grounds and we clean and decorate the graves and stuff.

Me: And it’s something you do every year.

BL: Yeah, it’s to honor and remember our ancestors and family. People also put stuff in front of the graves too, like food and flowers. Some people would also say prayers to the dead people. Oh we also burn paper, like burning paper money, we write things that we want our ancestors to have in the afterlife and burn the paper.

Me: I think my family does something similar.

BL: Yeah, but I think it’s more recognized in Taiwan because China used to not allow it. Like the cultural revolution and all that stuff.

My thoughts:

As said previously, the holiday was banned in China during the cultural revolution. I have heard about the holiday and participated in a few occasions. But I think this is a strong point of identity for Taiwan because of the banning of the festival, it is for this reason that it is a national holiday in Taiwan while it is a simple tradition in the mainland. Of course, the celebration and honoring of one’s ancestors is something that is consistently prevalent in Chinese and General East Asian culture. The main reason being the celebration of legacy and the immortality of the lineage. Someone is alive as long their ideas are passed on.

Egg Monster

Nationality: American/Bengali
Age: 21
Occupation: Student

Description: Monster that lures in children with their eggs and eats the children it lures in.

Background: The informant heard about it by his mother.

Transcript:

SA: I don’t remember the name of the monster. But it’s the feathered one that lays eggs to attract children and eats them. Its eggs are really colorful so children will be attracted to it and get eaten. So i guess the lesson is to not trust colorful eggs or you’ll get eaten. I don’t really know what kind of lesson that was supposed to teach.

My thoughts:

Children are sometimes easily distracted, so it’s not completely unbelievable for a creature to scare children into running off at the slightest distraction. I am not familiar with Bengali traditions or culture so I cannot say if it’s a common motif but the thing that interested me and that I found unusual is the fact that the monster seems to be a bird while most children eating monsters would look more similar to bears or another human. The colorful eggs are in stark contrast to usual depictions of eggs that we are used to seeing. In this context, the egg serves as a lure where lives will be taken instead of the life giving association that we commonly see.

Rakks Kukkosh

Nationality: American/Bengali
Age: 21
Occupation: Student

Description: It is a general word for monster, however, the informant did note that his impression of the Rakks Kukkosh is a monster with a drum on its belly which it pounds to make sounds.

Background: The informant heard about the monster from their family during their childhood.

Transcript:

SA: I think it has a drum on its belly that it pounds?

Me: Does it do anything? Why does it have a drum on its belly?

SA: I’m not sure, probably to attract children and eat them. Most Bengali monsters just do things to get children and eat them.

(After a while)

SA: Actually, it isn’t a specific monster, any monster can be called the Rakks Kukkosh. So it can actually be anything I guess.

My thoughts:

I guess monsters that eat children is a common trope in Bengali folklore. Although that is likely the case for most folklore monsters. The core social function of monsters in most cultures is to teach children to not be stupid and do dangerous things. So in this case it is likely supposed to teach children to not be distracted by noises and stray away from their parents. As for the later component, there are many monster names that can be generalized to mean any monster later when they become more prevalent in the culture. So while the Rakks Kukkosh could have at one point pointed at a specific monster, it’s name has likely been generalized to signify any monster.

Hollow Earth

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student

Description: The concept that there is another world underneath our own at the center of the earth. The main concept being that the earth is hollow and there is a second sun in the center and people living upside down from us.

Background: The informant received this information during High School and heard about it during a creative writing world building workshop.

Transcript:

KS: I don’t know a whole ton about it other than it’s a concept that underneath the ground, the earth is actually just filled with water all the way through like a giant round underground ocean. There’s a whole sci-fi community around it, I don’t know if it’s a conspiracy theory in the strict sense like I don’t know if anyone actually believes in it, but it’s a concept people like to explore in sci-fi writing and art and stuff. Most things about it view it as having huge sea creatures the closer you go to the center, possibly like water dinosaurs and stuff, kind of like “journey to the center of the earth” except you have to take a submarine. There’s also a different version of it that I think is still called hollow earth that is like, it’s filled with air inside and possibly like a mini-sun in the middle and people live on the inside of the crust directly upside down from us .Almost always there are huge fantastical creatures though, no matter what you think fills the middle.

My thoughts:

While I do not think anyone actually believes this as a reality, it is a very interesting concept to think about. This a concept that makes for very interesting fiction so I think this is why it has garnered so much of a following in the sci-fi community. Sci-fi has always been a genre that centered around outlandish and impossible concepts so the idea of a hollow earth sounds like something that fits in a sci-fi setting. The many different variations are also especially fun to think about. The feeling of there being another world so near our own is something that is very exciting to think about.

Douens

Nationality: American/Greek
Age: 22
Occupation: Student

Description: They are ghosts of children who reside within the forest that lure children by calling out their names and having them follow their footsteps. The children eventually become lost and become Douens themselves.

Background: The informant has a prevalent interest in urban legends and found this story while searching for ghost stories and urban legends.

Transcript: 

DT: One of my favorite ones I’ve looked up cause I like scary urban legend stuff is Douens, which are spirits of kids whose feet are on backwards. They call out other kids’ names if they are in the forest and make them follow in their footsteps, which make the kids become lost and eventually turn into Douens. Basically it’s a story they told kids to stop them from going into the forest alone.

Me: From where did the urban legend come from?

DT: I think it’s Caribbean. From Tobago I believe. They’re basically like imps and fuck with people pretty much, so there’s different versions of them on what they do or stories rather.

My thoughts: 

Ghost children are certainly a common occurrence across many types of folklore. While a terrible reality, children do die. Douens are interesting takes on those that disappear within the forest.   Despite the simplicity, I see a lot of space of nuance. Unlike most monsters, who lure children for the sake of eating them or something similar, Douens are likely searching for companionship, luring children to transform them into one of their own. So while Douens are likely created for children to fear, there could be another perspective where they can be sympathized with as they are likely once children themselves.