Author Archives: Melody Chiu

Tradition – India

Nationality: Indian-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant witnessed this marriage ceremony during his last trip to India. He specifically returned to India to be present for the marriage of his cousin and her husband. He told me the tradition of “saptapadi.” He told me that in India, fire is considered to be very powerful and important. Thus, during weddings, the bride and the groom will often walk around a large fire seven times. In the Hindu culture, this makes the marriage official and complete.

Each time that the bride and the groom walk around the fire, they say a phrase that represents another step towards marriage. The first phrase involves a plea to the gods to bless them with a respectable life filled with enough food for an entire family. In the second walk around the fire, the couple prays and asks for health and strength so that they can have a long life together. The third time they walk around the fire, the gods give them strength through spiritual means. The fourth walk around the fire represents their love for one another. During this walk, they ask that they be happy together forever and always love and respect one another. In the fifth walk around the fire, the couple asks to be blessed with many loving children. In the sixth walk around the fire, the couple asks to go through life together, even if they may go through tragedy and sorrow. In the final walk around the fire, the couple prays for everyone in the world. They pray that everyone lives a life of peace, and that everyone is loyal together and finds pure companionship. After the bride and the groom fulfill this tradition, they say some words together that are like the vows said during Western weddings.

My informant said that it was very interesting to attend a Hindu ceremony. It is the first one that he has been to, and he says that it makes him feel much closer to his culture. It also makes him realize how important marriage and companionship in India is. He said that very few couples get divorced, even if things are very bad. The couple will still live together and try to work things out. I think that marriage is very sacred in India. In Western culture, more and more people get divorced. Oftentimes, one will hear about a couple that divorces after just two months of living together. I believe that going through this tradition of saptapadi makes a couple feel closer and more connected, not just between the couple but also with the families who attend the wedding, because they have all undergone this tradition as well.

Festival – Chinese

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 23
Residence: Tao Yuan, Taiwan
Performance Date: February 2007
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: Taiwanese, English

My informant told me that one of the most important festivals that is celebrated in Taiwan is the Lantern Festival, called “yuan xiao jie” in Chinese. This celebration happens on the fifteenth and last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. It does not fall on the same day as it would in America because the Chinese use the lunar calendar when counting for traditional things like festivals. My informant recently emigrated from Taiwan, and she told me that many festivals are still celebrated in very traditional ways.

One big way that the Chinese celebrate the Lantern Festival is by carrying bright lanterns. She says that when one steps out onto the streets, one can see hundreds of young children carrying bright, colorful lanterns. She says that this tradition began when the high officials of the past would carry beautifully carved lanterns. Now, however, the ones that people carry are often made out of paper that is dyed and hand-decorated.

Another way that Chinese people celebrate this festival is by cooking up a large feast. My informant told me that her family often cooks together. They will eat items such as potato cakes, long noodles in broth, and fish. The noodles must be extra long because they represent life. The point is to eat one long noodle all at once; if the noodle is broken, that is bad luck because you have essentially broken your “life.” The fish represents the rest of the good that a person will have all year; thus, the family must leave a bit of the fish so that for the rest of the year you will have enough fish to eat. For dessert, families will often hand-make “tang yuan,” which is a sticky round ball that is often put in red bean soup or green bean soup.

The Lantern Festival is also the day that couples will go out. Or, parents will often set their older children up with the sons or daughters of their family friends. My informant told me that while parents are usually very hesitant to admit that their children have boyfriends or girlfriends, this is the night that parents are very open. They actually push their children to go out on dates and find a match that night.

My informant says that although Asia is becoming increasingly more westernized, people in her culture still very much enjoy the traditions that have been carried on since many years ago. These festivals often bring family friends and relatives together, and a closeness that is lacking many times throughout the year is brought back even if it is just for one night.

Festival – Chinese

Nationality: Chinese-Australian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Australia
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

My informant is actually a Chinese-Australian. She was born in China and lived there until she was in junior high. She then moved to Australia, where she lived until college. Although she had moved a couple of times, she still remains true to her heritage. Thus, she told me about a festival called the Ghost Festival that many Chinese people celebrate. This is actually a festival and a holiday in Asia that is quite like what Halloween was in the beginning. The Ghost Festival is held the fourteenth night in the seventh lunar month.

This festival started as a day when ghosts and spirits would leave their underworld to come visit those that they have left behind. However, this is not a day to be afraid of the dead. Rather, it is a day where the living and the dead can coexist for a few hours. It is a day for ancestors to visit their loved ones. My informant tells me that she and her family will often visit her family tomb and leave offerings for her ancestors. They also burn money so that the spirits of their ancestors can still live a fruitful life. Another tradition that is not as common anymore that her family used to take part in is the releasing of paper boats. Her family would hand make miniature boats and set them on fire. The glowing boats would be “lanterns” for the ghosts to find their way back home at the end of the night.

My informant told me that in her family and especially in Chinese culture, the idea of a family is very important. Her family believes that her ancestors are very much in control of their future. If they respect their ancestors, their ancestors will bless them in return. This is why during festivals such as these, her family makes sure to work extra hard to please her ancestors.

Annotation: Yih, Jung-tzung. “Ghost Festival.” Calendar of Holidays and Festivals. Government             Information Office, Republic of China. 26 Apr 2007             <http://www.gio.gov.tw/info/festival_c/ghost_e/ghost.htm>.

Folk Song – Korean

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

???, ???, ????…
??? ??? ????.
?? ??? ??? ??
??? ??? ????.

Translation:

Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo
I am crossing over Arirang Pass
The man or woman who abandoned me
Will not walk even ten li before his/her feet hurt

My informant told me that she learned this folk song at a very young age. The title of the song is “arirang,” which means beautiful dear in Korean. Because this is the most popular folk song in Korea, every child learns the song once they enter school. Many versions of the song exist, but the melody of the song is always the same. The content in the song is actually very sad. However, she says that Koreans feel much attached to the song because it is very rich in its history. The song dates back to over 600 years ago. This song is about a lover who has been scorned and thus is very depressed. The lover cannot let go of the hurt her partner inflicted upon her. Thus, her heart is broken and the lyrics reflect her state of mind.

Although the lyrics of this song do not seem to be fit for young children to learn, my informant tells me that she did not even think about what the song meant when she learned it. It was more of a folksong that everyone knew. The meaning of the song did not really matter as much as knowing the song.

She says that when everyone in her class sings this song together, it is like people singing the national anthem in America. It gives her a sense of unity and peace with her teachers and classmates. Also, when she was younger, she would sing this song with her friends when they would get together to play. It was a fun pastime to be able to sing together and get closer through a popular folk song.

Joke – United Kingdom

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: England
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English

Two Englishmen, two Welshmen, two Irishmen, and two Scotts are left stranded on an island after their cruise has crashed. After two days, the two Welshmen started a choir, the Scotts built a distiller, the two Irishmen were still fighting on the beach, and the Englishmen were still waiting to be formally introduced.

My informant is a 19-year-old boy who came here from the UK for college. After he told me this joke, I obviously did not understand it because I have lived in America for all of my life. I asked him to explain it. He said that this is actually not a great joke but that everyone who has lived in the UK would get the joke immediately. I asked him where he heard it from and he said that one of his father’s co-workers in England taught him the joke. He said the setting was during a dinner that included his father and his father’s friends. My informant had tagged along to dinner with his father and they were all just talking and socializing.

This joke is merely another reinforcement of stereotypes in Europe. The Scottish are known for drinking, the Irish are known for fighting, and the Welsh are known as sissies and the finally, the English are known as snobs. My informant says that although he did not burst out laughing at the joke, he did find it amusing. In addition, the people at the table all had a good laugh over the joke. It was told in good fun and it was a nice way to break the ice.