Author Archives: Matthew Wu

“学好三年, 学坏三天”- Chinese Proverb

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 61
Occupation: Software Developer
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 04/23/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Context: My father has always told me Chinese proverbs about how to be a good, successful person in life. This specific proverb was one that was widely used in China. In the city that my father grew up in, proverbs were constantly used to give life advice, and this proverb is one that my grandparents had told him. 

学好三年, 学坏三天

Roman Phonetic: “Xue hao san nian, xue huai san tian”

  • Transliterated Proverb:
    • xue: learn
    • hao: good (can refer to habits or nature)
    • huai: bad (can also refer to habits or nature)
    • san: three
    • nian: year
    • tian: day

Full Translation: Learning to be good takes three years, learning to be bad takes three days. This refers to habits and nature also and doesn’t mean that it actually takes three years or three days to be good or bad. The three years and three days in the proverb are there to show that learning to be good is hard and takes a lot of time and self-control while learning to be bad is a lot easier than that. 

Explanation: My father grew up in Changsha, Hunan, and his family didn’t have much at the time. My grandparents knew the value of education and would use proverbs to teach my father. This specific proverb was used to tell my father that the value of one good test score or one good day of hard work is easy, but doing well over a long period of time is hard to maintain. This is opposed to taking it easy, as that takes no effort and everyone wants to take it easy all the time. This created an environment of hard work and maintained effort for him in his childhood. The proverb is very important for him because it is a part of his character today, and reminds him of how he got to where he is today. When he told me the proverb, he used it in the same way as my grandparents, often referring to good work habits when it comes to school and work. He also adds in the emphasis of the second part of the proverb, stating it is easy to go astray and do things that are fun and easy in the short term, and developing bad habits is easy to do.

Thoughts: Growing up, my parents had always reminded me of the importance of hard work and good habits. Proverbs like this were often told to me and my brother. I often heard this proverb in middle school and high school, when my parents would remind me to keep up my hard work after getting good grades or making any accomplishments. While this proverb can be interpreted to mean not to do bad things, it was used more to encourage me to continue to do well, as doing well is not what is hard, but keeping up good work for a long time is what is hard. I am extremely grateful for my parents teaching me this proverb, as I am constantly reminded by habit to do things well multiple times over a long period. It has also lead me to not take things easy because those can quickly become bad habits in my life.

The Farmer and the Snake – Chinese Tale

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 61
Occupation: Software Developer
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 02/02/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Context: My father (GW) was telling me to be careful of strangers and being overly compassionate when I moved in with my roommates. He told me a Chinese tale as an example. 

Story: 

GW: “There once was a farmer who was very compassionate. He was always tenderhearted to everyone and supported his neighbors and his community when they didn’t have enough food. Everybody really liked him. One particularly cold winter, he was going into his house when he found a snake lying on the ground, freezing, and half-dead. Feeling pity and sadness for the snake, the farmer held the snake close to his bosom and went inside, hoping to warm the snake and save its life. When the snake woke up, the farmer was relieved. The snake bit the farmer, and the poison soon reached his heart. The farmer died.”

Me: “Wait that’s it?”

GW: “Yup”

Background: This story was one that my grandparents told my father when he was in his teens. My father told me the tale to tell me to be careful of strangers because while an individual can be kindhearted and want to help someone, there are people in the world who will take advantage of that. 

Thoughts: I was really surprised about the abrupt ending of the tale given the way my father told the tale in the beginning. I was expecting the ending to be the farmer saved the snake and something good happened. My father said that the abrupt ending he used was to emphasize the coldness and finality of the farmer’s death. Of course, we all want to be compassionate towards others, and we often feel sympathetic when we see other people in pain, even when we do not know these other people personally. The tale has taught me to be smart about my decisions, and to keep in mind that while helping others is always good, it is also important to always be cautious.

Vampire’s Favorite Drink – Korean Joke

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 03/24/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Korean

Context: I went over to my friend, JK’s, place in Santa Barbara, and we went out for lunch and talked about what we did over Chinese New Year. I asked him if he knew why people wear red and make so much noise over Chinese New Year, and he told me a myth explaining the reasoning behind these things. I also asked him if he knew any jokes, and he told me a joke that his Dad likes to tell people.  

Story: 

JK: “What is a vampire’s favorite drink in the morning?”

Me: “What is it?”

JK: “코피 (Kopi)” *grins*

Background: This joke is one that JK says is a dad joke and one that his own father uses frequently on people. The word for “blood” in Korean is 피 (pi), and 코 (ko) in Korean means “nose”. Since vampires drink blood, their favorite drink would be from a bloody nose. However, when you put 코 (nose) and 피 (blood) together in Korean, it sounds like kopi (coffee) in English, which is the punchline of the joke. 

Li Bai’s death – Chinese Legend

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 04/20/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Spanish

Context: This is another legend from my friend (AL) in the call where I asked him about Chinese tales and legends. This is the last story that he told me. 

Story: 

AL: “This one is about Li Bai, the poet dude we learned about in class. I went home and asked my dad more about him, and apparently, he died by drowning in the Yangtze River. This was because he loved drinking wine, and indulged in it so much he was known as “jiu xian”, or the “wine immortal”. Li Bai also loved the moon, and it was the object of his affections in many of his poems. On the night of Li Bai’s death, he was extremely drunk and thought that the moon’s reflection in the river was so beautiful that he tried to embrace it. He jumped from his boat in pursuit of the lovely moon’s reflection and is said to have drowned to death. Legend says that you can see his shadow sometimes during the fall in the reflection of the Yangtze River when you are looking at the moon”

Me: “What did you think of the story?”

AL: “I honestly thought it was pretty cool cause while the way he died was kinda tragic, it was also very fitting since he often wrote about the moon’s beauty. Although most people would probably be really sad if someone died from drowning today, some people back then found honor in death, especially because they believe in ghosts, the afterlife, and immortals. Li Bai’s death was almost romanticized, and his death in the story is one that I think is almost a little too perfect.”

Thoughts: When I heard the story, I also thought that the story was extremely romanticized. The story seemed to be more of an unfortunate accident written off as a romanticized death because Li Bai was so famous. This is supported by the fact that Li Bai was an alcoholic, which is something that is looked down upon in most cases. Li Bai’s case is excused due to his fame and skills as a poet. I did some further research at home and found that poets and scholars after Li Bai’s time often watched the moon in the river during mid-autumn when the moon was the brightest in order to commemorate Li Bai’s death. 

The Color Red and Fireworks – Chinese Myth

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 03/22/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Korean

Context: I went over to my friend, JK’s, place in Santa Barbara, and we went out for lunch and talked about what we did over Chinese New Year. I asked him if he knew why people wear red and make so much noise over Chinese New Year, and he told me a myth explaining the reasoning behind these things. 

Story: 

MW: “Is there a specific reason people wear red and are supposed to make a lot of noise on Chinese New Year?”

JK: “A long time ago there used to be a monster called Nian, which also means “year” in Mandarin. The monster would come to town every year to eat people, and so the people feared the monster. One year, an old man was passing by the village and noticed everyone evacuating. He was curious, so he asked why everyone was in such a hurry. The people responded by telling him that they always evacuated the village every year around this time because they were afraid that the Nian was going to eat them. The old man thought about what to do for a while and told the villagers to stay because he had a plan. The old man advised the villagers to decorate all the houses in the village with red. When the Nian came to the village, the old man and the villagers made noise using fireworks and drums. The Nian was scared and surprised and started to run away. The villagers continued to make noise and chased the monster until it was too tired to run. The villagers killed the monster and ever since, it has been a practice every year to wear red and have fireworks.”

Background: My friend first heard about this story at his elementary school when his teacher who was an Asian American told the class why Chinese New Year was celebrated and the reasons behind the practices done on the New Year. JK said that there were many reasons why people wear red on Chinese New Year, and this myth only explained one of the reasons. He states that people wear red because people believe it represents good luck and joy after the color red helped scare away the monster. People also typically wear red undergarments and underwear for good luck. The money that children receive on Chinese New Year also comes in red envelopes. 

Thoughts: Although I always knew that people were supposed to wear red on Chinese New Year, I never really knew the reasons behind wearing red. After hearing about the myth, I did some research on my own and went back home to ask my parents if they knew why people wore red on Chinese New Year. My parents said that some people believe that red scares away ghosts and evil spirits, while others say that it’s best to wear red and gold to go with the festive mood of the celebrations. The death of the Nian monster also signified a new beginning for the villagers, so it is also customary for people who celebrate the new year to wear new clothes, get a haircut, wash and change clothes and the sheets, and clean the house to signify a fresh new beginning.