Author Archives: Stephanie McGregor

Moving Ceremony – China

Nationality: Chinese, Malaysian
Age: 49
Occupation: Homemaker
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese, Hakka

Chinese moving house ceremony

Since it’s believed that harmony and a blissful family life starts from the day one move into a new come it’s important to pick an auspicious day to move into a new home.  A moving in ceremony is also performed to ward off any wandering spirits that might be lingering in the new home and to bring good luck and safety to the family.

First, some pomelo leaves are soaked in water for a couple of hours and then sprayed around the whole house starting from the left side when you enter the home, moving in clockwise direction through all the rooms. A prayer is made to request the spirits to kindly leave.  Chinese believe that taking a bath with pomelo leaves will help wash away all the bad luck from the person. Three joss sticks are burned at the four corners of the living room and five in the middle accompanied with some offering – a whole chicken with head and tail, oranges, some wine, and a prayer made to invite the three gods to come and bless the new home and bring good luck and safety to the new occupants of the home. A pair of men’s trousers are then hung in the closet so good luck and prosperity will be brought to the head of the household.

Next, it’s time to make the bed and a red packet is put under the pillow -it’s believed that it will bring the occupants a good night’s rest.  It’s important to turn on the stove to boil some water and switch on the fan – water signifies wealth and prosperity and switching on the fan helps to circulate all the good fortune in the new home.

Analysis:

My mother is self proclaimed as superstitious and has performed these traditions to make her feel more comfortable in the new environment of a house.  She learned about the proper way to perform the ceremony whilst in HK.  My mom first did the customs as a blessing in the 1990’s when our family was moving into a new house in the Peak.  She also heard a little about it as a kid but did not think much of it until she was older and had a family.  The main driving force for practicing these traditions is for peace of mind and was done every time we moved homes.

I have never witnessed my mother doing any of these practices.  I have seen multiple feng shui professionals come through though.  They survey the room and tell the family where bad energy is coming from and sometimes how to arrange the furniture. This is the only form of housewarming I was aware of.

Spirits and energy are very influential to the Chinese, which in turn makes them pretty superstitious. They strongly believe in an after life, thus always seeking to please them.  Prayers are said to both the gods and their ancestors to please them and hope they will give them a peaceful afterlife. It is customary to always include ancestors in the ceremonies, paying homage to them and showing appreciation of their heritage.  Doing this also brings the living family together, thus strengthening the family kinship.

These particular housewarming traditions are native to Southeast Asia.  This is because the pomelo fruit is only found in tropic areas like Fiji, Malaysia, and Thailand.  Now, however, it is grown commercially around the world but since it is out of its natural habitat it is more expensive.  It is comparable to a western grapefruit and becomes a yellowish green when ripe.   My mother told me that the Chinese word for pomelo basically means “blessing”.  This is the reason why it is used as an auspicious fruit during many ceremonies and traditions.

Folk Speech – Cuban

Nationality: Cuban, Mexican
Age: 21
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Folk Speech

Me cago en dies

I shit on ten

I don’t care what anybody thinks

Analysis

Chris heard this curse when his parents finally let him hear them swear, possibly around the age of ten.  This Cuban folk speech is said by everyone but more so with adults than little kids. It is actually very common in conversation.  When one is told to be careful and he or she does not think they need to be, they can reply, “I’ll take a shit on what ten of you think, I don’t care!” The person could not care less about the given precautions and will do it anyways.  It is also used as a way of expressing frustration, translating to the effect of  “Shit!” in English.  It is considered somewhat vulgar and not said too loud in public areas.

From one source on urbandictionary.com, the blogger said this phrase is actually a transformation of the phrase “me cago en Dios”, or “I shit on God”.  It is uncertain whether or not this is justified, but it makes sense.  The Spanish are known as very religious people so insulting God like that is extremely offensive.  This could be reason behind the variation of the speech.  One can also use the phrase quite commonly with other nouns at the end; examples include, “me cago en el amor” (I shit on love) or “me cago en las vanguardias” (I shit on the vanguards).  The actual translation of this speech may not make that much sense to a westerner, but at times Americans read things too literally.

Folk Mnemonic

Nationality: Ecuadorian, Columbian, Czechoslovakian, Italian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Folk Mnemonic (About poison oak)

Red and shiny watch your hiney.

Analysis

Vienna first heard this in the 6th grade year when she was at science camp.  The trip entailed a lot of hiking, as well as poison oak, so her leader told her this mnemonic.   Because of the rhyming element, it is ideal for younger children to remember and understand.  Vienna was fond of this item but as she got older, she realized that that this represents only one form of poison oak. It can also be green and is actually just as irritable as the red kind.  She concludes, “this rhyme isn’t very efficient, but for a 6th grader I think that it is fine”.

I was actually at this same science camp with Vienna and vaguely recollect hearing the same thing.  I definitely agree that is it effective for middle school students, especially since red is the more common plant out of the two.  The purpose isn’t to get the person fully acquainted with the plant species, but more so to keep them aware when walking.  A lot of the plants in the wilderness have similar characteristics, but what is fairly distinct to poison oak is the shiny, oily element.  This is where the actual irritant is.  I have heard this mnemonic used quite frequently when in the wilderness or outdoors.  It is not only said by the instructors, but even by novice outdoorsmen looking out for one another.