Author Archives: Peter Zhu

A Personal Ghost Story

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Sturbridge, MA, USA

Date: 04/05/2025 

Language: English

Description 

When my parents were moved into [the house], they had to have it like, cleansed spiritually. Because they kept hearing like all of these noises, and they would like see things at night, this whole thing. Um, and then. Yeah, they would like, see things. I don’t know, like ghosts or whatever. I remember one night they were telling me that I think they like saw something, and we have a mud room like with, you know, the pantry and all that. And they had, like, come downstairs to get water or something. And there was just like something sitting in the corner. Um, and then, when I was like, probably a teenager, I heard something really loud downstairs. And then I went downstairs to check it, and all of our cabinets were open. With the plates like, have fallen out everywhere. And like, obviously, there are no Earthquakes in Massachusetts. So, like, that was definitely not an earthquake. Um, and then I went back upstairs, and like the second I had gotten into my bed, I heard like footsteps on the staircase. I also used to hear, like, things, call my name a lot that I thought were my parents, and then I’d go out and they’d like dead asleep. I’m so serious, like. This actually happened in my childhood. There’s no indication of like, what kind of ghost it is. I don’t know what kind, but they’ve like, never been aggressive. Like, they’re like spirits. I don’t think they’re like evil ghosts. Although, we also used to hear, like, like, horse clopping around the house at one point, and then my dad bought a metal detector, and we went outside, and we found a bunch of horseshoes that were buried in our yard. And our garage used to be a stable, so I guess that’s like a specific type of ghost. 

Subject’s Opinion

Interviewer: How did you guys find out it was? Did someone tell you it’s haunted?

Subject: Prior to me, they were…there was just so much weird stuff that was going on, that they had to have, like, bring someone over to like, cleanse it.

Interviewer: Who was that person? 

Subject: I don’t know, it was like…some spiritual person that, like, dealt with spirits, and like, I don’t know what you would call them. 

Interviewer: Like a priest or something. 

Subject: No, it wasn’t like religious, it’s um. Oh my God, I need this word. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Interviewer: So do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in these spirits? 

Subject: I don’t know. I feel like I’m like the type of person that’s like…if I don’t believe in them, they’re gonna get me. So especially growing up in the house like I believed in, like the spirits, but I don’t think I believe in like ghosts. Like, I don’t think there’s like evil ghost. I just think there’re some spirits going on. 

Analysis

This personal ghost story is a prime example of why ghost stories manifest and how they inform or alter our behavior. The subject claimed her family home is haunted quite matter-of-factly and went on to state three examples as evidence that validate the existence of paranormal entities, which initially suggested a strong belief in the existence of ghosts. But later, the subject drew a distinction between “ghosts” and “spirits”, but was unable to clearly communicate how she differentiates the two. Based on her explanation, it seems like the subject does not regard the “spirits” in her home as “ghosts” with ill intentions. Further, the subject seems to see ghosts as a more heightened concept than spirits, which made me realize that the very narrative definition of a “haunted” house is being challenged. The subject’s family has made meaning out of the odd events around their house by attributing them to paranormal activity, but rest assured as they believe the spirits are friendly and cannot harm them. This particular way of engaging with the belief of a haunting is unique. As we discussed in lecture, places claimed to be haunted are often associated with guilt and trauma without closure, but the subject’s family has clearly separated themselves from any potential history that could cause them to believe these spirits mean harm.

盘古开天辟地

Pangu opens the Earth and Sky

Nationality: Chinese

Age: 59

Occupation: Unemployed

Residence: Shangyu, Zhejiang, China

Date: 04/05/2025 

Language: Mandarin

Description 

It’s been a long time, so I don’t remember this story well. We don’t tell these stories often because everyone knows them. I need to think… it’s about Pangu, he was a giant who created the world. He was the first being, and he was sleeping in an egg, and the egg represented chaos and disorder, and there was nothing but chaos. He has an axe, and… first he was frustrated because he couldn’t make sense of anything. Or did he wake up? I’m not sure. I don’t know. But at some point, he took his axe and swung at the chaos around him as hard as he could, then… the egg was sliced open, and it was really loud, like an explosion. After this, Pangu is no longer inside chaos. But he realized that the two halves of the egg were going to close up together again, so he raised his arms and stomped his feet and held the top half up while standing on the bottom half. The top is sky, the bottom, well, is the earth. And he stood for a long time, until the two halves wouldn’t ever come together anymore. Then he collapsed because he was too tired, he just laid down and he died. But there’s more. Parts of his body all became different things in the nature…natural world. His blood became the river, his sigh became the wind, the sound he made when he fell is the lightning… and then… and then what? I don’t remember the rest. That’s just how it goes. Pangu. 

Subject’s Opinion

Interviewer: If you don’t believe in the story, why do you think people still spread them? 

Subject: It’s a good story, it’s very melancholy. I think people enjoy telling it. And having one main God to think about when they think about the Chinese Gods, with the heavenly Gods and everything, when there’s so many of them. And, well, it’s a myth, so you tell it to Children so they understand the world a little better. 

Analysis

The popular Chinese creation myth of Pangu is commonly regarded as the origin story of the Chinese people. Pangu is often regarded as a martyristic figure, as the spirit of sacrifice is highly noble in Chinese culture. The myth is undoubtedly a sacred truth, as it sets the stage for countless myths to come. Though the subject’s rather indifferent towards the truth value of the myth, her vivid telling is indicative of the rich cultural heritage that Pangu is a part of. Pangu’s actions of holding two boundaries apart invite further exploration of our discussion of “the liminal’, the space in which the most disruption and change can happen. By creating a liminal space, Pangu then creates the world as the Chinese people know it, which communicates a powerful and frankly universal perception of the world not as a binary, but the endless possibilities between two ends. 

Don’t cross your eyes!

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 04/05/2025 

Language: English

Description: 

When I was a kid and still now, because now my mom just finds it funny. But when I was a kid, it was like a pretty serious topic. She used to say that if I cross my eyes and someone slaps you on the back, then your eyes would stay crossed that way. And so sometimes, like when I was joking about it as a kid about across my eyes she’d threate to like, come back up and like, uh, hit my back. Not in like an abusive way, but in, like, a funny way. She would tell me how she had this one friend. This boy. And he was like making fun of that or something, and was like walking around crossing his eyes being, like, see, see, like, you can’t get me because it’s not real. And then, he was crossing his eyes, and someone came up and hit him on the back, and he stayed cross-eyed, and she would say he stayed cross-eyed forever, and he could never go to school, he could never do his work, because he couldn’t see straight. And glass never fixed it, and you can’t get surgery to fix it. And it was like something she used to tell me a lot. So, now sometimes we have a bit where I cross my eyes and she’ll come back and then hit me on the back and then I get all nervous about it still. Like, I still get nervous that my eyes are gonna stay that way.

Subject’s Opinion 

Subject: I don’t know who told her that story. It had to have been like, a friend of a friend. It was like, probably one of those things you know where you hear down the grapevine. 

Analysis 

This cautionary tale, as the subject points out, becomes legend as it’s spread through parents to inform each other’s children about the “dangers” of crossing your eyes. In this case, the form of ostention the subject’s mother participates in to this day led me to consider the lingering effects of these cautionary legends. Even though the subject, now an adult, no longer believes in the legend, she still has some anxiety when the ritualistic slap is performed. This indicates that since the subject once believed in the legend, it’s difficult to dispel the belief completely, which in turn reminds me of ritualistic practices that reverse or undo these legendary effects.

“The Belly Button Snatcher”

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 04/02/2025 

Language: English

Description: 

When I was in preschool, my teacher told me this story about the belly button snatcher. Basically, she told me there was this boy, right? And he goes to bed one night, and his mom says, you have to pull the sheets up all the way up to your chest, so you sleep well. And he says, I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to do that. So he pulls the sheets all the way down, so his whole belly is exposed. And his mom’s saying you have to pull your sheets up otherwise. The belly button snatcher’s going to come. He says there’s no such thing as the belly button snatcher. That’s stupid mom! You know, because he’s like a young boy. And so she says, okay, well, good night. And so he goes to sleep and the sheets are down by his feet because he refused to pull him up over his belly button. And he wakes up the next morning and he goes…and he drinks some orange juice. His mom makes him a nice breakfast, so he has some cereal, some orange juice, and he’s drinking the orange juice, and his shirt gets all wet. And he’s like, what’s going on? And he lifts up his shirt, and there’s a hole! And the orange juice is coming out of his belly button. And he’s eating his cereal, and there’s a hole! So cereal’s coming out of his belly button. And it’s getting all over his lap. And he’s like, what’s going on? So he gets up and he goes and takes a bath to try to clean himself off. And he gets in the bath, he starts filling up like a balloon. Because all the water is going in its belly button. So, he gets out the bath, and he drains out his belly button, and he goes Mom! Mom! I don’t have a belly button anymore. And she goes, the belly button snatcher came! He snatched your belly button. And I don’t know how it ends. And I don’t know if he ever got his belly button back. But it was basically, she scolded him for not having the blanket all the way up above his belly button.

Subject’s opinion:

Subject:  I don’t know if it was like a thing where it’s supposed to be…You’re supposed to keep warm at night, or you’re supposed to protect yourself at night? 

Interviewer:  That sounds like it. You’re supposed to keep warm because you get sick. 

Subject: Right? Yeah, but it is literally…I’ve spent, like, a good three years at that age, really paranoid about the belly button snatcher. Like, I couldn’t go to sleep. I would be sweating in bed, but I couldn’t go to sleep unless I had the sheets all the way up because I was so nervous. It’s like the same thing as when they tell you not to stick your foot over the side of the bed, because, like, someone’s gonna eat it or something.

Analysis: 

Based on the subject’s interpretation, the belly button snatcher is both an urban legend and a cautionary tale. While the subject denies the truth value of the tale in the present, her past belief in the story indicates a successful spread and reinforcement of a certain way of behavior that parents expect in their children. The story features key traits of a classic tale, utilizing only two characters and the repeated depiction of how losing a belly button negatively affects the boy character. This pushes the listeners, who are usually children, towards the belief that it’s dangerous to sleep without a blanket. It’s a classic example of a legend informing common beliefs that kids carry into adulthood.

五十步笑百步 (Wu Shi Bu Xiao Bai Bu)

Those who retreated 50 steps mock those who retreated 100 steps.

Occupation: Student 

Date: 02/11/2025 

Primary Language: English

Language: Mandarin

Description

Okay. I got closer so I actually got it. Yeah, I have the one that’s um, The change tax is like, um, so that’s like the one who runs 50 steps away from the enemy laughs at the one who runs 100 steps away. It’s kind of poking fun at people who like kind of fell but they’re making fun of other people who fell. Even though, like, on like surface level, they’re both like running away from something. Yeah. Um it’s really interesting to me because it was often used my in my family. Because I have a younger sister, which… sometimes when we both get clowned on by my parents, she will laugh at me even though like she also did do something wrong. It’s also… I don’t remember a specific history behind it, but it’s definitely used, like, in war times or like, like tease on soliders who run away from your enemies. 

Subject Opinion: 

Subject: It happens unintentionally so often that, just the saying, it…surprisingly could be applied to a lot of situations. 

Analysis: 

This ancient Chinese proverb states that those who mock others’ shortcomings often have the same shortcomings themselves, criticizing the irony and hypocrisy in human behavior. The proverb’s wartime context opens up a much larger consideration of folklore born in turbulent eras during which common folk are often exposed to war, famine, etc. Similar to a large portion of Chinese wisdom, this proverb places us in a military context that, on the literal level, only applies to soldiers. But the fact that the proverb is widely known reflects the reverence and attention common folk paid to soldiers at the time, giving folk speech that stem from that realm a particular zest and intrigue. It is also interesting that the subject referenced her own family and how it’s used to point out hypocrisy in mundane matters. Though the proverb does not directly communicate a piece of advice, it encourages against the behavior described by letting the receiver come to their conclusions after witnessing the irony of the situation, making it an incredibly durable and effective proverb.