Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Cats and Dogs as Sign Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Home Renovator
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Text:

Collector: “Can you think of any superstitions you heard growing up?”

Informant: “If a stray cat comes to your house, people are afraid. However if a stray dog comes, everyone welcomes it because it is supposed to be good luck.”

Context:

My informant is Chinese, but grew up in Vietnam. He always heard this growing up from neighbors, family, or peers. 

Analysis:

This is an example of a sign superstition, with the stray animals being seen as a sign from the universe of good or bad luck. Cats are often associated with witches, spirits, and bad luck, while dogs are seen as loyal protectors. People will avoid anything that symbolizes bad luck, but will welcome good fortune. This is a belief that is seen across many cultures as well, demonstrating widespread acceptance of certain magical beliefs.

Chinese New Year Food Practices

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Brooklyn, NY
Language: English

Text:

Collector: “Do you have any traditional foods that your family makes for any holidays?”

Informant: “For Chinese New Year, we make certain foods based on how they sound in Chinese. For example, we eat something called “fat choy” that sounds similar to “good wealth”. We also make oysters, which is “ho” and also means “abundance”. We always makes either 8 or 9 dishes because 8 in Chinese sounds similar to “good luck” and 9 sounds similar to “longevity”. 

Context:

My informant is Chinese American and lives in proximity to her grandparents who often cook traditional Chinese food, especially for Chinese holidays. Her mother explained to her why they eat certain dishes. 

Analysis:

These traditional food practices for Chinese New Year largely relate to cultivating good luck, wealth, and prosperity for the upcoming year. The foods are symbolic and consuming them is supposed to produce what they symbolize, such as good wealth. It is a form of homeopathic magic, in that consuming a food that sounds like a certain word will evoke that outcome. The number of dishes prepared, either 8 or 9, represent good luck and longevity, respectively. The new year is seen as the fresh start, and individuals do everything they can to cultivate success.

黄仙” (Huáng Xiān) Beijing weasel

AGE: 55
Date_of_performance: May 1, 2025
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Editor
Primary Language: English
Residence: Toronto, Canada (formerly lived in Beijing, China for 20 years)

Folklore Explanation:
“When we were living in Beijing, we started hearing stories about something called ‘黄仙’—the weasel spirit. It wasn’t something you’d see in tourist guides or museums. It came up more when you talked to older locals or cab drivers, or if you spent time in the older hutongs. Apparently, weasels—especially yellow ones—were believed to have spiritual power. People said they could turn into humans or possess people, especially if you disturbed them or disrespected their territory.

There was this kind of unspoken rule about not messing with weasels. If one came into your house, you were supposed to leave it alone, maybe even light incense. It wasn’t fear, exactly—more like respect. A lot of people referred to them as one of the ‘Five Immortals,’ and they’d warn you that strange things might happen if you upset them. It was never presented as superstition so much as something you just knew not to challenge. Like, don’t risk it. It made the city feel layered—modern on the surface, but still holding onto these old beliefs right underneath.”

Analysis:
The legend of 黄仙 (Huáng Xiān), or the Yellow Weasel Spirit, is part of a broader category of animistic and transformation folklore rooted in Daoist cosmology and folk religious beliefs. In Northern China—especially in and around Beijing—黄仙 is one of the “Five Immortals” (五大仙), a group of animal spirits (fox, weasel, hedgehog, snake, and rat) believed to possess supernatural powers, often associated with both protection and trickery.

These spirits occupy a liminal role in Chinese folklore: part deity, part ghost, part moral enforcer. The belief in Huáng Xiān is a form of vernacular belief folklore, transmitted primarily through oral storytelling, neighborhood custom, and superstitious behavior rather than written texts or organized religion. It reflects a blend of animism, moral caution, and the uncanny, often surfacing in everyday life situations—someone’s illness, odd behavior, or even unexplained luck—providing a framework for interpreting the unknown. Though not officially recognized in modern state narratives, it continues to persist in urban folklore, especially in areas with a strong connection to traditional community life.

The Legend of the Lost Canoe

Title: The Legend of the Lost Canoe

AGE: 52
Date_of_performance: May 5, 2025
Language: English
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: retail worker
Primary Language: English
Residence: Toronto, Canada

Folklore Explanation :
“There’s a local legend around the Toronto waterfront called the Lost Canoe. I first heard about it when we moved here—someone mentioned it on a ferry ride out to the Islands. The story goes that people have seen a canoe gliding silently over Lake Ontario late at night, with no paddler in sight. It’s supposed to be the spirit of a warrior who went missing during a storm centuries ago. Some say he was trying to cross the lake during a battle or to deliver a message and never made it.

What makes it stick is how eerie it feels when you’re out by the water at night—especially in the fall or early spring when there aren’t many people around. You can imagine something like that being true. It’s not something people talk about often, but it comes up once in a while—especially among boaters or people who’ve lived in the area a long time. Whether you believe it or not, it gives the lake a kind of presence. Like it remembers.”

Analysis:
The Legend of the Lost Canoe is an example of local supernatural legend tied to place-based folklore in the Toronto region, particularly around Lake Ontario and the Toronto Islands. While not part of institutional Indigenous oral history, it draws from widespread Indigenous narrative motifs—such as lost warriors, sacred journeys, and spirits of the water—though its current form is shaped more by settler storytelling and urban folklore transmission.

This legend falls into the category of contemporary legend or ghost story, and it is typically spread orally, through casual conversation, local tours, and boater subculture. It serves as a way to mark space with memory, especially in areas that are otherwise seen as recreational or modernized. The legend reflects a broader pattern in waterfront communities where lakes and rivers are attributed with spiritual significance and residual memory, giving the environment an emotional and historical depth. In this way, the Lost Canoe becomes part of Toronto’s vernacular landscape mythology—not formally archived, but deeply felt by those who know it.

monkey king 孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng)

Title: 孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng / The Monkey King)

AGE: 54
Date_of_performance: May 1, 2025
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Retail worker and teacher
Primary Language: English
Residence: Toronto, Canada (lived in Beijing, China for 20 years)

Folklore Explanation:
“The Monkey King was everywhere when you were growing up in Beijing. You couldn’t walk into a bookstore or turn on the TV without seeing some version of him. The classic Journey to the West was part of school curriculum, of course, but it wasn’t just that—there were cartoons, puppet shows, live-action remakes, even branded snacks with Sun Wukong on them. He’s clever, a bit of a troublemaker, but always brave. Kids loved him. You and your sister had picture books with him flying around on clouds, fighting demons, and transforming into animals.

One of the most surreal experiences was getting to visit the film set for one of the big-budget remakes. That was the 2015 version, the one with Fan Bingbing. My friend Li—she translated some of Ai Weiwei’s work—her husband, Cheang Pou-soi, directed it. She invited us out to the set one day. You probably don’t remember all the details, but it was massive. Elaborate costumes, green screens, big lighting rigs—it was a whole operation. Seeing this ancient story being brought to life with modern technology really showed how deeply rooted the Monkey King is in Chinese culture, but also how adaptable he is. He’s survived for centuries, and he keeps changing with the times.”

Analysis:
Sun Wukong, or the Monkey King, is a central figure in Chinese mythological and narrative folklore, best known from the 16th-century novel Journey to the West (西游记). His character draws from Daoist and Buddhist cosmology, embodying themes of rebellion, transformation, and eventual enlightenment. He is classified as a heroic trickster figure, blending moral lessons with comedic mischief, and has been used historically to explore tensions between individuality and authority.

The Monkey King’s story has been transmitted through oral storytelling, written epic, shadow puppetry, television, and cinema, making him one of the most recognized figures in Chinese folklore. His presence in modern media—especially through state-supported educational programming and commercial films like The Monkey King (2015)—shows the way traditional folklore evolves into mass-mediated folklore, reaching audiences across generations and geographies. In the context of childhood in early-2000s Beijing, Sun Wukong functioned both as a cultural icon and a moral exemplar—accessible through entertainment, but still rooted in complex spiritual and historical traditions.