Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

水滴石穿Water drops and penetrates the stone.

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 11

Text: “水滴石穿”. Water drops and penetrates the stone.

Once upon a time, there was an honest Mayer who caught a corrupt manager who took coins from the budget. The manager said, “It’s just a copper coin!” The Mayer said: “One coin per day, a thousand coins on the thousand days. The rope can saw the wood, and drops of water can penetrate the stone.”

Context: The informant heard this story when she was young. She did not want to do her homework because there were so many of them, and she didn’t know how to do it. Her parents used the four-character word to continue working, but she did not know the meaning of the word. Thus, her parents told her the story. Although the story did not convince her, she memorized it.

Analysis: All of the Chinese four-character words came from historical texts. Ancient history books included stories summarized into four-character words that teach a moral. This story also came from a four-character word, which means that small things build up; If people see wood with a rope every day, the wood will break; If water drops on a stone every day, the rocks will also be worn through. The idea that small things will build up and be impactful is present in many Chinese stories. Taoism has a similar saying, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.” This reflects Chinese people’s belief that a small effort will make a big change.

Great-Grandfather’s Acupuncture

Nationality: Wu
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: China
Performance Date: 06/04/2023
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: Cantonese

Text:

One of the informant’s family members is believed to have a special power. The informant’s great-grandfather has the ability to use acupuncture to kill people. He can tell the “death point” of the human body, and by pointing to the acupoints, he can kill people. However, he stopped using this ability and did not teach anyone about acupoints because it is something immoral to teach. The “sky,” which refers to gods and ancestors, will watch him and disagree with him. It will hurt his luck and his descendants’ luck. Thus, no other member of the family learned the skill.

Context:

The informant learned the story from family members. During family gatherings and festivals, such as the Qingming festival, when people commemorate families, the informant’s parents and grandparents would tell the story of his great-grandfather. Something interesting is that the term “great-grandfather” is somewhat vague. The informant was not sure if the great-grandfather in the story was his grandfather’s father or cousin, or grandfather. It is more like a term that directs to an old and legendary family member.

Analysis:
The story reveals Chinese cultural beliefs and values related to powers and morality. The story of the great-grandfather who could use acupuncture to kill people is a testament to the enduring belief in physical, even a bit mysterious, powers and the fear of their potential misuse. The idea of the acupoint came from Chinese medicine and Kung-fu. Thus, this story reflects Chinese people’s belief in the effectiveness of Chinese medicine and Kung-fu.
The story also highlights the moral dilemma that the great-grandfather faced with his power. By choosing not to teach the skill to anyone else in the family, he was acknowledging that the power to take life was too great to bare as a human being. The ancestors and the “sky” serve as a judge that watches over people’s actions, which reflects the importance of ancestors and descendants in Chinese culture because the ancestors care about their descendants. The great-grandfather was aware that the use of his power would bring harm not only to his own luck but also to his descendants, which reflects the traditional Chinese belief that ancestors and the supernatural world have a significant impact on human life and that their displeasure could bring misfortune.

The ”third-eye”

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 48
Occupation: Teacher
Performance Date: 05/04/2023
Primary Language: Chinese

Text:

Some children can see things that adults can’t see. They have their “sky eye,” a third eye, open, so they can see ghosts and spirits that wonders around us. When my daughter was little, not even one-year old, she would cry every night between 7pm and 8pm. It’s more like screaming rather than crying, and I think she was terrified by something. Ther’s only one thing that could calm her down, which is her aunt. If her aunt hugs her, she would become quieter. When our family visits a master that studies supernatural things (someone that can “calculate fate”), he said that my daughter has a third eye open, and she sees her ancestors who came to see her between 7pm and 8pm. Her aunt has the positive energy that repels the spirits, which is why she can calm her nephew down.

My daughter stopped crying as she grows up, and I guess that’s because her third eye closed as she grew up. Little child always have some special connections with the other world.

Context:

This is the personal anecdote of my informant. The informant would tell the story to her daughter when looking at family photos. When telling the story, the informant didn’t look scared. Rather, she thought it was surprising and interesting. When my informant’s friends and family experience similar things, such as small children crying for no reason, she would tell the story and recommend them to find someone that can “calculate fate,” a direct translation from Chinese. Thus, many of my informant’s family and friends know this story. Although my informant does not have a religion, she tend to believe in supernatural things involving spirits and ghosts. She believed that ghosts exist in some form, despite if we could see it or not, and little children can connect with them somehow.

Analysis:

This story came from a member of Chinese family that touches on the theme of supernatural beliefs and the connection between the living and the dead. The idea of the “third eye” or the ability to see spirits is a common belief in Chinese culture. In traditional Chinese culture, ancestry is important, and heritage is also important. This belief is rooted in the concept of ancestor worship, where ancestors are believed to watch over their descendants.

The story also highlights the importance of family and the role that family members can play in calming and protecting each other. The fact that the daughter was only able to calm down when her aunt hugged her suggests that there may be a special bond between them or that the aunt has a unique ability to soothe her. This emphasis on the importance of family reflect that in Chinese culture, family is viewed as the most important social unit.

The story also reflected the belief in fate and destiny, as the family visits a “master that studies supernatural things” who is able to provide an explanation for the daughter’s behavior. This belief in fate and destiny is also a significant cultural value in Chinese culture, where it is believed that one’s actions and decisions can have a profound impact on their future.

The Legend of the Golem

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Actor
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Context :

JH is 23 years old and from San Francisco, CA. They are a USC graduate I met a few months ago. They are a practicing Jew and heard a lot of Jewish legends growing up from their family.

Text :

“There is a pretty Jewish legend that I was always told. The legend of the Golem, which I’m probably going to butcher and my rabbi will be mad about it. It’s basically that this person made this man out of clay in order to protect his town… I think it was the rabbi who made the man out of clay. He wrote a word onto his head, I forget the word. But he was this six or seven foot tall man made of clay that was supposed to protect the town but ended up terrorizing it. He’s still in the attic of the actual place he was made, the clay man.”

Analysis :

Legends are interesting to analyze because they balance between the lines of real vs not real, and they can possibly be true. With the story of the golem, it remains a legend because although the clay man is still supposedly in the attic, it can’t necessarily be proven. People come from all over the world to see the attic, the way people would go out searching for bigfoot or the lochness monster. Originally, the golem was created to protect his people, but ended up terrorizing them. This bares similarity to the story of Frankenstein, which isn’t necessarily a legend. I’m unsure what the message of the golem is or if there even is a message since my informant didn’t fully remember the legend. Like bigfoot and the lochness monster, the golem is a legend about a large creature who ends up terrorizing humanity, leading to the humane fear of the “other”.

El Cucuy-The monster: Legend

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/23/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Text: 

Me: “Within your Mexican culture, did you grow up hearing any scary stories?”

EC: “um yeah, it’s pretty crazy how affected we were by it actually. My parents always used to tell us about El Cucuy. My parents used to use it to scare me and my siblings from going to unsupervised places. It’s supposed to be a monster that scares kids”.

Me: “Ok, so was it like a generalized monster? Like did it have a name?”

EC: “yeah, it’s super generalized, El Cucuy literally translates to monster so it didn’t have a name. My parents would just say “don’t go over there! The Cucuy will get you!”

Translation: “The monster”

Context (informant’s relationship to the piece, where they heard it, how they interpret it):

-EC’s relationship to this piece stems from her Mexican culture within her childhood home considering this legend is said primarily in Mexico, Spain, and other Latin American countries. EC would hear this legend at home, at family gatherings, from her aunts, or from a random person that was attempting to warn her from going anywhere she wasn’t supposed to. EC interprets this legend as a scaring tactic that parents use to control the ways in which their kids behave. Not to mention, EC interprets this legend as a light-hearted joke that tells kids to ultimately listen to their parents. 

Analysis (what kind of personal, cultural, or historical values might be expressed) YOUR interpretation:

-The overall cultural value within this legend stems from the various origin stories that can be told considering it is a popular phenomenon among Mexico, Spain, and other Latin American households. Not to mention, the cultural value can be seen within how these Latin American cultures raise their kids within their similar lifestyle values. Not to mention, the personal values that can be expressed within this legend is the way parents raise their kids regarding their own personal beliefs and customs. I see this legend as an overall motive to control bad behavior in children and to scare them into following the commands of their parents. I interpret this legend as an idea of obedience as scary methods can be made considering this legend showcases a parent’s overall motive to scare their children from going anywhere alone. Considering that I have heard about this legend myself and grew up with it, I ultimately interpret El Cucuy as an embedded concept that is directed towards children in order for them to be scared of the unknown. Given the fact that this entity is nameless, leads me to think that this scary tactic allows children to interpret this monster in any way they choose which can determine how scary they make it seem in their own perceptual minds. One similar legend that has similar qualities to El Cucuy is the legend of La Chupacabra considering that they are creatures that are intended for behavioral motives. However, the main difference between El Cucuy and La Chupacabra is that there have been actual sighting reports on La Chupacabra while there hasn’t for El Cucuy. This leads El Cucuy to be represented as an imaginative creature in kids minds. The overall idea of El Cucuy can fall under the concept of an ostension considering actual kidnappers can be placed as the given ‘monster’ that can take you if you go wander around places unattended.