Barley Rice (보리쌀/ Bo-ri Ssal)

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Shanghai, China
Performance Date: 29th March 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean, Mandarin

Story

 

Bo-ri Ssal, meaning barley and rice, is a traditional game that is physical, which can be played with two players using their hands. The player on the offense clenches a fist, while the player on the defense brings their hands together to make a cup with the palms. The first player puts the fist in the palm and either says Bo-ri (Barley) or Ssal (Rice) and then takes the fist out. The defending player must attempt to grab the fist as the attacking player says Ssal. If they say Bo-ri and the defending player catches it, it does not count and the attacking player keeps playing. The attacking player can always choose either Bo-ri or Ssal, and if they lose by getting caught when they say Ssal, the attacking and defending sides switch.

 

Context

 

I collected this from my high school friend who lives in Shanghai, China. Despite living abroad. This game is significant to him because while going on public transport such as the bus or the subway, he would insist that we play this game because he is “on another level” and every time I lose he would tell me “don’t reach”. Although my encounter with him is frustrating, the game itself is fun as it is taught to South Korean children since a very young age.

 

 

Analysis

 

Bo-ri Ssal widespread and well known in South Korea due to the game only requiring hands to play and therefore being able to be performed anywhere one desires. Unlike other folk entertainment such as dancing and singing, Bo-ri Ssal is a game that tests and teaches reaction time to its players. It can be analyzed that the two hands of the defending player symbolize the mouth and the mouth wants to eat the soft white rice rather than the inferior course and rough barley.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Shot Tradition on the Basketball Court

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10th, 2018
Primary Language: English

 

Story

 

“So this is at least from what I know a very popular basketball ritual. Right as people have to leave the court and have to stop playing, somebody will shout “Last shot!”. Now it is really bad luck to end the last shot of the day as missed. So people have to take a shot and if they miss, they have to keep trying until they make it.”

 

Context

 

I collected this from my friend that I made in university. He is Asian American and grew up in the city of Walnut his whole life. He is an avid basketball player and always stayed in school to either go play basketball or go longboarding with friends. The Last Shot Tradition on the basketball court is significant to my friend as he would always miss and would have to keep trying until he made it in, which encouraged him to work on the accuracy and precision of his shots.

 

Analysis

 

This court ritual performed helps integrate the sport of basketball into a part of everyday life. By associating missed shots with “bad luck”, which may affect every part of people’s lives, people will try to improve their skills in order to make basketball not hinder the other part of their lives. Moreover, this ritual can help improve the players’ game as there can be similar scenarios in a real basketball game such as a ‘buzzer beater’, which is when one player scores as the buzzer is sounding to indicate the end of the game is.

 

 

 

 

 

Kaguya-Hime (/ Tale of Princess Kaguya)

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Massachusetts, Boston
Performance Date: 29th March, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, English

Story

 

“One day, an old bamboo cutter cut a strange glowing bamboo in a grove, only to find an adorable little girl inside. Being childless, the bamboo cutter decided to bring the child home to raise with his old wife. They the girl Kaguya-Hime. Since finding Kaguya-Hime, the old bamboo cutter constantly found pieces of gold in the bamboo he cut, becoming wealthy in a short span of time. Kaguya-Hime grew up to become exceptionally beautiful, and news of her beauty spread around the country. Five princes came to ask her hand in marriage and she declined all of them by telling them she will marry whoever completes her task and giving them impossible tasks. The princes gave up but then the Emperor of Japan wanted her to become his wife and empress, which she declined because she says is not from this world.

As time passed, Kaguya-Hime would often look up to the moon in melancholy and then proceed to cry. She reveals to the old bamboo cutter and to his wife that she came from the moon. Kaguya-Hime was told to live on Earth initially but now has been told to come back to the moon.

As time to return to the moon grew closer, Kaguya-Hime she gave gifts and to the emperor, she gave him a letter and an elixir of immortality. The emperor tried to prevent Kaguya-Hime being returned to the moon by the entourage by sending an army of his own to protect Kaguya-Hime, but failed.

The emperor then asked his men to burn the letter and elixir that he received from Kaguya-Hime on the highest mountain of the country, as he deemed immortality meaningless without the one he loves. The mountain was then named mount Fuji (富士/ immortality). Legends say that smoke from burning Kaguya-Hime’s parting gifts can still be seen today.”

 

Context

 

I collected this from my Japanese friend that I befriended during my times studying abroad in Shanghai, China. The story of Kaguya-Hime is significant to her as she heard the story from her father when they went to see the mountain in real life during her middle school years.

 

Analysis

 

In this example of the story of Kaguya-Hime, folklore gives explanations and stories to landscapes. The ending of the story is there to explain the volcanic smokes Mount Fuji, which is an active volcano. The story of the bamboo cutter and his wife can give lessons on becoming rewarded for good actions, as taking care of an innocent and vulnerable child led to them becoming rewarded with gold.

 

 

 

 

 

Ice Cream Man

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10th, 2018
Primary Language: English

Song

 

Ice Cream Man is a parody song of Iron Man by the band Black Sabbath. The lyrics goes as follows:

 

I am Ice Cream Man

Running over fat kids with my van

When I ring my bell

All the fat kids run like hell

 

Context

 

I collected this from my friend that I made in university. He is Asian American and grew up in the city of Walnut his whole life. This parody song is significant as it was an immature song that was popular at the same time of our lives, despite him present in America and me in China. What was also significant was that despite there being many different versions of the Ice Cream Man song, we both knew of this exact version of the song when we were on the opposite side of the globe. Additionally, he mentions that the song was popularized by word of mouth in his school, rather than a video going viral.

 

Analysis

 

When looking up examples of the Ice Cream Man song, there were all different to the one my friend and I knew. One example has the same first stanza as the one presented above. However, the song is extended to 6 minutes, with additional lines such as “Watch them run in fear” and “As I shift to Reverse Gear”. Another example only had one stanza like the example provided above, but the last two lines were “if I don’t hit them at first” and “I will surely hit them in reverse”. It is interesting to see another example of the same music have the same lyrical elements, but structured differently.

This parody song is folk music because in this situation, the folk refers those who are the same generation that can identify and perform the song. Despite being based on authored material, Iron Man by Black Sabbath, the parody song has numerous evidence for oikotypical variation.

 

Gender Reveal Party

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10th, 2018
Primary Language: English

Story

 

“Okay there are many different ways to host a gender reveal party. Oh and gender reveal party is just where the gender of the baby is informed to the parent in different ways. One of the ways that was recently trending was gender reveal through sports. For example, like in a basketball gender reveal party, people will fill the basketball with purchasable colored smoke bombs. One parent will take the shot, and if the get the ball into the hoop, the colored smoke bombs will break open, revealing blue smoke if the baby is a boy, and pink smoke if the baby is a girl.”

 

Context

 

I collected this from my friend that I made in university. He is Asian American and grew up in the city of Walnut his whole life. When I asked of any American folk traditions or rituals, despite gender reveal party not being historically and traditionally embedded into every American household, he informed me of the gender reveal party as it was something that is a very recent trend and something where I could discuss the effects of social media on the spreading of folklore, traditions and rituals.     The gender reveal party, especially in the form of basketball, is significant to my friend as before seeing this ritual, he had no interest and intention on gender reveal parties. However, after watching many viral clips on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram, he tells me that now he wants to perhaps have one gender reveal party for his own child because he wanted to participate in the activity due to it looking fun.

 

Analysis

 

The gender reveal party example shows hybridization of traditions. By relating the gender reveal to a very relatable activity such as sports, the gender reveal ritual is definitely more exciting than just being informed of the baby’s gender. Additionally, as it is a party, it is a ritual that promotes socializing with others.

The ritual also outlines the power of social media. The ritual became so popularized on the internet that gender reveal products are extremely accessible.

However, this goes against propagative nature of folklore due to the ritual spreading through views on a video, rather than through word of mouth. This could be due to the ritual being so dependent on the visual effects of the colored smoke bombs, as telling one about throwing a basketball into a hoop to have pink smoke exploding outside indicating that the child is a girl is less exciting than seeing it through video, and hearing the cheers of many people.