Informant: my mother

Original Script: Feng Shui is a practice of arranging furniture for good luck in Chinese folklore. Doors, windows, and other types of furniture need to be balanced so that energy can flow through the house without stopping. For example, it is not good to have your bed facing the door of the bathroom, and doing so will weaken your luck. And crystals can be used to deflect negative energy. Putting a crystal figurine on your desk is beneficial.

Background information: Feng Shui is a superstition in Chinese folklore. Some people extremely believe in that so in China there is professional Feng Shui consultant that tells you how to arrange your home.

Thoughts on the piece: I did not hear any American or Western folklore that related to the arrangement of the furniture. But my friend once told me that McDonald’s use a lot of red colors in the interior because red makes people agitated so that they won’t stay in the McDonald’s for too long. The theory of color in Chinese Feng Shui is more about superstition. For example, green stimulates business and helps you earn money, and violet gives peace and insight.

Informant: my mother

Original Script: After the heaven was created, a book recorded the heaven’s secret was made. To prohibit human from discovering the secret of the heaven, a group of white monkeys was sent to guard the book. However, one of the monkeys was very curious so he looked at the book when there was no one around and learned some secrets of the heaven. As punishment, the monkey had to guard the book forever by himself, knowing the secrets but never able to tell anyone. The other white monkeys were set free and went down to the man’s world to discover knowledge from other sources.

Thoughts on this piece: Monkey plays a significant role in Chinese culture. The character of monkey is always curious and disobedient to the rules. One of the famous examples is the Monkey King, who rebelled against the heaven and then was imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha.

Informant:Yume

Original Script: Ikebana is the art of arranging flowers. In Japan, women who are trained in Ikebana are thought to be virtuous. Ikebana also represents the arrangement of three elements–heaven, earth, and people. Rather than using a large variety of flowers, ikebana is minimalistic. Only a few flowers are arranged sparsely in a shallow vase. The arrangement often takes on the shape of a scalene triangle.

Background information: Ikebana is an art in which the arrangement of flowers represents a balance where nature and humanity are brought together. It also indicates a closeness with nature.

Thoughts on this piece: Ikebana is an example of a folk tradition that is elevated to an art form.

In Japan, Ama divers are all female. Unlike average people who usually diving with the air tank, ama divers use no equipment but a special breathing technique called isobue when underwater. Ama harvests a lot of things from the sea, such as seaweed, sea snails, and abalone. Abalone in Japanese culture is believed to have a spiritual connection with Ise Jingu. Eating abalone contributes to longevity and youth and the deities like them. Tomokazuki is a sea demon who lures ama divers with abalone and lead to deep sea and drowns them. And it is said that Tomokazuki is a spirit of drowned ama. To protect themselves from the demon, ama sews symbols called seiman and doman on their cloth.

There was one day Alex slept next to his grandmother. He waked up at night and saw a shadowy figure standing next to his grandmother with a trident. He then raised himself from the bed and tries to see the face of the figure. However, the figure then disappeared suddenly. Next day Alex told his mom and grandmother the figure he saw yesterday. His mom said the figure was the Death and was going to take his grandmother; however, as Alex wake up and frightened away the death.