the barking dog

Nationality: China
Age: 24
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 03/14/2017
Primary Language: Chinese

anOriginal Script: “After dinner, I was laying on the sofa and watching TV with my husband as usual. Suddenly, our dog Meme became very manic; he was barking at us and running to the front door. Meme is three years old and has never been like that; he used to be very quiet. My friend even asked me if Meme was dumb because he never barks. So my husband and I both thought this was very strange.We walked to the front door and look through the peephole. However, it was dark outside and there is no one there but the flower pot was knocked over. My husband suggested if it was an earthquake, but we live on the 19th floor and we could definitely feel the shake if there was an earthquake. And it can’t be people who live here passed by because Meme would not bark at our neighbors. There are always some stories about the supernatural ability of animals. My husband and I were timid and did not walk out to see what happened.”


Thoughts about the piece: There are lots of stories of how animals can predict danger.  This is might because animals are always thought to be the friend of human beings. 

Brujo

Nationality: Salvadoran
Age: 51
Occupation: Service coordinator
Residence: North Hills, California
Performance Date: 04/20/17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This is a true story about magic:

“Your great uncle was a brujo (Witch). And he had killed someone. It was from my mom’s side of the family, I don’t know. My mom was small and lived with the mother of the uncle. The uncle had a fight with a neighbor, and killed them. The police were looking fro him at this point. He went to go visit my Aunt Rosa. She asked him what he had done. He asked if he could stay there for awhile. The police came looking for him. They asked if a man had entered the house. The police entered the house to search. My aunt responded no. He was in the kitchen and there was a bunch of bananas. He had transformed himself into the bananas. My Aunt asked where he had gone, and she saw him fall to the ground as bananas and transform into a man and leave.”

My informant is a service coordinator. She likes to help people. She also migrated from El Salvador to the United States. Most of her stories are from her mother or personal experiences.

I talked to my informant over coffee in our house.

It is interesting to hear a story explaining how our family comes from a line of witches. Another interesting thing is how the story changed from the last time I heard it. I have always wondered why my great uncle would turn into bananas. It is always interesting to learn about your family history.

 

Yellow String

Nationality: USA
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 5th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

“The informant wears a yellow string tied around her wrist. It was given by her mom for luck.”

After thoughts: The strings are called blessing cords and used in Buddhism practice. In the traditional practice, the Lama ties a knot in the cord and blows a mantra into it which makes a blessing. This allows you to take your teacher with you wherever you go. This is similar to many other religious traditions where the teacher is associated with spiritual blessings. They are meant to touch your body and purify any negative mantras.

Give Me the Red Bag

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Georgia
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is CH.

This final superstition was given as an offhand remembrance that the student did not expect to tell me.

CH: Ok so on Chinese New Years, traditionally younger people like kids say this one saying to their parents or elders. Its gong xi fa cai/ hong bao na lai. And what that means roughly translated is “I wish you good luck and good fortune, now hand me the red bag” and the red bag has money in it. And it can be upwards of hundreds of dollars depending on how old the kid is.

Analysis: This once again shows the importance of red within the Chinese culture. Not only does it help protect them from evil doings, but it can also bring them fortune and wealth. However, it should be noted that they must pay their respects to their elders before receiving their gift, thus showing the importance of their family on their lives. It is also interesting that the older you get the more money you receive. It could possibly be to show the maturity of the person rewards them with more fortune.

“Zongzi,” a Traditional Chinese food

Nationality: USA
Age: 50
Occupation: Business
Residence: China
Performance Date: April 14th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

“During the “Duanwu” Festival, most families get together and eat “zongzi” which is basically sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. Sometimes it’s stuffed with meat or red bean.”

The informant was born and raised in Taipei.

After thoughts: “Zongzi” is a traditional Chinese food eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. A popular belief of eating “zongzi” involved Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu. He was known for his patriotism, and unsuccessfully tried to warn the king against the expansionism of the Qin. In the end, the Qin general took the king and the Chu Capital. Qu Yuan was so upset that he drowned himself in the river. According to the legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet’s body.