God of Fortune

Nationality: USA
Age: 50
Occupation: Business
Residence: China
Performance Date: March 25th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

During chinese new year, the god of fortune, there’s a chinese belief that either the third or fourth day of new year, people will put long fireworks outside their home and companies do it too. They choose that day because of that day is…basically you’re inviting the god of fortune into your home. You do the fireworks to get his attention, so he’ll hear the fireworks and come into your home. This is something that is passed on generations and everyone knows about.

After thoughts: The 5th lunar day of Chinese New Year is the Welcome Day for the God of Wealth. Families worship the God and have ceremonies to invite the God of Wealth to enter the house. There are more than one Gods of Wealth in the Chinese society and characters are the historical figures mixing with religious gods, devils, spirits and immortals from Chinese mythology.

Nothing is Free

Nationality: USA
Age: 50
Occupation: Business
Residence: China
Performance Date: March 25th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

“I have something a teacher told me that I have always said to you…and that is, if you want to dance you have to pay the band.”

Interviewer: What does this mean to you?

Interviewee: That means whatever you want in life, you have to put in to get out. Nothing is going to come free to you. nothing is free. if you want to do something, you have to do it. It’s not free. That wis something that I always live by.

 

A Life Lesson

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

“Okay so I remember when we played volleyball back in high school and the other team served into the net we were always told “to not celebrate the other teams failures” because that shows our character.” Like celebrating over something they messed up isn’t something we should do…we should celebrate something that we did well and worked for.”

After thoughts: It’s very easy to get caught up with winning but it’s important to not forget values. This is similar to many motifs on “character” which includes the many qualities and characteristics of a person. Character is much more than just reputation, but instead is what we want others to see.

 

Promises

Nationality: Singapore
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 17th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese, Singaporean

Interviewee: My dad always said: always under promise and over deliver and never over promise and under deliver.

Interviewer: What does that mean to you?

Interviewee: That’s who you should be as a person. Show them you can do better and impress them. Say what they are content with and then do more.

After thoughts: This is similar to many Chinese motifs on trust and friendships, especially “guanxi” the basic dynamic in relationships with others. Reciprocal favors are the key to “guanxi” and failure to reciprocate is considered unforgivable. This is central in Chinese society and describes the importance of  personal connection between two people.

 

The Straw People

Nationality: Singapore
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 17th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Singaporean, Chinese

Interviewee: So this story is about a group of good guys fighting these bad guys but they didn’t have enough resources, so one guy was smart and so he sent out these ships…it was misty that day…he put straw people on it, and it looked like real people. The other group shot the straw people because they thought they were real and used up all their arrows. The good guys then took the arrows.

Interviewer: What does this story mean to you?

Interviewee: This is what I think of because my dad always tells it to us. At times you want to give up but you gotta keep trying and it’ll turn out fine.

The informant likes this piece because it was something her dad repeated over and over again throughout her childhood. The informant is Singaporean but grew up in Shanghai, China.