The Farmer and the Snake – Chinese Tale

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 61
Occupation: Software Developer
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 02/02/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Context: My father (GW) was telling me to be careful of strangers and being overly compassionate when I moved in with my roommates. He told me a Chinese tale as an example. 

Story: 

GW: “There once was a farmer who was very compassionate. He was always tenderhearted to everyone and supported his neighbors and his community when they didn’t have enough food. Everybody really liked him. One particularly cold winter, he was going into his house when he found a snake lying on the ground, freezing, and half-dead. Feeling pity and sadness for the snake, the farmer held the snake close to his bosom and went inside, hoping to warm the snake and save its life. When the snake woke up, the farmer was relieved. The snake bit the farmer, and the poison soon reached his heart. The farmer died.”

Me: “Wait that’s it?”

GW: “Yup”

Background: This story was one that my grandparents told my father when he was in his teens. My father told me the tale to tell me to be careful of strangers because while an individual can be kindhearted and want to help someone, there are people in the world who will take advantage of that. 

Thoughts: I was really surprised about the abrupt ending of the tale given the way my father told the tale in the beginning. I was expecting the ending to be the farmer saved the snake and something good happened. My father said that the abrupt ending he used was to emphasize the coldness and finality of the farmer’s death. Of course, we all want to be compassionate towards others, and we often feel sympathetic when we see other people in pain, even when we do not know these other people personally. The tale has taught me to be smart about my decisions, and to keep in mind that while helping others is always good, it is also important to always be cautious.

Vampire’s Favorite Drink – Korean Joke

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 03/24/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Korean

Context: I went over to my friend, JK’s, place in Santa Barbara, and we went out for lunch and talked about what we did over Chinese New Year. I asked him if he knew why people wear red and make so much noise over Chinese New Year, and he told me a myth explaining the reasoning behind these things. I also asked him if he knew any jokes, and he told me a joke that his Dad likes to tell people.  

Story: 

JK: “What is a vampire’s favorite drink in the morning?”

Me: “What is it?”

JK: “코피 (Kopi)” *grins*

Background: This joke is one that JK says is a dad joke and one that his own father uses frequently on people. The word for “blood” in Korean is 피 (pi), and 코 (ko) in Korean means “nose”. Since vampires drink blood, their favorite drink would be from a bloody nose. However, when you put 코 (nose) and 피 (blood) together in Korean, it sounds like kopi (coffee) in English, which is the punchline of the joke. 

Li Bai’s death – Chinese Legend

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: 04/20/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Spanish

Context: This is another legend from my friend (AL) in the call where I asked him about Chinese tales and legends. This is the last story that he told me. 

Story: 

AL: “This one is about Li Bai, the poet dude we learned about in class. I went home and asked my dad more about him, and apparently, he died by drowning in the Yangtze River. This was because he loved drinking wine, and indulged in it so much he was known as “jiu xian”, or the “wine immortal”. Li Bai also loved the moon, and it was the object of his affections in many of his poems. On the night of Li Bai’s death, he was extremely drunk and thought that the moon’s reflection in the river was so beautiful that he tried to embrace it. He jumped from his boat in pursuit of the lovely moon’s reflection and is said to have drowned to death. Legend says that you can see his shadow sometimes during the fall in the reflection of the Yangtze River when you are looking at the moon”

Me: “What did you think of the story?”

AL: “I honestly thought it was pretty cool cause while the way he died was kinda tragic, it was also very fitting since he often wrote about the moon’s beauty. Although most people would probably be really sad if someone died from drowning today, some people back then found honor in death, especially because they believe in ghosts, the afterlife, and immortals. Li Bai’s death was almost romanticized, and his death in the story is one that I think is almost a little too perfect.”

Thoughts: When I heard the story, I also thought that the story was extremely romanticized. The story seemed to be more of an unfortunate accident written off as a romanticized death because Li Bai was so famous. This is supported by the fact that Li Bai was an alcoholic, which is something that is looked down upon in most cases. Li Bai’s case is excused due to his fame and skills as a poet. I did some further research at home and found that poets and scholars after Li Bai’s time often watched the moon in the river during mid-autumn when the moon was the brightest in order to commemorate Li Bai’s death. 

The Color Red and Fireworks – Chinese Myth

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 03/22/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Korean

Context: I went over to my friend, JK’s, place in Santa Barbara, and we went out for lunch and talked about what we did over Chinese New Year. I asked him if he knew why people wear red and make so much noise over Chinese New Year, and he told me a myth explaining the reasoning behind these things. 

Story: 

MW: “Is there a specific reason people wear red and are supposed to make a lot of noise on Chinese New Year?”

JK: “A long time ago there used to be a monster called Nian, which also means “year” in Mandarin. The monster would come to town every year to eat people, and so the people feared the monster. One year, an old man was passing by the village and noticed everyone evacuating. He was curious, so he asked why everyone was in such a hurry. The people responded by telling him that they always evacuated the village every year around this time because they were afraid that the Nian was going to eat them. The old man thought about what to do for a while and told the villagers to stay because he had a plan. The old man advised the villagers to decorate all the houses in the village with red. When the Nian came to the village, the old man and the villagers made noise using fireworks and drums. The Nian was scared and surprised and started to run away. The villagers continued to make noise and chased the monster until it was too tired to run. The villagers killed the monster and ever since, it has been a practice every year to wear red and have fireworks.”

Background: My friend first heard about this story at his elementary school when his teacher who was an Asian American told the class why Chinese New Year was celebrated and the reasons behind the practices done on the New Year. JK said that there were many reasons why people wear red on Chinese New Year, and this myth only explained one of the reasons. He states that people wear red because people believe it represents good luck and joy after the color red helped scare away the monster. People also typically wear red undergarments and underwear for good luck. The money that children receive on Chinese New Year also comes in red envelopes. 

Thoughts: Although I always knew that people were supposed to wear red on Chinese New Year, I never really knew the reasons behind wearing red. After hearing about the myth, I did some research on my own and went back home to ask my parents if they knew why people wore red on Chinese New Year. My parents said that some people believe that red scares away ghosts and evil spirits, while others say that it’s best to wear red and gold to go with the festive mood of the celebrations. The death of the Nian monster also signified a new beginning for the villagers, so it is also customary for people who celebrate the new year to wear new clothes, get a haircut, wash and change clothes and the sheets, and clean the house to signify a fresh new beginning. 

“因噎废食” – Chinese Proverb

Nationality: Asian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 03/20/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese, Korean

Context: I asked my coworker if she could help me with my folklore collection and if she knew any proverbs that she could share. She gave me an example of one that her older sister used to tell her all the time.

因噎废食

Roman Phonetic: “Yin ye fei shi”

  • Transliterated Proverb:
    • yin: because
    • Ye: choke
    • fei: abandon or give up
    • shi: food

Full Translation: The literal translation is “because choke abandons food”, with the meaning behind it meaning giving up food because of the fear of choking.

Explanation: The meaning behind this proverb is to say that one does not simply stop eating food just because there is the possibility of choking. The broader application would be to not let fear stop someone from living their life. This proverb was very important to my coworker when she was nervous about big decisions in her life in high school and college, and her older sister would tell her this proverb to tell her to just go for things because there is a risk in everything, but if she never took those risks, she would never be able to start to accomplish anything. 

Thoughts: I found this proverb pretty inspirational and applicable to my life as well. It is also similar to a proverb my mom would tell me about not worrying too much about what could go wrong and focus more on how to do things right. My coworker said this proverb to me on my first day of work when I was a little nervous about interacting with customers. The context she used was to tell me to go out and just talk to the customers and to greet them without thinking too much about what bad things could happen. The proverb also gives insight into Chinese culture, because there is often an environment that creates go-getter attitudes.