Tag Archives: Chinese

The Emperor

Story: An emperor was once stranded in the desert with no food or water. He crawled for miles until one man came along and took him into his home and made him some soup, and to the emperor this was the best soup that had ever been made. From the man’s house he was able to send for help, and soon enough he was back in his palace. Months passed until one day he found himself longing for the soup that man had made him; he missed the way it tasted, the way it made him feel. so he sent for the man who made the soup and brought him to the palace, formally requesting the soup once more. The man made the exact same soup, but to the emperor’s surprise he now hated the way it tasted. Disappointed, he sent the man back home.

Thoughts: When asked about why the story stuck in his mind so much, the informant said that he “want[s] to taste that soup,” and that it “was a really fun lesson about relativity”. His mother used to tell him the story before bed, and it holds a special place in their heart.

Context: The informant told this to me over text as they were unable to FaceTime for a recording.

Analysis: My thoughts about this legend are complicated. I do not believe it is a real story, but it realistically could be. The metaphor of the story is very intriguing, in the sense that a memory will never be the same as reality. Chasing a memory is to chase a kind of perfection that is not real in our world, since our brains paint the past through rose colored glasses. Trying to attain that same feeling – like the life-saving relief the emperor experiences in the story- is impossible. Because it wasn’t the soup that gave him that feeling, it was the situation.

Why Chinese People Have Short Names

Nationality: Chinese
Occupation: Barber
Performance Date: 4/28/22
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

This is a story that I heard from a barber when discussing folklore origins. S is a middle aged Chinese woman who used to live in China before immigrating to the United States.

S: There was one about a boy with a super long name who fell down a well and almost died because his name was too long. I think his name was “Tiki-tiki-tembo-no-sar-embo-charri-barri-boochi-pip-perry-pembo” or something like that. It was Chinese.. custom to say the full name of a firstborn child. So the boy with the long name had a brother with a short name, and they were playing next to a well by their house. The younger brother fell into the well, so the older brother ran to their mom and said Chang fell into the well! Oh, and Chang was the name of the younger brother.

Me: Oh nooo! Were they able to save him?

S: Yes! They got a ladder to help Chang climb out of the well right away and he was just fine. Then another day, the two brothers were playing next to the well again when this time it was the older brother who fell!

Me: (groans) come on guys, do better. Silly little kids!

S: So this time, Chang runs to his mom and tries to tell her that Tiki-tiki-tembo-no-sar-embo-charri-barri-boochi-pip-perry-pembo fell into the well. But since he ran there, he was so out of breath that he could only say tiki-tiki-tembo… before running out of breath. His mom was so intent on respecting her first-born son’s name that she would not listen until he was able to say (inhales largely) Tiki-tiki-tembo-no-sar-embo-charri-barri-boochi-pip-perry-pembo. Whew! That was hard hahha.

Me: (trying to say it with her) Tiki-tiki-tembo-no-sar-embo-charri-barii-boochi alala blehhh. I couldn’t imagine having a name that long. That must suck!

S: Yeah anyways, they finally got the ladder after Chang was able to pronounce his brother’s name, but he was basically almost drowned by this point. They were able to save him, but it took him a long time to recover. And that’s why Chinese people have short names!

Me: Wow, what a cool tale! I hope that the mom learned her lesson, that could’ve ended really badly.

Yugong Moves the Mountains

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 26th,2022
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:

“Some story like

Chinese:愚公移山
Phonetic: Yúgōngyíshān
Transliteration: Yugong Moves Mountains
Translation: The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains

is basically about–there’s an old guy and there was a huge mountain in front of his house and it was very hard to climb it but one day he start moving it and eventually he move the whole mountain.”

Context:

Informant (CQ) is a student aged 19 from Shanghai, China. He attended high school in the U.S. and currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned the story from a Chinese fairy tale book when he was in elementary school. He sees the meaning to be that a person can do whatever they put their mind to.

Interpretation:

This story demonstrates that through hard human work, anything is possible. This story is embraced by the Chinese government and taught in elementary schools most likely to encourage this message: that the Chinese people can do anything they put their minds to.


Hou Yi and the Ten Suns

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 26th, 2022
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:

“There’s a guy

Chinese: 后羿
Phonetic: Hòu yì
Transliteration: Back Yi
Translation: Hou Yi

and in his world there are ten suns and everything is super hot and he basically went and he basically shoot nine of them down and the one we have is the one he left alone and yeah he is a hero for doing this”

Context:

Informant (CQ) is a student aged 19 from Shanghai, China. He attended high school in the U.S. and currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned the story from a Chinese fairy tale book when he was in elementary school. He sees the meaning to be that one hero must do what they can for the good of all.

Interpretation:

This story demonstrates a belief in Chinese culture that one must do what he can for the betterment of the many. In this case, Hou Yi must shoot down nine suns for the good of the world.

For another version of this story, see here:
https://www.timelessmyths.com/gods/chinese/hou-yi/

The Dragon Boat Festival

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 28th, 2022
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:

The festival is called:

Chinese: 端午節
Phonetic: Duānwǔjié
Transliteration: End Noon Festival
Translation: Dragon Boat Festival

“I think the festival is around his death, so it really is just a festival to commemorate him the guy who jumped into the river and killed himself the guy who suicided I guess I mean it’s in the name although it’s not really a tradition anymore it’s really more about the food nowadays more than racing dragon boats they still do it in southern china. It still happens but it’s less common than just eating the food thats what we do mostly. We don’t really do much we just know that day is a day off and we eat Zongzi as a family.”

Context:

Informant (XY) is a student aged 19 from Changsha, China. He spent a few years going to elementary school in Canada but has spent almost his entire life in China. He currently goes to USC. This piece was collected during an interview over dinner in the dining hall. He learned about this from his family. He doesn’t really see any larger meaning behind the festival.

Interpretation:

This piece demonstrates how festivals have changed with industrialization. As (XY) mentions, this festival today is more seen as a day off than anything else. The piece demonstrates how festival practices have changed with industrialization, and, in China, how the Cultural Revolution has impacted traditional cultural practices.