The Main Piece
“I never gave another person shoes for any sort of present, then they’ll run away from you.” There is a common belief that by giving a person shoes it will later lead them to leave your life. Although this is simply a superstition, it has caused many people to second guess what kind of gift they want to give anyone who’s relationship they hold valuable. After all, it is a simple act to get the person another gift that could potentially save them from leaving your life.
Background Information
My informant is my roommate, Sarah Kwan, a current undergraduate student at USC. She had heard about this unspoken rule from her friends back in China. The word for pair in Chinese also means “the splitting of two,” this definition lead to the belief that if one was to give a person a “pair” of shoes, then it was as if they were splitting apart as well. She told me that at first she questioned this because people were technically giving the pair together, thereby not actually splitting the two, but as time went on she began to simply accept the superstition. “I didn’t want to chance anything, it wasn’t like the world was going to end if I never got my friends shoes. I could always get them something else.”
Context
My informant is Sarah Kwan, my roommate and personal friend. Sarah gave me this piece of advice as we were shopping for my friends present. I thought shoes would be a great idea to give my friend because this way he could use it every day. She was shocked to hear that I had never heard this superstition before and strongly recommended that I also not chance anything with my friends.
Personal Thoughts
I personally am not too superstitious, but I can understand why obeying such a simple task is accepted and performed. Friendship is highly valued, not monetarily, but on an emotional level so why would anyone want to put something like that at risk. I thought the shoe superstition sounded unnecessary at first, but I can see where it highlights values such as friendship.
Tag Archives: Chinese
Zhi nv and Niu Lang
“Legend says that there is a Zhi Nv star and a Qian Niu star and they fell in love; but the law of heaven (chinese heaven) forbids man and woman to fall in love, so as a punishment, Qian Niu star was stripped of his “heaven” status and forced to descend to the human world, while Zhi Nv star was forced to make clouds out of the spinning wheel indefinitely. After Qian Niu star was sent to the human world, he was “born” into a farm family and being named “Niu (cow) Lang.” After his family passed away, he went to live with his uncle and aunt who treated him terribly, and casted him out of the house with nothing but a broken cart and a cow. Niu Lang managed to make a living with himself with just that but his life is still very poor and terrible, and then one day the cow told Niu Lang to go to Bi Lian Chi (green lotus pool) and that if he hid the red clothes of the fairy, he can have that fairy as his wife. Niu Lang did that, and so when it’s time to leave, all the other fairies flew away with their clothes, but Zhi Nv, having her clothes hidden, could not leave. Zhi Nv was very embarrassed but Niu Lang told her that he will not give her her clothes back unless she marries her. Zhi Nv looked at Niu Lang once again and realized that he is the reincarnation of the Qian Niu Star that she loved so much so then she said yes to marrying him.
The two then are happily married and had one daughter and one son. Just when they thought they could be together forever, the queen of heaven Wang Mu (direct translation: King Mom) found out about this and sent for heaven guards to go and capture her. At the same time, Niu Lang comes crying to Zhi Nv telling her that the cow has died and that before it died it told Niu Lang that if he skins him, he can use his cow skin to fly to the sky.
The guards came to capture Zhi Nv and thus Niu Lang followed with their children and the cow skin. Just as they are about to reach each other, Wang Mu came and created a sky river that rushed between the two and they can never cross it. Niu Lang and the children cried so hard that eventually Wang Mu was touched by their love and thus allowed the two to meet once on the 7th of July every year. Since then, the two lives up in the sky with a river in between them where they stand on each side and try to look for each other, and the 7th of July became the Chinese Valentine’s day that people celebrate.”
CM says that based on geographic location apparently the stars are actually located that way. Everyone learned this tale as a kid and would celebrate Chinese Valentine’s day, which is very similar to western valentines day. It’s an excuse for people to give presents to each other and go on dates, etc. In Chinese movies they prohibit western holidays so they often use this as valentines day. It’s interesting that it is based on forbidden love, similar but a much less gory story than the western St. Valentine.
Meng Jiang Nv
“During the Qin dynasty China, there was a kind and beautiful woman named Meng Jiang Nv. One day, she discovered a young man hidden between the grapevines in her backyard–turned out that his name is Fan Xi Liang, and he is hiding from Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di’s guards, for they are going everywhere, capturing people to go build the Great Wall where many starved and died of exhaustion. Meng Jiang Nv saved him and sheltered him and eventually the two fell in love.
On their wedding night, when everything was going so well, guards suddenly barged inside their house and took Fan Xi Liang away to go be labor for the Great Wall. Meng Jiang Nv was so sad and angry that she decided she is going to go to the Great Wall herself and to find her husband. She spent many days, going through steep mountains and rivers, suffering through terrible conditions with no complaint till she reached the Great Wall.
She asked everywhere for her husband, but no one seemed to have seen him till finally, someone told Meng Jiang Nv that her husband’s been long dead and that his bone are buried at the bottom of the Great Wall. Under great pain, Meng Jiang Nv started to cry for 3 days and nights and she cried so much that eventually part of the Great Wall collapsed, exposing the bloody bones of her husband. She finally got to see her beloved husband again, but he will never get to see her again, due to the tyrannical request of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di.”
CM learned this folktale growing up in China. It expresses the problems in everyday life under the horrible conditions when ruled by the tyrant. The tale shows corruption and the people’s frustration with the Qin dynasty. It also relies on a national landmark, the great wall, and is a very country-specific folktale.
Pan Gu opens up sky and earth
“A long long time ago when sky and earth were still one and everything was in chaos sleeps a giant named Pan Gu, and he has slept there for 10 million years.
One day, Pan Gu suddenly woke up. He sees that it is all dark around him, so he picks up a huge axe and swung towards the darkness, and with a loud bang, he divided land and the sky. But Pan Gu was fearful that they are going to stick together again, so everyday he keeps his head up towards the sky and face against the land to make sure that they stay apart. After countless amount of time when the sky and land finally stuck to its shape, PanGu is so exhausted that he fell and died of exhaustion.
Since then, his breath turned into the wind and cloud of the four seasons; his voice turned into the sound of rolling thunder and his eyes turned into the sun and the moon and his limbs turned into the four directions, where his skins turned into land, and his blood turned into running river.”
CM learned this as a child, growing up in China. It’s similar to the Greek myth of the titans. It’s a creation myth, with his body turning into different parts and explaining why they came to be. This includes the seasons and weather and the directions of the earth.
Hou Yi shoots the Sun
11) Hou Yi shoots the Sun
Once upon a time, there were a total of ten suns; they were the sons of the king of the eastern sky and his wife. Everyday they’d rotate positions and each shine its rays of sunshine on earth. That was a time where everything was peaceful and nice; no one had to worry about other people stealing from them, and animals did not have to worry about people hurting them. Crops are always thriving and there were always enough food and drink for all lives on earth.
One day, the ten suns thought that it would be fun and interesting if they all rose and went out together. Together, they marched across different lands, and thus burned everything; everything dried up, and all lives were dying under the heat. Suddenly everything was changed. The good life was gone, and nothing is thriving anymore.
A young man named Hou Yi, famous for his shooting skills, decided that he will try to save mankind. Thus, he spent many days and nights marching through mountains till he got to the highest point–he shot at the suns. The first 3 arrows took down 3 suns, but there were still 7 other songs that were glaring at Hou Yi. Hou Yi’s next shot took down 4 suns in a row, and the 3 that were left were now really scared. Hou Yi took down two more suns and now only one is left. That one remaining sun was so scared that it hid into the ocean.
Now there were no more sun burning the earth, but without the sun nothing grows; people started praying to the king of “heaven” for the one sun, and thus the next day a gleaming sun rose from the east sea, restoring all life and peace to earth.
Hou Yi was awarded to be a general or his bravery to save the people.
My mother told me this tale, but I’ve known this lore since I was little because every chinese kids know these; if not already told my parents, we read and learnt these in grade school. My mother’s performance really wasn’t anything spectacular since we both already know the tale so well. It’s funny to me that when I tried to think of chinese folklores I couldn’t really think of anything, but with people naming a few, I could remember all the rest.