Text
*Translated from Chinese
“Ever since, I guess my mother hurt her body from all the hard work that she did, so ever since that she would suffer from rheumatism and she would especially feel pain in her joints and muscles when it was raining. And drinking cold water would make her joints hurt, so she basically confirmed to herself that drinking cold water was bad for the body because that was also something she learned from her parents and grandparents growing up, to not drink cold water or cold drinks because they would cause health issues or mess with your body.”
Context
KL notes that her mom was taught from her family that drinking cold water/drinks was not good for the body and health, and personally confirmed it after it made her joints act up. KL (who is my mom) then learned this idea growing up, and would tell my brothers and I not to drink cold water/drinks too often when we were growing up. She says that her husband (who is also Chinese) does not believe in this idea and says that it is just an old traditional Chinese belief that has no scientific backing and should have been outgrown by now.
Analysis
This opinion on cold water is an example of traditional Chinese folk medicine beliefs that were passed down to my mom then to my brother and I through family advice and sayings. For my grandmother, or KL’s mother, the belief was validated by her experience with rheumatism, showing how beliefs become stronger through lived experiences. The most interesting part of this story is the conflict. Dundes makes a point that we should not just disregard folk medicine because of scientific reasons, which is what my dad/KL’s husband tries to do by dismissing the belief because there is no scientific proof behind it. It’s interesting that my parents are both Chinese, and have both passed down similar folklore such as Chinese New Year rituals, Chinese stories, and values, but vehemently disagree on more “non-scientific”, pure folk beliefs. This could be because my mom had that lived experience that enforced the belief from her mother while my dad didn’t, but could also be because my mom is more apt to believe in the “supernatural” or the unknown, while my dad believes that most things in life are under his control. Either way, this story shows how even among the same folk group, beliefs will vary.
Tag Archives: cold drinks
Sickness & not wearing socks
My friend Justine is Chinese-American, and her parents are doctors who practice holistic Eastern medicine. She shared the following folk belief with me:
“Something that like, my family weirdly believes–and I’m gonna equate this to, like, Eastern medicine or like, myths in Eastern medicine–but my family hates it when I don’t wear socks because they think that if you don’t wear socks, that’s the first like, way you can get a cold. Because like, your feet–and this is true–your feet are like a good signifier of your body temperature, so like, if your feet are cold it means the rest of your body is probably gonna feel cold too. And like, if you are cold you are more susceptible to getting a cold…Also no cold drinks, because it’s like the colder your body is, the more susceptible you are to getting sick.”
Like many folk beliefs and practices in East Asian medicine, this one is not necessarily based in empirical scientific proof, but this does not mean there is no truth to it. Remedies and folk beliefs formerly dismissed as “superstitious” have often been tested and proven effective by the medical/scientific institution, and subsequently incorporated into Western medicine. This belief reflects a general practice in Eastern medicine of focusing on overall bodily wellness rather than quick cures for acute illness.