Tag Archives: history

War Orphans in WW2 China (遗华日侨)

Context:

The informant is a senior undergraduate International student from China, studying at USC. She grow up in a very traditional Chinese household, and are well-educated in Chinese culture.

Text:

“This story is about the wife of my grandmother’s younger brother.

She was born in 1938, during the war between China and Japan, which was the early stage of World War II. Her biological father was an officer in the Nationalist Party. Her biological mother was a Chinese woman who could speak Japanese.

I think one of the big problems at the time was this: after Japan occupied Northeast China, many people born there — including Japanese settlers and local Northeasterners — experienced an identity crisis. They couldn’t tell whether they were Chinese or Japanese.

For the Japanese born there, they thought: “Our country has occupied this land. I was just born on land occupied by my country. I was born in the fourth year of the Shōwa era, so I am Japanese.” Later, when this land was redefined as China, they still considered themselves Japanese.

For the local Northeastern children, because the Japanese required everyone to learn Japanese, they spoke Chinese at home but had to speak Japanese at school and pledge loyalty to the Japanese Emperor. So they too experienced this identity confusion.

The mother in this story was exactly that kind of person with an identity crisis. Ethnically, she was Chinese, but she was fluent in Japanese and worked as an interpreter for the Japanese. Naturally, at that time, she was labeled a “traitor” (汉奸).

Around the time the War of Resistance against Japan was about to be won, in the mid-1940s, the Nationalist government was retreating to Taiwan around 1944–1945. Her biological father was very irresponsible. He bought only one boat ticket and abandoned the mother and daughter in Northeast China. The mother was left alone with a baby only five or six months old, barely able to carry her in her arms. Life was extremely difficult. Also, because she had been labeled a traitor, she couldn’t raise her child properly. So one day, she placed the baby on a woodpile in a rural area, hoping some kind-hearted person would adopt her.

Soon an old woman came out to gather firewood for the heated brick bed (炕) common in Northeast China. She found the baby. The baby hadn’t been wrapped properly — her right foot was exposed, which later caused a permanent disability. The old woman took the baby home and slowly began raising her. To be honest, the old woman wasn’t entirely kind-hearted: she wanted to raise the girl as a future child bride for her own son. But regardless of her intention, she did save the girl’s life.

The girl grew up in that household. Besides her future husband, there was an older brother, much older than her. The brother treated her more or less okay, but after he got married, the sister-in-law was not so kind. For example, when the girl wanted to study, the sister-in-law wouldn’t let her use the oil lamp. She suffered a lot, but through her own hard work, she got into China Agricultural University — which is still a prestigious university today.

When she grew up, the Cultural Revolution had already passed. Then, in the 1990s, someone contacted her, claiming to be her biological father. It turned out that he had never made it to Taiwan for various reasons. Later, during the Cultural Revolution, his identity as a former Nationalist officer was exposed, and he was severely persecuted, even losing the use of one leg.

As for her biological mother, she fared relatively better. After leaving the baby at the old woman’s home, the mother claimed to be a Japanese refugee. Since Chinese and Japanese people looked similar, and she spoke fluent Japanese, no one could tell the difference. Before the People’s Republic of China was founded, she managed to flee to Japan, where she remarried — a Japanese man — and lived a fairly happy life. Although the Japanese economy was poor after the war, under American occupation, people could still get enough to eat.

So, in the end, this is a family tragedy set against the backdrop of a turbulent era, but also a small family legend.”

Analysis:

This is family legend shaped by historical trauma, where large political events are understood through personal experience. It highlights themes of identity instability, as characters are caught between cultural and national affiliations and judged by shifting social norms. The narrative also reflects a common motif of abandonment and rescue, though presented with moral complexity rather than clear good or evil. Overall, the story shows how family narratives preserve cultural memory while helping later generations make sense of difficult and ambiguous histories.

The Hitler Parody

Context

The informant attended the same elementary school as me and is currently studying in college in China. During the time we were in school together, “Hitler Parody” (希特勒鬼畜), also commonly referred to as Downfall Parodies was a widely popular internet meme within Chinese online culture, particularly in early Bilibili video communities. The meme originates from a 2004 German film, Downfall (Der Untergang), and became globally viral through user-generated parody edits.

Text:

The informant recalls that during elementary school, “Hitler Parody” videos were very popular online. These videos are based on a scene from Downfall, where Hitler, portrayed by actor Bruno Ganz, becomes extremely angry upon hearing news of Germany’s defeat in 1945.

In internet adaptations, users kept the original German audio but replaced the subtitles, making it appear as though Hitler was angrily reacting to modern situations such as failed exams, video game updates, or everyday frustrations. Sometimes, the audio is also distorted and replaced with popular songs, making it appear as though Hitler himself is singing and performing the music. The informant explains that the exaggerated emotional performance made the scene highly adaptable for parody.

One of the many examples: bilibili.com/video/BV1Jx411w79d/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source=64229e788fe1b4b2152a8b0251a4c2ee

Analysis:

This meme demonstrates how digital folk culture transforms historical media into modern content through remixing and reinterpretation. By replacing subtitles while retaining the original emotional performance, users create a flexible narrative template that can be applied to present situations. This process reflects a form of “internet folklore,” where repetition, modification, and collective participation generate shared cultural meaning.

At the same time, the meme illustrates how humor is used to distance and reframe historical figures, turning a figure associated with extreme violence into a source of comedic exaggeration. This reflects a broader tendency in online communities to neutralize seriousness, while also raising questions about the boundaries between humor, memory, and historical representation.

Diaz de los Muertos and One’s Ancestral History

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Age: 28

Text: CB – “Known well as Diaz de los Muertos or day of the dead, its a very important holiday in the Hispanic calendar. It has a lot of crossover with the Americanized Halloween, but it’s distinctive differences go far beyond the costumes and candies. The point is to remember our dearly departed. During it, we bring out all the old photos from my grandmother’s family and my grandfather’s family, my mother side (Nana, and Tata respectfully). Specifically what we do is help my Nana and Tata arrange all their family photos on the banister and dining room table so that they may join us for one last meal. We offer our prayers to them and little candies of their favorite and light candles in their honor. As the photos come out, my grandparents and my aunts and uncles will begin telling stories about these people Somehow, we’ve heard 1000 times and never interrupt. Others are new to us and add another source of identity to where we came from.”

Interviewer – “What is the most memorable story you’ve heard about your ancestors?”

CB – “My big Nana (great-grandmother) was a loving, but firm woman. All her children learned to dodge at a very young age, for she was proficient with wooden chanclas. One time my mother snuck out at night to go see a movie when she got back they had closed and locked her window This wasn’t that unusual. Typically they would just spend the night on the roof at this time, however she went to big Nana‘s house, knocked on the door and gave her a sob story about my grandfather locking her out. This caused my great grandmother to storm over to their house (my Nana’s family lived very close to each other) and hammer on the door. When my mother’s father opened it, he was immediately hitting his head with a wooden chanclas. She chased him around the property for about an hour while my mom darted to her room and laughed from her window.”

Context: Diaz de los Muertos is an annual Hispanic holiday to celebrate the dead of one’s family. Typically it involves large gatherings, bringing together members of extended family to celebrate and share stories about those who have passed. In the case of CB and their family, some stories pop up and stay the same each year, and each year each family member listens on with respect and fondness. Besides, the candy, feasts, and decorations this holiday is additionally anointed with, at the heart of it rests the tales of those gone to show that they are and never will be forgotten. CB has been told this story about his mother sneaking out a number of times, year after year, and it never gets old.

Analysis: Being both an annually calendrical holiday, there is an air of spiritualism, belief, but also prolonged familial ritual for Diaz de los Muertos for CB and their family, as is with most families who celebrate it traditionally. The art and act of gathering around to tell stories about those who have passed to allow their spirits to not fade into obscurity is a prime example of continued tradition and using a holiday as the medium to come together to do the sharing. This family-based festival, where food is offered and made, candy is eaten, stories are exchanged, and to take pride on those who have passed is a wide mixture of many folk group mediums, from foodways, to folk belief, to folk speech and narratives, and finally this annual holiday which encompasses it all. Diaz de los Muertos is a rich example of folk culture for the Hispanic community, and continues to shine on for each family regardless of how they celebrate it.

The Haunted Routes of Rehoboth

Age: 71

 MC: “I live in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, which, of course, is in New England.

And there are a lot of old ghost stories that center around the region we live in.

And many years ago, well, probably about 20 or 30 years ago, um, an author from the town that I live in, Rehoboth, um, decided to investigate some of the stories he had heard about.

And one of the stories was the redheaded hitchhiker of Route 44.

And as the story goes, this is first traced back, I think, to the late 60s.

Someone was driving down Route 44 from Seekonk into Rehoboth.

And all of a sudden, a face appeared on the right outside the passenger window, and it was obviously really scary.

It was nighttime.

And the thing was, the car wasn’t stopped, it was going.

And the face was, like, pressed up against the window, and he stayed there for a while and just disappeared.

Now, many years later, there were several other sightings of this red headed hitchhiker, who always had on a red plaid shirt.

And in one of the stories, he was on Route 44 again, traveling the same stretch through Rehoboth.

And he was in the middle of the road, and he just appeared as this woman was driving through, and she didn’t have enough time to break, but she tried to break, and she knew she was gonna hit him, and when she looked through her rear view mirror, she had gone right through him.

Like, he wasn’t, like, dead on the side of the road or anything.

So she was freaked out about that.

And then there was another couple, too, where something very, very similar happened, all on this one stretch of road, and nobody could, they reported this, and nobody could really attribute it to anything.

But many years go by, and I think there were a total of, like, five or six cases where people had seen this red headed hitchhiker with big, bushy, red hair, and the same type of red plaid shirt.

Sometimes, they noticed he was in jeans, and there was a couple from Swansea going down that same road, and they saw him as well.

And this was between many years.

In fact, I think the last official sighting was in the 1980s.

So within, like, a 15 year period, um, it was reported, like, five or six times that somebody had seen him, and he always had this evil laugh. That they could hear.

And for some of them, the laugh would get, like, really, like, loud, and for others, it would kind of, like, drift off into the woods.

And for one of the incidents, he actually, someone stopped to pick him up, because they thought, obviously, he was real, and he got into the car, but didn’t say anything, just kind of nodded when he was spoken to, or made a face when he was spoken to.

And when it was time for him to get out of the car, he didn’t open the door.

He just went through the door.

And, of course, that was scary.

That’s the end of the hitchhiker story, as I know it.”

Interviewer: “Okay, so, have you ever heard of anybody you know actually, like, seeing or experiencing the hitchhiker?”

MC: “Um, If I remember right, back, um, no, I don’t know anyone who was actually seeing that particular apparition, but there was something. You know who JC. is, right?”

Interviewer: “Yeah.”

MC: “I vaguely remember, and you’d have to check with JP on this to know if I’m remembering it.

It was someone, one of her friends, and I think it was JC, who was driving home late at night, and it wasn’t on Route 44.

But it was on the corner of 118 in Fairview Avenue.

Do you know which one that is?”

Interviewer: “Yeah, I think so.”

MC: “Yeah, but so it’s, like, two kind of major roads, well major for Rehoboth anyway.

And it was pretty, pretty late, and there was someone just standing there near a stone wall.

And I vaguely remember JC telling us about it.

That’s the only thing, but it was…”

Interviewer: “Was it a redheaded figure or anything like that?”

MC: “Um, I can’t remember the details on that.

And I don’t know if she had heard that story and was kind of imagining things, but she definitely thought it was some kind of an apparition.

Not just a person.

But they were standing near the stone wall, on the corner of 118 in Fairview Avenue.

So there’s a stop sign there.

So, JC, if it was JC, had stopped there, and looked over, and it was, like, the middle of the night.

Like, it was late, late, late, and she just, it freaked her out, too.

That’s the only thing I know.

So I don’t know about the roads in Rehoboth, they’re a little bit haunted, you know?”

Interviewer: “Do you believe that apparitions continue to haunt these roads, or it is more simply a story for you?”

MC: “To me, it’s more like a story.

It’s more like a story, but, you know, you never know.

Yeah.

You never know.

I mean, I think it happened enough, there were enough years in between sightings, that’s no coincidence.

I’ve yet to see him myself. But, you never know.”

Context: This story was told to the informant by her grandmother several times throughout their life. It is a local legend rooted in the history of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where they are both from. This widespread tale is known throughout surrounding areas and has been the inspiration behind a short film, a podcast and many articles about ghosts of the region.


Analysis: In this rural legend, sightings of a distinctly red-headed, plaid-adorned ghost are reported along a stretch of a local main road. Throughout the story many common motifs are present, such as the unnerving laugh, spectral face in the window, and passing through material objects. With reports spanning from the 1960s to 1980s, this tale continues to be well-circulated throughout the region, drawing the attention of inhabitants and inspiring various media interpretations. The subject reporting the story seems skeptical as to the actual presence of the ghost, yet is unwilling to entirely dismiss the notion. Recognizing the eeriness of the town’s streets at nights, the subject admits to a slight ‘haunting’ feeling present as one drives through a small town without streetlights. In the spectrum between belief and disbelief, the subject recognizes the legend as more of a story than reality for them, yet acknowledges how the history of reportings seems beyond just coincidence.

Passover/Seder – Holiday

Nationality: Israeli-American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Bellevue, Washington
Language: English

Text:

The celebration of Passover starts with the Seder which is a big community event where a bunch of people get invited over. It is a very long event where there is structured text with a melody that retells the story of Jewish people being enslaved in Egypt. The entire dinner is choreographed, the text tells you when to drink, refill your wine, when to drink, when to lift the matza, etc. There are symbolic foods, such as a hard boiled egg which symbolizes the way Jewish people went from being soft to being hard due to pressure. There is a part where a glass of wine is meant to be left outside for someone from the story. At the end, there is a lot of singing after everyone has drunk four glasses of wine.

Context:

The informant was raised Orthodox Jewish and grew up engaging with their family’s Passover and Seder traditions. They say they enjoy it but the kosher matza that is used tastes bad. There is also a moment where the youngest child (which they are) has to stand on a chair and sing, which they also dislike. The informant says that the reason that the glass is left outside is because historically, people who were antisemitic would leave bodies outside the homes of Jewish families because they believed Jewish people drank blood. By opening the door in the middle, the group can check if someone had left a body outside. The informant mentioned that their grandmothers would argue about which melody was correct because each family had a different tune for the words.

Analysis:

This holiday is a community event, meant to bring people together. The purpose is to remember the past and commemorate the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people. Remembering the past of a culture is a way of remembering who the people are. In the case of Passover and slavery, remembering the past is a way of preventing it from happening again. As the Seder dinner is a historical retelling of the events, the purpose is to commemorate the people who came before while celebrating the survival of the people now.

Since the event happens at sundown (the start of the Jewish day), it is centered around food. The story itself incorporates the food into the process, connecting it to events or people. This entwines what people are eating with the story they are telling, allowing them to still eat during the event.

The modern addition of checking outside the house for a body is a result of antisemitism. Before, people wouldn’t have to worry about checking outside so that wasn’t part of the story. As it became necessary though, it became part of the celebration as the glass of wine was left specifically for a character in the historical story. The needs of the people were incorporated into the traditions of the ritual so well that if someone doesn’t know the context of opening the door, they might not realize it came from antisemitism.

The melodic element of the retelling comes from how Hebrew is spoken from the Torah which is in a singing-like manner. This is extended to the Hebrew spoken during this event because it is also a religious text. Melody allows for a text to be better remembered. By connecting words to a melody, it allows people to remember what to say for the whole three hour event better which would have otherwise been practically impossible. The informant’s own family had two different melodies that were used and they argued over which was correct. These melodies can become part of family identity and religious identity. This makes it hard for people to use a different melody because of how important their version is to them. Changing it would feel wrong and incorrect.