Folklore Form/Genre: Chinse gesture/mannerism               Informant: Paige Xu

Name: Hand clenching gesture with fingers                          Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data: Paige Xu is from Wuhan, China, where she grew up as an only child. She was born on May 22, 1998. She learned that clenching your fingers together and holding them up toward someone is a rude gesture when she was a child. Currently, Paige is a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She plans on double majoring in Economics and Environmental Studies and then pursuing a career in business.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I collected this piece of folklore from Paige while visiting her in Bildner Hall, a part of the McLaughlin Cluster Dormitory. I recorded her on an iPhone and asked her to talk about a few rude gestures and mannerisms in China while we both sat down on a couch in the Bildner Common Room. She listed off a large number of gestures to me that she learned in her childhood. One gesture she mentioned was a gesture in which people clench their fingers. She claimed that clenching your fingers together and holding them up toward someone is an incredibly rude/obscene gesture. She added that it was similar to the middle finger, which is also used in China. However, toward the end of our chat together, she insisted that making large movements/gestures in China is rude in general and that they should be avoided when possible.

Cultural Context:

I asked Paige if she knew the cultural context behind this gesture and she was not aware of one. However, the fact that there is a gesture that is “similar to the middle finger” demonstrates that even in a culture where large movements/gestures are not encouraged, there still exists a gesture that essentially means “f*** you” (by the American standard of the middle finger). Because Paige was the second individual I interviewed, I also asked my other interviewees about it and they were not familiar with the gesture. This makes me question if it is a cultural gesture specific to Paige’s hometown, Wuhan, or the province Hubei in general. This gesture should only be used in times of dire anger and hatred.

Item: The items presented here are an audio recording of an interview with about rude mannerisms/gestures in Chinese culture, along with a photo of one she discussed. This was recorded/taken with an iPhone. All of the information and evidence provided is an accurate declaration based on my interview with Paige.

Transcript:

0:38 (in recording): “Moreover, when you squeeze all the fingers together and point at someone, it’s the same as pointing the middle finger”.

Informant’s Comments: 

This is a gesture I learned growing up. People use this and the middle finger interchangeably. Don’t use it unless you’re super angry.

Collector’s Comments:

I found this hand gesture to be particularly interesting because it is used interchangeably with the middle finger. The fact that Chinese people use both demonstrates that although many of the gestures of this culture are much more subtle and manners-based, there are still some that are completely obscene.

Tags:

• China
• Insulting
• Hand Gestures
• Hand Clenching
• Finger Clenching