Folklore Form/Genre: Chinese gesture/mannerism       Informant: Jianghong Tian

Name: Pointing to the Sky and the Ground                       Place of Origin: China             

Date Collected: 10/28/2018

Informant Data:

Jianghong was born in Cangzhou, China in 1968. She moved to the United States with her son Seamore Zhu in 2000 after her husband found a research position at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, the family moved to Crozet, Virginia. Upon moving there, Jianghong studied at the University of Virginia and now teaches Engineering at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg. She has adapted much of the local culture in Crozet, Virginia and the U.S., but being a very studious person as a child, she remembers many lessons and manners that were important for her growing up in China.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

Jianghong Tian is my mother, and I collected this from her via Skype. She said that it was very difficult for her to think of any negative gestures not only because she felt like it was a long time ago and a culture she has transitioned out from at this point, but also because she was a very studious and upright child growing up and never engaged in negative gestures or peers who might use them. She told me that I might have better luck with my uncle, her younger brother, who got in more trouble as a kid than her. However, she did think of one eventually. She remembers hearing about a prime minister who was removed from office and sentenced to prison in 1987. She saw him in the news pointing to the sky and then to the ground, indicating that the people who persecuted him are ignorant, are wrong, and do not know the truth.

Cultural Context:

Again, just like the idea of large movements or direct gestures being rude, this gesture also demonstrates the importance of humility and moderation versus the vice of pride in Chinese culture. It is a demonstration that someone is acting out of ignorance and pride instead of sound judgment.

Item: 

Pointing up to the sky and then pointing down to the ground when referring to someone indicates that they are too proud of themselves, not knowing how high the sky is or how deep the earth is and thus how small they really are. It also refers to someone being ignorant and not acting rationally.

Transcript: 

“Pointing to the sky and then pointing to the ground; that is to say the person is ignorant. I learned this many years ago when a Chinese prime minister was removed from his office. He did this gesture to say that he was wrong and the people who did this to him did not know what they were doing, did not know the scope of things.”

Informant’s Comments:

She said it was interesting and stuck because it is about humbleness and showed the seriousness of political happenings in China. However, she never have used it herself or seen it other than that time.

Collector’s Comments: 

I think this gesture is a unique one in that it involves larger motions and is therefore stronger and more assertive and confrontational. In this situation, the ousted prime minister clearly wanted to show this strong opinion, which was not received well. I think this is a more rare one, but it is interesting that it exists and can be used in more confrontational contexts.

Collector’s Name: Seamore Zhu

Tags/Keywords:

• Gestures
• China
• Insulting
• Pointing