Title: Personality Traits (the Tiger)

General Information about this item:

• Notes: My project partner, Alina, interviewed me about the origin story. I used my own interview to collect data for this item.
• Language: English
• Informant: Brandon Liao
• Date Collected: May 20th, 2019

Informant Data:

Brandon Liao was born on October, 29th, 1998. He spent the first 6 years of his life living in Toronto, Canada. His family moved to China consequently and Shenzhen has been his home for the past 14 years. However, he spent most of these 14 years studying abroad in the United States where he attended several boarding schools. Both of Brandon’s parents are from Guilin, China, and completed their college education in China. Brandon graduated Suffield Academy in May of 2017 and is now an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College pursuing studies in Economics and Philosophy.

Contextual Data:

Brandon Liao was born in Canada but moved to China when he was young. He attended primary school in China and was taught about the Chinese culture by both his teachers and also his parents/relatives. Brandon does not believe in zodiacs and most superstitions but finds them interesting to read. Although Chinese zodiacs are not a significant part of Brandon’s life, he is a fan of the stories about zodiacs. Brandon was born in the year of the Tiger, so Alina asked Brandon about a few personality traits that identify with the Tiger zodiac. Chinese Zodiacs are a fun way to explain people’s personalities. Ever since Brandon was young, his relatives have told him how much he resembles a Tiger based on his adventurous and active personality. A part of the interview consisted of Alina asking Brandon if he knows what kind of characteristics one should expect from a Tiger and whether or not he agreed with those personality traits.

Item:

“Tigers are courageous and active people who love a good challenge and adventure in life”

• Brandon is a varsity swimmer at Dartmouth College and has been swimming for the past 15 years. He was very active and energetic as a child and his energy complies with the personalities of a Tiger.
• Brandon always found challenging classes to take when he was in High School and says that he is thankful for his courageous personality because he would not be the person he is today if he had lacked in that trait. In athletics, Brandon always pushes hard to achieve his goal and sets high standards for himself in the pool.
• Brandon is pretty adventurous and loves to explore given the fact that he has been to all continents except for Antarctica. Brandon loves to experience new things to take advantage of what the world has to offer. He has an inner curiosity about the world and hopes there are many more adventures to come.

“Tigers have a strong liking and disliking for the things around them”

• In other words, Tigers are bi-polar and can switch between extremes easily. Brandon was told jokingly in high school that he has a bi-polar personality. His friends would agree that Brandon could be nonchalant at times but also super engaged at other times.
• Another aspect that Brandon noticed about himself is that when he likes something, he really likes it; when he hates something, he really hates it. For example, on the topic of food, if Brandon finds something that accommodates his taste in food, he would want as much of it as possible; if he finds something that he does not like, he would not have a single bite of it. The same goes for his relationships with other people: he quickly determines whether or not he likes a person. If he dislikes a person, it is very hard for him to change his mind.

Cultural Context:

Since the zodiacs repeat every 12 years and each year designates a specific animal, it is well known that you will be lucky for the year of your specific zodiac. Like most superstitions, there is no concrete evidence that being born on a certain year would dictate your personality. Very much like superstitions such as palm reading, most people learn about Chinese zodiacs for fun. It gives people hope and eagerness to embrace their own zodiac.

Collector’s Name: Brandon Liao/Alina Zhang

Tags/Keywords:

• Zodiac, Animals, Personality, Tiger