Posting a Picture of the Amur Carp on SNS – China (Jea Mo)

Title: Posting a Picture of the Amur Carp on SNS (China)

General Information:

Informant:

MM is a sophomore (’24) at Dartmouth College who is from Chengdu, China. Apart from attending elementary school in Korea, she has experience attending boarding schools in countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, and the U.S.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: The informant mentioned that many students in China tend to be ambitious overachievers who aim for the highest grades in their schools or regions. Consequently, if there is a certain superstitious ritual that is rumored to bring good luck on a test, many students tend to endorse that ritual, turning it into a society wide phenomenon. The item first turned into a superstition when Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding, posted a picture of the Amur Carp on his social media. Because Jack Ma is such a successful individual, students started to post similar pictures of the same fish on their social media platforms in the hopes that they may also become successful as him someday. The act of posting the Amur Carp has furthermore evolved into an act that symbolizes good luck and success.

Social Context: This item was conducted during an in-person interview with the informant. The informant brought up that because she spent so much time outside of the Chinese mainland, she is not aware of too many Chinese superstitions surrounding tests.

Item:

Before a student takes an important exam, such as a national exam, they will post a picture of a fish called “Koi” (Amur Carp) on their social media for good luck.

Associated File:

Transcript:

“Like, I don’t know, like, too much about this. But something that I heard from my friend is that you post a picture of this fish – I’ll search up the name. Yeah, it’s called the Amur Carp? You post this on your Instagram or your Facebook or Weibo, just like any social media that you use. It’s like a good luck thing that everyone does. So, when it’s exam season or a big examination happening, you can see all the social media platforms covered with pictures of this fish.”

Informant’s Comments:

“I think I’d personally go for good luck things that are more traditional, like a red pouch that has the Chinese character for good luck (福) on it. But I mean, I guess everyone has their own thing.”

Collector’s Comments:

It was interesting to see that the informant brought up a superstition that was generated relatively recently yet very widespread among a folk group. It was also fascinating to see how social media may play a role in the birth of a folklore.

Collector’s Name: Jea Mo

Tags/Keywords

Dartmouth Folklore Archive