Title: Clean Plates

General Information about Item:

• Customary folklore: Bad luck superstition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: Taiwan
• Informant: Elisa Tsao
• Date Collected: 10-16-18

Informant Data:

• Informant is a fifty year old adult woman, currently living and working in Boston Massachusetts. The informant was born in Taiwan. The informant moved to the United States for graduate school. The superstitions detailed are from her time spent living in Taiwan. Most are passed on from her parents, both of whom are also Taiwanese, though some may have been picked up from other sources through childhood.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Buddhism has historically been a major religion in China. Though there is less of an emphasis on religion now in China after the Cultural Revolution, that is not necessarily the case for Taiwan. The informant was raised with many Buddhist values and beliefs underlying things that were done by her parents.
• Social Context: This was something that was told to the informant by her mother and father as a child. It was used to help enforce that she should make sure to be tidy during meals.

Item:

• If you don’t finish your meal, and have rice all over the place, you’ll have bumps on your face in your next life.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “There’s a supertition–superstition about not to leave uh food uh cr– uh scrap uh all over the the table and uh Chinese has a belief that um uh afterlife and uh you know you-your soul will move on to the next life and uh life will continue in cycles. Uh and uh there’s some uh superstition if you scatter all the rice around the table and your life you were born with uh uh bumps you know just like rice uh on your face.”

Informant’s Comments:

• The bumps are not so much like acne but more like pockmarks maybe.

Collector’s Comments:

• This superstition brings religion in by having the bad luck consequence be during your next life, which is an interestingly delayed consequence. It seems like a fairly handy superstition for parents, however.

Collector’s Name: Mia Kobs

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Bad Luck Superstitions
• Clean Plates

Title: Upright Chopsticks

General Information about Item:

• Customary folklore: Bad luck superstition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Dartmouth 22-year-old senior female
• Date Collected: 10-17-18

Informant Data:

• Informant is a twenty-two-year-old student, currently attending Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire. She has lived in New England all of her life, though one side of her family is from the Mid-West and the other is Chinese. The informant is half Chinese and grew up with a Chinese nanny. Some of the superstitions she remembers are recollections of superstitions held by and passed on by her nanny when she was a child. While her mother did not mention many superstitions, others are remembered from her grandfather and grandmother on her mother’s side. Some superstitions are also recalled from Chinese School. The informant was interviewed in conjunction with another Dartmouth female senior that did not want to be identified, and after the other interviewee requested to be anonymous this interviewee requested to be as well.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: In order to talk with spirits, or get in touch with dead family members, incense will be lit and stuck upright. Sticking your chopsticks upright in a bowl looks a great deal like the incense stuck upright in a bowl might look, and thus is highly reminiscent of inviting the dead into the space you are in.
• Social Context: The informant did not remember personally being lectured for violating the rules laid out by this superstition. She did remember being told about the superstition by her mother when visiting her grandfather’s ashes and lighting incense for him, though it was not in the context of actually performing or even considering the action prohibited by the superstition.

Item:

• Sticking your chopsticks upright in a bowl is bad luck.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “A Chinese superstition is that you shouldn’t stick your chopsticks um upright in a bowl because it’ll be like you’re among the dead or more like you’re inviting ghosts in which is bad luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

• The informant didn’t think she’d ever done this as she rarely had enough rice in a deep enough bowl to make this particularly feasible.
• It did not seem that she personally believed in the superstition at all and she mentioned that maybe she did this often and just did not pay attention to it.

Collector’s Comments:

• This superstitions was also mentioned by another informant that I did not get a recording for as I did not record their interview.

Collector’s Name: Mia Kobs

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Bad Luck Superstitions
• Upright Chopsticks

Title: The Colour Red

General Information about Item:

• Customary folklore: Bad and Good luck superstition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Dartmouth 22-year-old senior female
• Date Collected: 10-17-18

Informant Data:

• Informant is a twenty-two-year-old student, currently attending Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire. She has lived in New England all of her life, though one side of her family is from the Mid-West and the other is Chinese. The informant is half Chinese and grew up with a Chinese nanny. Some of the superstitions she remembers are recollections of superstitions held by and passed on by her nanny when she was a child. While her mother did not mention many superstitions, others are remembered from her grandfather and grandmother on her mother’s side. Some superstitions are also recalled from Chinese School. The informant was interviewed in conjunction with another Dartmouth female senior that did not want to be identified, and after the other interviewee requested to be anonymous this interviewee requested to be as well.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: The colour red is considered to be good luck. In context of Chinese New Year’s, this stems from a New Year’s story involving a story about a monster called the Nian that was terrorising a village. The Nian was scared away by red paper pasted on the doors around a village. Consequently red was considered lucky, and putting up red papers is also supposed to keep away bad luck and bring good luck.
• Social Context: The Informant remembers this superstition being relevant at the yearly Chinese New Year celebrations held at her Chinese School. Her mom would always make her wear red to the celebrations, though otherwise she didn’t have to wear red to other places on Chinese New Year’s. Her mom would generally wear a red shirt or sweater though.

Item:

• Not wearing red on Chinese New Year’s is bad luck.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “A Chinese superstition is that you should wear red on new year’s or um you’ll get bad luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

• My mom also really believes in the luck of the colour red in general. Almost all especially nice jewellery she owns is red.

Collector’s Comments:

• This seems to tie interestingly into the Western superstition of wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve.

Collector’s Name: Mia Kobs

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Bad Luck Superstitions
• Good Luck Superstitions
• The Colour Red

Title: Mirror Facing Bed

General Information about Item:

• Customary lore: Bad luck superstitions
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: 21 year old Dartmouth senior
• Date Collected: 10-26-18

Informant Data:

• Informant is a twenty-one-year-old student, currently attending Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire. The student lived in New England prior to attending Dartmouth College. Both of her parents identify as Chinese, and the informant identifies as Chinese-American. The informant emphasized that while her mother believed in these superstitions, she herself did not believe in the superstitions. The informant requested that she remain anonymous as she did not want to be identified as believing in the folklore.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: There are many home-related Chinese superstitions. In this case, having a mirror facing you can cause you to lose energy.
• Social Context: The informant’s mother is Chinese and the superstitions collected were identified as superstitions her mother had brought up as an explanation for things that her mother did, or as rationale for why the informant could not do something. Most of these prohibited activities were related to things done around the house.

Item:

• Having a mirror facing your bed is bad luck.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “A Chinese superstition is that um in a certain bedroom a bed cannot be in the field of view of a mirror because it’s unlucky.”

Informant’s Comments:

• The informant mentioned that they had felt uncomfortable sleeping with a mirror facing the bed, then discussed why this might make sense scientifically.

Collector’s Comments:

• I found this superstition to appeal scientifically to me somewhat. I feel like it’s not unreasonable that seeing yourself move in your peripheral vision could be a little startling when sleeping.
• There are also many American bad luck superstitions involving mirror such as Bloody Mary or the fact that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. Mirrors may universally cause discomfort.

Collector’s Name: Mia Kobs

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Lore
• Bad Luck Superstition
• Mirrors

Title: The Colour Black

General Information about Item:

• Customary folklore: Bad luck superstition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Dartmouth 21-year-old senior female
• Date Collected: 10-26-18

Informant Data:

• Informant is a twenty-one-year-old student, currently attending Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire. The student lived in New England prior to attending Dartmouth College. Both of her parents identify as Chinese, and the informant identifies as Chinese-American. The informant emphasized that while her mother believed in these superstitions, she herself did not believe in the superstitions. The informant requested that she remain anonymous as she did not want to be identified as believing in the folklore.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: The colour black is can be considered representative of sadness and destruction. Black and white are generally the colours of death, and the fact that it can symbolise death also makes black bad luck.
• Social Context: The informant’s mother is Chinese and the superstitions collected were identified as superstitions her mother had brought up as an explanation for things that her mother did, or as rationale for why the informant could not do something. Most of these prohibited activities were related to things done around the house.

Item:

• Wearing black or using black as a decorative colour is bad luck.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “A Chinese superstition is black is an unlucky color to wear so you shouldn’t wear it even at like formal events or even go to funerals because going to a funeral also somehow is bad luck so that could reflect poorly on your life longevity.”

Informant’s Comments:

• In western cultures, black is typically very traditional as something you wear to formal events or to go out in like with the “Little Black Dress” so this is really in contrast to this superstition.

Collector’s Comments:

• It was also interesting to me how at a contrast this superstition was with prevalent western practices.
• This might be fading as a superstitions because my Chinese grandmother has given me multiple articles of black clothing

Collector’s Name: Mia Kobs

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Bad Luck Superstitions
• The Colour Black