Tag Archives: Chinese

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

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

General Information:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Interview Language: English
  • Location of Origin: Chengdu, China
  • Informant: MM
  • Date Collected: 10/25/2021

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:

Amur Carp (A guide to the fishes of Austin and Travis County, TX; USA) · iNaturalist
A picture of Amur Carp (“Koi”), rumored among Chinese students to bring good luck.

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

  • Chinese
  • Customary Folklore
  • Pre-test ritual

Chinese Red Envelope of Cash (Taiwan – John Zavras)

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Title: Chinese Red Envelope of Cash (Taiwan – John Zavras)

General Information about Item:

  • Material Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Erik Teunis (’24)
  • Date Collected: 11-19-21

Informant Data:

  • ET is a sophomore (’24) at Dartmouth College who is from Taiwan. He lives in Massachusetts and has visited Taiwan 5 times before, with two years ago being the last time he visited. He claims that he is not particularly superstitious, but his family and culture is. He has experienced this collected piece of folklore. 

Contextual Data:

  • Social context: The informant said that this piece of folklore stems from his Chinese/Taiwanese culture. In Chinese/Taiwanese culture, being financially stable is something that is heavily sought after. Whether that’s performing well in academics as a student in school, performing well in an interview in hopes to land a job, or celebrating a new year full of happiness and financial stability, this piece of folklore is present in the informant’s culture in many different settings and occasions. However, in traditional chinese/taiwanese culture, this piece of folklore primarily occurs near Chinese New Year. 
  • Cultural Context: This item was collected in an in-person interview. The informant said that he collects the red envelopes whenever he receives them and keeps them in a box in his closet, as a lot of them mark important times in his life in which he prospered. He credits this superstition a lot for those successes. The item also exists in many variants; some families will use burning incense in hopes of achieving financial stability. 

Item:

  • The item is a red envelope filled with cash that is passed from parent to child, employer to employee, friend to friend, etc. The most common is parents giving it to their children/nieces/nephews. When you give the red envelope to someone, you say “恭喜發財/ Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái,” which in Chinese means “I hope you get rich.” The item mostly is given on Chinese new year, but also the informant remarked that it is given before stressful situations that might result in richness, like a big exam or interview. For the purposes of this collection project, I focused on the red envelope being given in the context of a student preparing for an exam. The superstition is as follows: if a child receives the envelope, then he will succeed in his exam and be rewarded with richness in the future. However, if a child does not receive the envelope, he will do poorly on the exam. 

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

The Significance of Red Envelopes in Chinese Culture

Transcript:

  • “One of my family’s superstitions is about giving red envelopes before exams. My parents gave one to me before the SAT, and I credit my success to the red envelope”

Informant’s Comments:

  • The informant recommends incorporating this superstition, as it brings him great joy and happiness knowing he’s doing something proactive to ensure good luck.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this superstition really cool and different from a lot of the rest, which are usually wearing an article of clothing or eating something before a big exam.

Collector’s Name: John Zavras

Tags/Keywords:  (4-5 tags)

·  Superstition

·  Chinese

·  Male

·  Student

·  Cash (richness)

Double Ninth Festival (Quinn Calhoun)

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Title: Double Ninth Festival

General Information about Item:

  • Protection, Festival, Ritual
  • Language: Chinese
  • Country of Origin: Hong Kong
  • Informant: KF
  • Date Collected: 11-6-21

Informant Data:

  • KF, born in 2002 in Hong Kong, and grew up in the city. She is of Han Chinese descent, although her parents did not grow up in the same culture. She primarily learned of many of her cultural traditions through her classes and peers, although her mother, American education, did strive to teach her parts of Han Chinese culture. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Long ago a plague struck China, and it is believed that the reason that the plague disappeared was that a man climbed a nearby mountain which drove out the evil spirits which caused the plague. It is believed that one should hike a mountain in this vain in order to prevent a plague like this to occur again, and when an outbreak occurs, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is believed, or at least joked, that it is partially a result of individuals not adhering to the tradition.
  • Social Context: QC learned it from KF when discussing some our the different holidays. KF learned it from her mother as a public holiday, and while her mother did not believe in the superstition herself, she still observed tradition by teaching her children about the holiday and taking them to hike a mountain. 

Item:

  • Every year on August 8 on the Lunar calendar, one must climb a mountain to prevent the return of evil spirits (gui) from descending down and causing the renewal of the plague.

Associated file:

Informant’s Comments:

  • Highly would not recommend eating it if better options are available.  Not a huge fan.

Collector’s Name: Quinn Calhoun

Tags/Keywords:

  • Ritual, Festival
  • Hong Kong
  • Chinese
  • Plague
  • Protective

Chinese Tea Ritual: Tomb Sweeping Day

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Title: Tomb Sweeping Day

General Information:

  • Customary Lore: Tea Rituals
  • Interview Language: English
  • Location of Origin: Wenzhou, China
  • Informant: Irene Lam
  • Date Collected: 11/01/2021

Informant Data:

Irene grew up in NYC in a Chinese immigrant family. Her mom is from Wenzhou and her dad is from Fuzhou.

Contextual Data:

I asked Irene if there were any Chinese tea rituals or customs that she knew of. Since Irene was born and raised with her parents and grandparents whom are Chinese immigrants she was able to share a tea ritual that is done on Tomb Sweeping Day, which is a holiday where people pay respect to their ancestors.

Item:

On Tomb Sweeping Day, her grandmother wakes up early in the morning and cooks a lot of food. She lights incense for the ancestors. A lot of cups are placed on the table. She will pour wine or tea into the cups and no one drinks from them because it is for their ancestors.

Associated File: 

Collector’s Name: Kimberley Rangel

Tags/Keywords:

  • Chinese
  • Customary Lore
  • Tea Ritual

Chinese Tea Customs: Non-verbal Communication

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Title: Non-verbal Communication

General Information:

  • Customary Lore: Tea Customs
  • Interview Language: English
  • Location of Origin: Wenzhou, China
  • Informant: Irene Lam
  • Date Collected: 11/01/2021

Informant Data:

Irene grew up in NYC in a Chinese immigrant family. Her mom is from Wenzhou and her dad is from Fuzhou.

Contextual Data:

I asked Irene if there were any Chinese tea rituals or customs that she knew of. Since Irene was born and raised with her parents and grandparents whom are Chinese immigrants she was able to share tea customs that apply in any dining setting and that she learned throughout her life during family gatherings. Starting from the timestamp 1:28 in the voice record, Irene recounts the origin of the custom of tapping three fingers to express gratitude to whoever is serving you tea. In lieu of bowing to express your gratitude, your three bent fingers represents your whole body bowing. One comment that she made throughout our interview that stood out was that the customs revolving around tea involved a lot of “non-verbal communication” (0:49).

Item:

Customs when drinking tea in any setting:

  • When you are drinking with someone much older than you, you always pour the tea for them and you have to make sure their cup is never empty.
  • If there is no more tea left in the tea kettle, leave the top of the tea kettle open, which indicates to the server that they need to replenish the tea kettle.
  • To demonstrate gratitude to whomever is pouring you tea, you slightly bend your pointer, middle, and ring finger and tap them on the table.

Associated File: 

Collector’s Name: Kimberley Rangel

Tags/Keywords:

  • Chinese
  • Customary Lore
  • Tea Custom

Cold Noodles for Christmas Dinner (Evan Fu)

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General Information About Item:

  • Material Lore, Christmas Food Recipe
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Bing Hai
  • Date Collected: 10-24-2021

Informant Data:

  • Bing Hai is a 50-year old woman of Chinese descent living in Palo Alto, California. She is also the mother of the collector. Bing was born in Shenyang, China and immigrated to the United States upon finishing college in Beijing. She works on the patent counsel for Bristol Myers Squibb and has two college-aged children.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Bing learned to cook Chinese food at a very young age – she has a large repertoire of Chinese recipes that she can make at a moment’s notice. However, having lived in the United States for three decades, she has become skilled at cooking various American foods as well. Bing has celebrated most popular American holidays, including Christmas. Moreover, in Chinese culture, simple noodle dishes are considered a staple. Historically, many areas of China are relatively poor and live off of grains and rice. Throughout thousands of years, generations of Chinese people have depended on and passed down simple food recipes such as the cold noodle dish outlined here.
  • Social Context: This food recipe was shared when the interviewee was asked about the specific foods she makes for Christmas dinner. As the primary chef in the household, Bing has a lot of experience preparing large amounts of food for various family dinners.

Item:

  • Cold noodles (and other simple noodle dishes) are a notoriously easy dish to prepare in Chinese culture. For this recipe, you boil noodles until cooked and immediately place them in ice water to cool them down. Then, you prepare a sauce mixture with soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and scallions. Simply toss the cold noodles with the sauce mixture, and finish with sliced cucumbers and more scallions. The noodles are filling, easy to make, and can be prepared quickly in large quantities.

Transcript:

  • “The dish I most enjoy making on Christmas is 凉面 (cold noodles). They are so easy to make, and I can make an enormous amount for the 10+ people who we invite on Christmas. You boil the noodles in water, take them out, and rest them in ice water. Your sauce is simply soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and scallions. Then you just mix the noodles and sauce, and slice some cucumbers and more scallions to put on top.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “The kids especially love this dish since it’s so pleasing to the palette, and the noodles really serve as the main carbs for the dinner.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I chose to ask my own mother about her Christmas food preparations, given that we come from a Chinese background and our Christmas dinner tends not to include traditionally American foods. As America becomes a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, I found it useful to examine how minorities celebrate Christmas from the perspective of food. My mother echoed the overarching theme from my interviews – families tend to invite a lot of folks to Christmas dinner and choose to prepare whatever dishes are easiest to make in large quantities. This cold noodles recipe is many Chinese families’ go-to dish for large family dinners and therefore for Christmas dinner – it is folkloric in nature as many in the Chinese-American folk group will create this dish for large meals.

Collected By:

Evan Fu, 21

Palo Alto, CA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021

Entrée: Roast Chicken

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: A.Z.
  • Date Collected: November 13, 2020

Informant Data:

  • A.Z. is a Dartmouth ’22. She currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts and identifies as an Asian-American. Her parents are from China, but she was born and raised in the United States her whole life.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • A.Z. first had the dish 10 years ago with her family for Christmas. Either she or her parents cooks the chicken. While the roast chicken is the star of the Christmas meal, she also makes side dishes that go along the chicken.
  • The family tradition of eating roast chicken during Christmas started because A.Z. and her family were looking for a type of poultry to eat. According to their interpretation, the idea of eating poultry is closely tied to holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • As a result, for A.Z., it symbolizes family and getting together as well as taking the time to sit down with each other to have a good time during Christmas.

Cultural Context

  • Poultry is viewed as a significant part of the American Christmas meal. A.Z. and her family sought to adopt this tradition. The roast chicken and the accompanying side dishes represent a fusion between American and Chinese cuisines.

Item:

Roast Chicken is a whole chicken bought raw from the grocery store and then cooked at home. The chicken is seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and other herbs. The chicken is then placed on a baking tray and inserted into the oven to cook and roast.

Audio Clip:

 

Transcript:

(0.08) Y.H. (collector): All right, so what is a special Christmas dish?

A.Z. (informant): So we don’t usually eat like a set Christmas dish every year. But a lot of the time when we look at reverse chicken, and we usually eat a mixture of Chinese and American food. So it’s like a, like a full chicken, but we’ll cook it ourselves. So I don’t really, my mother, usually will help out. But like, since the roast chicken is harder to do, show, like, do the main stuff with that will help out with like the side dishes.

Y.H.: When did you first eat it? What does the roast chicken symbolize for you?

A.Z.: I can’t remember, but maybe like 10 years ago. We also do the same thing for Thanksgiving. So, um, I guess it symbolizes family for me. I think I think it’s like, less so than what the chicken itself symbolizes. But like, the chicken is a proxy for like, what Christmas symbolizes for me. I think, like I said before, I think it symbolizes family and getting together. And just like taking the time to, like, sit down with each other. And just have a good time relaxing.

Y.H.: In your opinion, what sort of cultural background understanding is required to enjoy the dish?

A.Z.: Could you rephrase the question? So I guess like, Okay, I’m not sure if I’m understanding the question, right. But I don’t think you need to have like any certain kind of background to understand why we eat chicken like it’s not I feel like it’s not, it’s definitely not a Chinese dish. And like we more so adapted it to like American standards. Because like, we do feel that like Christmas is an American holiday. So we tend to emphasize the American dishes a little more than we do the Chinese dishes. So like, for example, like chicken will be the star of the dinner rather than, like some Chinese fish dish that we make.

I think it’s like when we think of like stereotypical Christmas, we think of like this giant bird. Or like, or, like we think I feel like I feel like ham is like a very, um, Christmas-esque dish. But I feel like none of us know that our family doesn’t really like ham. And I think like, just like the look of a chicken. It’s very gray. And so that’s why we eat it. (4.00)

Collector Comments:

  • I actually really empathize with the fact that the roast chicken is not purely a Chinese dish, like A.Z. said – it is a blend of Chinese and American cooking styles, especially when combined with the side dishes. It creates a really interesting family culture that is only present in the presence of people who are part of the Chinese diaspora. Similar to the discussions of the origins of folklore potentially stemming from a diaspora, this Roast Chicken tradition is a result of the Chinese culture that A.Z.’s family brought with them combined with American culture.

Collector’s Name: Yilin Huo

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Entrée: Hot Pot

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General Information:

  • Genre: Material Lore – Christmas dish; Customary Lore – celebration, family tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: E.S.
  • Date Collected: November 8, 2020

Informant Data:

  • E.S. is a ’22 at Dartmouth College, raised in San Jose, California. She currently studies Economics, French and Psychology. Her parents are from China, but she has been in the US her whole life.

Contextual Data:

Social Context

  • She first participated in this Hot-Pot-eating tradition at Christmas during 2004. Her sister, father, and mother were also at the event. Every time they eat Hot Pot, they would eat thinly sliced lamb, fried tofu curd, spinach cabbage, fish balls, stuffed fish balls, and a personal dipping sauce. At the end of the meal, they would wrap it up with glass noodles.
  • To her, Hot Pot always gave her a cozy, sheltered and safe feeling because the Hot Pot would always steam up the windows. E.S. said that she could not imagine feeling the same with other foods during Christmas.
  • E.S.’s parents don’t place much significance on Christmas, so for them, it is not a serious holiday. However, for the family as a whole, it is definitely a nice opportunity to spend time together. Even though they don’t follow the gift-giving tradition, they make sure that they spend quality time as a family. Because Hot Pot requires the eaters to cook the food themselves, the long cooking time provides E.S. and her family with more time together.
  • As a second-generation Chinese American, it was interesting for her to see the food that her parents ate in China growing up. She appreciated participating in their culture and also views this tradition as a tribute to her parents and ancestors.

Cultural Context

  • Because Hot Pot is a Chinese dish, it is important to understand the background behind the dish. Hot Pot is a simple, no-frills dish that is simply a variety of ingredients put into a soup. Historically, many people could only afford simple ingredients for Hot Pot.
  • Not all people who celebrate Christmas are religious, or believe in Jesus. Hot Pot might surprise people because it has no religious significance. Nevertheless, it is a very important family custom for E.S.

Item

  • Hot pot consists of a broth cooked in a large pot at the center of the dinner table. The pot is shared by all members, and people can just reach into it as they please. Traditionally, different meats (thinly sliced beef and lamb, fish balls, seafood, etc.), vegetables (bok choy, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms), and noodles (ramen, udon, pasta) are cooked in the broth.

Transcript for Interview Clip

Y.H. (collector): Alright so let’s get started. My first question is how you would describe yourself, maybe in one to two sentences.

E.S. (informant): Ok so I’m a ’22. I live in San Jose, as you know. I’m studying Economics, French and Psychology at Dartmouth. Both my parents are from China but I was born in the US.

Y.H.: Great. So this project is about collecting traditional foods eaten during Christmas. Does your family have one?

E.S.: Yes we do.

Y.H.: Can you tell me a bit more? what is the food you eat and when was your first time eating eat.

E.S.: So the food we eat is Hot Pot, which is like a broth where we throw random things in, cook it, and then everyone eats from the same pot. We usually eat it with thinly sliced lamb, fried tofu curd, spinach cabbage, fish balls, stuffed fish balls and a personal dipping sauce. And when was the first time I had it? Hmm. I got to think about this one. I think it was in 2004? I’m not really sure because I have been eating it for a long time.

Y.H.: Did eating Hot Pot make you feel a certain way? Or what was significant about it to you?

E.S.: I also feel cozy, sheltered and safe feeling because the Hot Pot would always steam up the windows. I could not imagine feeling the same with other foods during Christmas. My parents don’t really celebrate Christmas in the traditional way so for them, it is not a serious holiday. However, to the family as a whole, it is definitely a time to spend together. Even though we don’t have a traditional gift-giving, we make sure that they spend quality time together. Because Hot Pot requires the eaters’ to cook it themselves, it gave us a lot of time. However, for me personally, it was interesting to eat the food that my parents ate when they were in China. I really appreciate participating in this culture and also see this tradition as a tribute to my parents and ancestors.

Y.H.: Great. And overall, do you think that there is any cultural or background knowledge that someone would have to have to appreciate Hot Pot the same way you do?

E.S.: I mean, Hot Pot is a Chinese dish so you probably would need to know Chinese culture. It represents the only types of food that most people could afford in Chinese history. Also, I think that we eat Hot Pot instead of other foods because we still celebrate “Christmas” without eating “Christmas” dishes, so probably someone who isn’t Christian yet still celebrates Christmas would understand.

Collector’s comments:

  • Hot Pot is also a big tradition in my family. However, for us, we usually eat Hot Pot during New Years and not Christmas. Nevertheless, I understand the significance of coming together around the dinner table and catching up on each other’s lives. We also take the opportunity to tell each other short sayings such as wishing each other good fortune or good education.

Collector’s Name:

Yilin Huo

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Children Jumping on the Marital Bed (Anna Matusewicz)

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Title: Children Jumping on the Marital Bed

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore, wedding folklore
  • Language: Chinese, English
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Katrina Yu
  • Date Collected: 5-21-2019

Informant Data:

  • Katrina Yu is a 20-year-old woman who grew up in Hong Kong and is a ‘21 at Dartmouth College. She is very involved in sustainability on campus and currently lives with the interviewer at the Sustainable Living Center.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: This tradition is an example of if-A-then-B superstition as if children jump the bed, then the couple will have many children. The desired outcome of the ceremony plays into the desire for a couple to have lots of children and particularly boys in traditional Chinese culture. The bed setting is organized by the parents or grandparents of the groom so they can pass on their luck and fertility to the couple.
  • Social Context: I asked my friend Katrina if she knew about any marriage folklore and this is what she shared with me. She first learned about this folklore when she was around seven and was one of the jumping children on the bed, though she was eventually asked to get off the bed. This tradition generally takes place about a week before the wedding ceremony, though the informant reported her experience taking place immediately after the wedding ceremony, and is a part of a larger ceremony of preparing the marital bed. The process of setting up the marital bed is attended only by close family, including the jumping children, and is generally organized by the grandmother of the groom. The more children that jump on the bed the better as this will bring the couple even more children. Additionally, the genders of the jumping children matter and, in Katrina’s case, more boys were wanted on the bed as that is the gender of child that the couple wanted.

Item (Direct Quote):

  • “So the folklore is that once the couple gets married we go to wherever they’re living in the future specifically their bedrooms and everyone gathers in their bedroom and the children the little children probably like under 7, they all get onto the bed and they jump on the bed because it will help the couple have lots of babies and especially because the couple wanted like boys like a boy in the future like they wanted more boys to jump on the bed than girls they and they thought that could help. Obviously, I don’t believe it but it’s something fun.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “I was one of the jumping children, and when I heard that they wanted more boys on I got really mad.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think this folklore is a really interesting case of homeopathic magic and says a lot about a couple’s hopes for their marriage.

Collector’s Name: Anna Matusewicz

Tags/Keywords:

  • Wedding Folklore
  • Chinese Lore
  • Homeopathic Magic

 

 

Behind Our Backs

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Title: Behind Our Backs

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal Folkore, Proverb
  • Language: Chinese
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Sydney Zhou
  • Date Collected: 10-17-18

Informant Data:

Sydney Zhou is a senior Engineering student at Dartmouth College, pursuing medical school. She was born and raised in Plano, Texas. Her parents immigrated to the United States from China before her birth. Her parents were dedicated in preserving ties to Chinese culture for their children, even while attempting to assimilate into American culture and learn English. Sydney grew up celebrating Chinese holidays, as well as attending Chinese school to learn how to read and write Chinese.

Contextual Data:

Sydney heard this proverb from her mother in elementary school. She was having a difficult time dealing with her friends at the time. She was venting to her mother, when she told Sydney this particular proverb. Since then, Sydney has remembered it whenever she has to face a challenge with a friend that may not be speaking well of her.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

背后说好话，才是真朋友

Bèihòu shuō hǎohuà, cái shì zhēn péngyǒu

He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs

 

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

Transcript:

  • Bèihòu shuō hǎohuà, cái shì zhēn péngyǒu
  • The translation of my proverb is he is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs. I heard this proverb from my mom in elementary school. I was having a hard time with my friends and I was telling her about the problems I was having. My mom is from China and is always quoting Chinese proverbs. She told me this proverb after I told her about all my friend drama. I still remember it today when another issue with my friends comes up. This proverb means that you are supposed to trust your friend to do the right thing – even if you’re not there. You’ll most likely hear this proverb when your confronting difficulties in your relationships.

Informant’s Comments:

Sydney says this proverb is meaningful because she believes this exemplifies what a true friend is supposed to be. She believes that there are multiple dimensions to this proverb. There is the obvious meaning of what a friend is supposed to do – which is to speak well of their friend even when they are not there. However, she also discusses how friendship is a relationship that goes beyond pretense. It consists of a trust deep enough that one would not have to worry about what their friend is doing or saying when they are not there to witness it. She explains that this is an integral part of friendship, and this level of trust is something she looks for in each of her relationships in her life, friend or otherwise.

Collector’s Comments:

Sydney deals with constant stress as a pre-Med student and an Engineering major. She needs the stability of her friends to help her get through challenges, which is demonstrated through her remembrance of this particular proverb. The proverb follows an inverted if-then structure, giving the result first before the cause.

Collector’s Name: Rachel

Tags/Keywords:

  • Chinese
  • Friends
  • Company