Monday: Small Story

Over time people do have very memorable experiences of the world, and the most amazing thing is what happens to people. I, like many people, like a good story or two. I also have a story or two to tell of, and one thing that has stuck to me is a small moment in my life. Not the most amazing story but a story still.

I did something called work experience a couple years back for school, and for five days I was a gardener rather then a school student.
My work experience was as a gardener to my pleasure and luckily for me it also means going from place to place to do gardening. One thing I did during work experience was picking up the plant material that was left behind from someone else who was cutting back some plants. It wasn’t the most fun of things to do but for me it beats being at school plus it was quiet and peaceful despite being near a street that would get busy at times.

Next thing I hear is a bicycle, I turn to see some young girl who appeared about twelve was riding a bicycle on the middle of the road. I didn’t know who she was, never seen her in my life. This girl out of all things smiled and winked at me as if trying to be a flirt. I found this creepy considering how young this girl seemed to be nor did I know what to think of this girl either. I was just left looking at this girl ride her bicycle while I was left confused.

There were questions that did go through my mind at the time: Whose the girl? Why wasn’t she at school at the time? Why is she riding a bicycle in the middle of the road?
This small moment in time has stuck to me and on a personal level this is a story to look back at to get a little laugh.

Gods And Goddesses: Fu

Fu (also called Fu Xing) is the god of happiness and good fortune plus a part of a group called San-Xing. Fu is also symbolized by the bat and his name means “Lucky Star”. Fu can be told apart by his usually blue or green clothes of a civil servant, a ’winged’ hat and in the company of children.

Fu is said to have been a sixth century government official called Yang Cheng from a village known as Dao Zhou. People of Dao Zhou were notably short and every year the emperor would summon a large number of these people to his court as the emperor loved to be around such short people.

The short people never went back to their town of Dao Zhou and the emperor summoned more and more of these people to his court, in turn the population of Dao Zhou was reduced greatly over time. Fu eventually requested the emperor to show consideration for the people of his hometown, moving the emperor so much with the request that he never again summoned the short people of Dao Zhou.

Fu’s name is a common symbol in Chinese literature where it represents happiness and good fortune to which  it is common to find it in Chinese households and businesses.

Fu is also commonly mistaken for another god, Tian Guan, who is also a god of good fortune.

Chinese Zodiac Origins

I have now posted about each animal of the Chinese zodiac, but there is still the story of how this zodiac came to be.

The ruler of Heaven, the Jade Emperor, thought it would be a good idea to have a race to assign twelve animals to the zodiac. At the time it is said that Cat and Rat were good friends, both were also excited about the race who decided to leave early to get a head start. Rat tricked Cat, however which lead the two to be enemies.
The Rat was asked to wake up Cat early the morning of the race, however Rat simply woke up early and didn’t wake up Cat. Cat slept throughout the day and lost the race.

All the animals in the race had to go through a river, with Rat being a poor swimmer asked the Ox to allow Rat to be carried on Ox’s back. Ox agreed and Ox being the fastest getting through allowed Rat to jump off of Ox’s back at the other side of the river, becoming the first animal of the zodiac. Ox came right behind of Rat and took second.

Next in place was the Tiger who went alone across the river, swimming against the strong currents and became third. Rabbit came alone, too, who jumped from stone to stone across the river and was fourth.
Next was Dragon, who was only fifth seeing as Dragon had to stop to make rain to help the people and creatures of the earth.

The Horse came soon after the Dragon with the Snake hidden in the Horse’s hoof and gave Horse a fright when it came out. The fright the Horse got of Snake caused Snake to become sixth of the zodiac while Horse seventh.

Ram, Monkey and Rooster soon came to the end of the race, who used a raft to get across the river. The Jade Emperor declared Ram eighth, Monkey ninth and Rooster tenth. Dog came afterwards after deciding to take an extra long swim in the river for fun and Boar came twelfth due to the poor decision of having a feast and taking a nap during the race.

After this, the placing of the animals was how they were placed within the zodiac. Cat, however, was unhappy at the fact that Rat tricked Cat and was last in the race but couldn’t do anything,  it was from here on that Cat and Rat were enemies.

Totems: Tiger

The tiger itself is one of the worlds most beloved animals out there and as a totem has quite a few lessons to teach.

Power and will are a lesson, to use one’s power and to have a strong will. The tiger uses its own power to its advantage to hunt, to feed itself and its own cubs. As top of the food chain it is an important animal, and it is such an animal that helps prevent the overpopulation of herbivores. Indeed the tiger teaches to use one’s own power for good and keep a strong will even when facing odds.

As a hunter the tiger needs focus and patience for when trying to prey on an animal. When hunting one needs to be both focused and patient as a tiger.  Both focus and patience are lessons many could learn.

The tigers found in the wild will tend to have a litter every three to four years with a litter of one to six. It is this maternal tiger that devotes herself dearly to her litter for their survival. Devotion is of much importance as the female tiger can tell of, caring for her children deeply until they are ready to live on their own.

The concept of Yin and Yang is very apparent when one looks at the unique pattern of tigers. Contrasting their black stripes with their orange and white fur. The tiger teaches the principal of Yin and Yang and how one needs to keep in balance. Balance of masculinity and femininity, of good and evil, this is what the tiger teaches; balance.

Tigers are known for their healing properties which causes people to go after the very parts of the tiger to use in traditional Chinese medicine and exotic herbal remedies. It is said that those with the tiger as their totem heal quickly and the power of healing is of a lesson of this beautiful hunter.

Tigers are very associated with the element of water and are known to swim, enjoying the water that they are in. The water element is of psychic ability which those with the tiger totem are said to have plenty of.

Mid-Autumn Festival

On the fifteenth day of the eight lunar month, roughly around the time of the autumn equinox is the Mid-Autumn Festival or Zhongqiu Jie. It is held that at this time of the year when the moon is visually most large and bright or “fullest”.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is when farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season and when families gather to enjoy the beauty of the autumn moon. In terms of important Chinese holidays, this specific one is second in importance only to the Chinese New Year.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, Lantern Festival, Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon and Festival of Reunion. Why it is known as the Festival of Reunion is due to the full moon being a symbol of family reunion and families do have reunions during this time.

Alters to the moon goddess Chang E are often made during the Mid-Autumn Festival with incense burning as an offering. Alters to Chang E typically are facing the moon and such items as lotion, bath salts and make up are placed on the alter for the moon goddess herself to bless as Chang E is said to endow those who worship her with great beauty.

People also carry lanterns that are brightly lit and lantern shows are a part of some celebrations. People are also known to perform or attend Dragon Dances and other performances. Planting trees are common practice of the Mid-Autumn Festival along with having a dinner during the family reunion.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival people commonly make and eat mooncakes which are sweet, round and about three inches in diameters. Mooncakes have many varieties reaching into the hundreds, typically being filled with such things as nuts, melon seeds, almonds and orange peels. The crust of mooncakes often have symbols on them associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Traditionally people pile thirteen mooncakes to symbolize the thirteen lunar months of the year and it is said the best place to eat a mooncake outside while under the moon.

A Chinese legend states that mooncakes helped bring a revolution during the Yuan dynasty (1280 to 1368AD), established by the invading Mongolians of the north. It is said that a Han Chinese rebel, Liu Fu Tong, created a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongolians.

Liu Fu Tong wanted permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as symbolic gesture of honouring the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. The gift was mooncakes where Liu Fu Tong had followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to do a rebellion that just happened to be on the fifteenth night of the eighth month. Liu Fu Tong got word to the Han Chinese who set out to overthrow the Mongolians and ending the Yuan dynasty. Since then giving mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival has became a tradition.

Bunyip

The bunyip is described as a large mythical creature which is sad to lurk near swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds and waterholes. It is the bunyip who appears a part of traditional Aboriginal beliefs and stories throughout Australia.

Bunyips have been much feared and one to defend its home and devour those who invade it. The bunyip also has a lovely taste for women and children, preying for them at night.

The term ‘bunyip’ seems to have stemmed from the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of Aboriginals of South-eastern Australia, with ‘bunyip’ translating to ‘devil’ or ‘evil spirit’. By the 1850’s ‘bunyip’ came to be a word for an impostor or pretender and today we see many things named after this fearsome creature, notably the Bunyip River and a place in the state of Victoria, Bunyip.

When Europeans first settled in Australia the idea that the bunyip of being an unknown animal awaiting discovery was common, and seeing as European settlers were unfamiliar with not only the sights and animals of the large island, but also the sounds where unfamiliar animal calls or cries were thought to be the calls or cries of the bunyip.

During the nineteenth century there were many sightings of the bunyip, with sightings of bunyips taken not so seriously from the early twentieth century where it is thought that those sightings were nothing much other then sightings of fugitives in hiding. The billabongs of the twentieth century was in fact a great place to go to hide if you want to try to hide from the law due to such a place being inhospitable.

People, in fact did hide by billabongs and were called swaggies. These people would take cover under the water of the billabongs whenever they heard of people coming. When it was thought people were gone, it is time to get above water and when one would rise out of the water muck and weeds would cover the person(s). Whomever saw muck and weed covered people coming out of the water would have certainly given anyone a fright, possibly mistaking whoever was coming out of the water as bunyips.

The expression, “Why search for the bunyip?” eventually appeared, probably from the many people who searched to get a body of, or at least a look at, the bunyip which all ended in futile attempts.

Descriptions of the bunyip does have the tendency to vary from person to person. Common features describing the bunyip in newspapers of the nineteenth century  is of a dog like face, dark fur, a horse like tail, flippers, and either walrus like tusks, horns or a duck like bill. The Aboriginal people have been asked by others what the bunyip looks like. The Moorundi peoples of the Murray River are said to have described what the bunyip looks like before 1847, where apparently there was difficulties describing the bunyip yet an enormous starfish is what the bunyip was said to look like. Bunyips have also been described being covered in feathers, they have also been described as having scales like of a crocodiles.

Chopsticks

One can trace many things back to China itself and the first chopsticks are said to been not only of ancient China but apparently from five thousand years ago but nobody is too sure of when chopsticks first came to be.

Its thought that as the population of China grew and resources became limited, people cut up their meat, vegetables and whatever else they would have put in their cooking pot. Food was cooked quicker and there wasn’t a need to cut up their food again with knives, so the branches used for fishing ended up being turned into chopsticks.

Many know who the philosopher Confucius is and it is this man who is likely to have made chopsticks even more popular with his teachings. Confucius himself was a vegetarian who held the belief that knives would remind people of slaughterhouses and therefore too vulgar for use at the dinner table.

Confucius himself lived from 551 to 479 BCE it wasn’t until around 500 AD that the use of chopsticks were used all across China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam with chopsticks still used by many to eat.
Japanese chopsticks are notably shorter then the Chinese counterparts along with being rounder and sharp at the end. Chinese chopsticks can be recognised by being rectangular and straight at the end.

Besides the differences in the shape of Chinese and Japanese chopsticks there are absolutely many kinds of materials people have made chopsticks with, people have made chopsticks out of wood, metal, bone, stone, bamboo, plastic, coral and even jade. Aluminium from recycled cans are also used to make chopsticks which are both light in weight and easy to clean.

King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty is actually thought to have once ordered his craftsman to make chopsticks out of elephants teeth.

In the past silver chopsticks were commonly used due to the belief that the chopsticks would turn black if they came into contact with poisonous food which was later disproved. It even was this belief that had Emperor’s using silver chopsticks specifically and silver chopsticks today are passed down as family heirlooms.

There are many Chinese proverbs out there, one is “We sit at the dinner table to eat, not cut up carcasses.” This dictated not to use knives at tables while at the same time to eat already cut up food in which chopsticks come in useful. While Europeans were cutting up their meat at the table the Chinese for centuries considered this practice barbaric.

There are some taboos with the use of chopsticks, such as stretching out the index finger while using chopsticks due to that being seen as an accusation  to another. While using chopsticks there is a taboo of inserting the chopsticks vertically into the food as the Chinese insert chopsticks vertically into food during the time of giving sacrifice to the dead.

In Chinese culture it is also taboo to suck on chopsticks as it is considered as impolite and a way to show a lack of education.
People avoid hitting the side of a bowl or plate with chopsticks for the very reason as it is said that only beggars do this while begging for food.

Chopsticks as they are called in English may have came from “chop chop” meaning “quickly quickly” in what is known as Chinese Pidgin English. In Chinese chopsticks are known as kuaizi, with “kuai” meaning “quickly” and “zi” meaning “baby” so it is not uncommon for newlyweds to be given chopsticks as a wedding gift.