we continue with the 15 days of Chinese New Year and each of it’s respective spiritual and religious significances, rites, and associated folkloric magical practices.
EDIT FOR 2022: days 3,4,5 of New Year is February 3-5, 2022.
3rd day of New Year/”Day of the Crimson Hound” (赤狗日) This would’ve been February 14, 2021. It’s funny since it falls on St. Valentine’s Day. Because this is the one day that you are supposed to stay inside avoid all unnecessary social interactions and travels. Because you see, the third day of Lunar New Year is known as Day of the Crimson Hound, or Chi’gou Ri. “Chi’gou” (赤狗) is a God or spirit of wrath, anger, poverty, and strife in Chinese Traditional Religion & Folk Taoism. Keep unnecessary conversations and small talk at the minimum. Speak to no one except those who you live with, reschedule parties, gatherings, and New Year celebrations. For it is said that you will be cursed by Chi’gou to fight and feud with whoever you wish Happy New Year to on this day. This day is pretty uneventful, all due to the fear of attracting the attention or angering the Crimson Hound. He can bring strife and anger and destroy your relationships between you and your family, friends. He can also bring upon your household poverty, and undo all blessings the God of Wealth sent you the days before. Honestly, in very observant households, you won’t even hear people wishing each other Happy New Year at all on this day. Not even to your family members who you live with.
A bronze statue of the Hound.
The night of the 3rd day is also known as the night when the Rat God arranges weddings for his subjects (the various rodents on earth). It’s known as the “Day of Rat Weddings” (老鼠娶亲日). Their weddings takes place after sunset. Traditionally, people would go to bed early and keep quiet as to not disturb the rats’ wedding processions through the fields at night. Offerings of beans and grains must be left out, as well as a little portion of this past autumn’s harvest. These are to be left out in the kitchen, at the edge of the fields, and by the pantry or grain storage or barn as wedding gifts to them. This practice would obviously not make sense in modern, urban settings. However, if God forbid you got rodent problems in your home, maybe you should observe this so they would go easy on you.
a traditional paper cut-out of the rats’ wedding procession.
4th Day of New Year: Zao’jun ‘s homecoming This is the day when the Zao’jun (灶君), the God of the Hearth (commonly translated inaccurately as The Kitchen God in English), returns back to the hearth and home after spending time up in the Celestial Courts reporting on the household. At sundown, offerings, candles, and incense must be set up at the shrine or votive altar of Zao’jun (usually located above the hearth or stove). Firecrackers would also be lit at the door to welcome him back. One must treat the event as if one is welcoming a dear friend or family member’s homecoming. Offerings are not too different from the offerings to him. But traditional ritual protocol indicates there must be three different meat dishes, meaning three separate dishes of three different animals. Pork, poultry, and fishes are common. The other common meat for offerings, lamb or goat, are taboo on this day and to be avoided. Fruits, pastries, and a bottle of good liquor must also be present. It is said for this homecoming ritual, every single member of the household must be present and at home all day as to not confuse Zao’jun in terms of who to protect and look after. For more information on Zao’jun and his place in the domestic sphere, read my first post on Chinese New Year.
i just thought this lil’ drawing was adorable. Plus it depicts Zao’jun’s Homecoming perfectly.
5th day of New Year：Crossroads and Fire Welcoming the “Lu’tou Shen”: The other God of Wealth. One other God honored on this day is the Lu’tou Shen (路头神), also known by his title of Wulu Caishen (五路财神). Literally his name and title translates into something like “God of the road’s end”, and “God of Wealth & the 5 ways/roads). Apart from Cai’shen honored on the first day of new year, he is the other God of wealth. There are different Gods and Goddesses of abundance, wealth, and prosperity in Chinese folk religion. Caishen is just the main one and most widely worshipped. Lu’tou Shen is one example of wealth in relation to commerce and more specifically the flow of money and wealth. The coming and going of money. As his title suggests, he closely resembles “crossroads deities” found in other cultural traditions. As a crossroads God of Wealth, he can bring customers and foot-traffic to one’s business. And for a household, he can ensure your blessings and abundance flow into your lives without obstacles and keep those roads open. My nanna says in the old country, it’s a tradition for stores and shops to call all their employees to the store and erect little altars at the storefront. The owner of the business would lead the ritual and make offerings to him. This was also traditionally the day to fire any employees buy not inviting them to the ceremony or simply by telling them “No need to come to the store today”. The employee would understand that they’ve been sacked and will collect their stuff the next day. Different households on the same block would often band together and make one collective huge offering and sacrifice along with lots of firecrackers being blown up at the nearest crossroads. This act is called “welcoming the Lu’tou Shen). As his place of worship and shrine, if any, are often located at the crossroads. This act and offering of welcoming in the Lu’tou Shen is done precisely are midnight, when the 4th day turns to the 5th day. A cooked goat’s head, as well as a air of carp or other big fish must be present among the offerings to him.
A statue of Lu’tou Shen, the crossroads God of wealth, and commercial abundance.
Binding the God of Fire (绑火神) This is another practice done on the evening of the 4th day. The God of Fire takes a prominent role not only in the Lantern Festival, but also on this day. Towns and villages or individual households would gather corn and wheat stalks and braid them around a tall wooden pole that’s been erected at the town square. This is act of tying and binding is to symbolize binding the God of Fire so that his destructive side doesn’t burn down houses or destroy property in the new year. The pole would then be tossed into the river. In private households, no poles are used. But simply bundles of corn stalks are tied together and burned in the court yard.
6th day of New Year This day was traditionally when the market places at the town square reopened, as well as shops and businesses. Now the Lu’tou Shen has been appeased, abundance and wealth will start flowing in from the roads into your shops. Now that you got him making sure abundance is flowing in, it;s time to get rid of old stagnant energies. Which brings us to: “Chasing out Poverty” (送穷神), a ritual to chase away the Qiong’shen, the Spirit/God of Poverty. It’s fairly simple, one gathers all the old tattered items of clothing and objects that are broken from the pervious year. Then either burn them in a bonfire while striking the ground before the fire as if whacking somebody. One will keep striking the rod on the ground as one walks tout the front door. Someone else would have a dustpan with the dust swept up from the four corners of the house and have that dust thrown out the front door. Symbolizing the God of Poverty being thrown out. Sometimes the pile of dirt or garbage would be topped with 5 slices of flatbread (煎饼), as an offering to the God of Poverty. It would then be tossed out the front door along with the offering. This act is what is believed to chase the God of Poverty away from your home or business.
New Year’s Day / “Spring Festival” (1st day of the first lunar month). The start of the 15 days of celebration. The Chinese name for Chinese New Year, called Chun’jie, literally translates into “Spring Festival”. Due to it being the official start of the spring season in the Chinese calendar. The start of new beginnings, new blessings, and new zodiac sign. The first thing a household must do in the morning is to have firecrackers lit at the front door. To scare away any bad spirits and old stale energies away so new blessings may start flowing in. It is also the day to honor the Sui Shen (岁神), the God of the Year. More commonly known as Tai’sui (太岁), the Year God isn’t a single deity, but a group of Gods and Goddesses. There are sixty of them and they each correspond to a zodiac sign in the 60-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. Bet y’all didn’t know that either! There’s much more to the Chinese zodiac, they each got a God or Goddess associated with them as well! it’s more than some cute picture on paper mat in your Chinese restaurant. Not to be confused with the Japanese Toshigami (岁神), which is a similar deity but as I understand is a singular spirit unrelated to the sixty year Gods in Chinese folk religion. For example, 2021 is the year of the Metal Ox. The Tai’sui corresponding to the Metal Ox is Yang’xin Dajiangjun (杨信大将军), or “General Yang’xin. So on this day, he would be worshipped. One would either visit a local shrine or temple where would be an altar erected to him, or erect an altar to him at home. It is advised everyone, no matter what year one is born, to pay their respects and give a lil’ something. Because the Sui Shen is in charge of their year’s fortunes, good and bad. Therefor it’s important to get on their good side and do a lil’ bootlicking, so to speak.
a small statue of General Yang’xin, the Sui Shen of 2021, the year of the Metal Ox.
Traditionally, the first meal of the new year is to be devoid of meat.A stark contrast to the gluttony of the night before. The breakfast or brunch of new year’s day would be close to a vegan meal. Because even eggs and dairy would be off-limits for the day. New year’s day is also sometimes called “fasting day” for this reason. It is taboo is wear any thing stained, dirty, ripped, or just old on this day. Usually folks would have an entire new outfit bought for this day. And as always, the ancestors would be fed the first thing in the morning and incense offered. It is also taboo to use the broom or mop on this way, for it’s said that you would be sweeping away all the new blessings of the new year.
Second day of New Year / “Day of breaking fast” (开斋日) As new year’s day is the day of fasting and abstaining from meat and animal products, this day is where one breaks the fast. The excessive drinking and foods returns! This meal on the 2nd day of New Year is called Kai’nian Fan ( 开年饭), or “year-opening meal”. Unlike the meal of New Year’s Eve, this meal is open to everyone and not limited to just family members or clan members. Friends, colleagues, roommates, whoever wants to join are all welcome to. The foods aren’t too different from the types served on New Year’s Eve, except that it must include carp, lettuce, and wontons (more about this below). This was also the day where couples would travel to the wife’s parents’ household to visit. They would stay and have this Kai’nian Fan meal with the wife’s side of the family and depart before sunset. A new tradition developed in the early twentieth century: family portraits. Since then this day is traditionally the day where family members all gather to have their family portraits taken.
The God of Wealth: The 2nd day of New Year is also one of the two days in the next 15 days dedicated to Cai Shen (财神), the God of Wealth aka Money God. Now I know y’all love that! Altars would be set up in shops, businesses, and courtyards of private houses. Small paper images of Cai Shen would be bought from the local shrines and placed upon the altar with candles and offerings. Ritual protocol demands that businesses and store owners offer what is known as the “Five Sacrifices” ( 五大供) along with other offerings. Depending on the region these 5 sacrifices could differ, but they are usually: a whole pig, a whole sheep, a whole chicken, a whole duck or goose, and a whole carp. They are then to be cooked appropriately and offered by the altar. The male head of the family, or the owner of the business would lead the ritual and then everyone present are to make an offering of incense and liquor. The paper image of Cai Shen would then be burned and the animal sacrifices be shared in the meal following. In this meal, wonton must be served. My nanna says it’s because wontons resemble the shape of gold nuggets back in the old days in the old country.
a statue of Cai Shen, the God of Wealth, Prosperity, and Abundance, appropriately gilded in gold
freshly made wontons, ready to be cooked.
It’s taboo to wash your clothes on this day for you will wash away the blessings and abundance Cai Shen bestowed on you. It’s always taboo is take naps on this day, as the God of Wealth detests any display of laziness. You want abundance? You better werk betch! Prayer without work is empty.
Another deity honored on this day is Shui Shen (水神), the God of Water. Also known by his title Shui’de Xingjun (水德星君). This is why on this day one avoid the unnecessary use of water, lest you offend him. Unlike other world religious systems, the God of Water in Chinese folk religion and Taoism isn’t a very gentle fellow. Quick to anger and generally seen as unpredictable and dangerous if provoked. This is someone who decided to crash the pillars holding up the sky once upon a time because he wasn’t happy he lost a battle and threw a tantrum. So no long showers, baths are out of the question, no laundry, and no sullying his sweet waters with mopping on this day. Observe these taboos and he will be appeased, and appreciate drinkable water that nourishes life. For even though water can be dangerous, it is also gentile and vital to life.
a statue of Shui’de Xingjun, the God of Water.
WHEW! i told y’all this was gonna be long. And we only on the 2nd day of the 15 days of New Year. Stay tuned for more.
UPDATED FOR 2022:
February 1, 2022 is the first day of Lunar New Year. It’s the year of the tiger. The Sui Shen, or Tai’sui of the year is He’E Dajiangjun ( 贺谔大将军 ). Or General He’E.
(note: I am a white american girl with C cups, blue eyes, and a lifetime of privilege, especially when it comes to seeing myself represented. An apology in advance if I’m overstepping in any way, shape, or form!)
isn’t it sketchy how white characters get to be described as having sharp jaws, piercing eyes, straight noses, full cheeks, having an innocent glow, etc, and the black characters are described as being black. the asian characters are described as being asian. like ???
“X was a tall girl with long blonde hair that fell perfectly down her shoulders, only a few shades lighter than the sun. A permanent blush adorned her cheeks, but her cheekbones stood out against her otherwise childlike features with such womanly grace.”
But you never really see east asian characters being described as having deep-set, piercing eyes that hold your gaze and never let go. You always see narrow/almond eyes, which doesn’t cover all of asia, which is humongous and literally covers so many different ethnicities, and therefore many different eye shapes. Not to mention, the description usually stops at the eyes. I want to read about their warm-toned skin and perfectly sculpted lips. I want to read about umber skin and long, handsome face and their aquiline nose, altogether making them look more like a statue than a person of flesh and blood. I want to read about black characters as more than just a “dark woman” and maybe a passive hair descriptor. What about her large doe eyes and inviting smile? Why do they always have to be the sassy black friend (edit: I do understand all the cultural and historical ties to that stereotype but ??) AND WHY IS THEIR SKIN ALWAYS COMPARED TO FOOD? Maybe this isn’t a problem and I’m reaching here, but it rubs me the wrong way bro.
So yeah I’d like to romanticise (BUT NOT FETISHISE, THERE’S A DIFFERENCE) non-european shit for once, including in the dark academia world because we all know the europeans were late to the party and got all their knowledge from the arabs, the indians–pretty much everyone else.
This is a 2015 Japanese romantic drama series, starring Taishi Nakagawa and Maika Yamamoto. It is based on the manga series of the same name by Shungiku Uchida. Shunichi Minami (Taishi Nakagawa) is a high school student with good grades and suprisingly good looks. He is the heartthrob of every girls hearts and dreams. But it ain’t easy to get close to him, because he is really shy and quiet. Chiyomi Horikiri (Maika Yamamoto) on the other hand, is the opposite Minami. She is so bright and supportive of her friends. Her greatest passion is dancing and she would anything for it. Minami and Chiyomi were really good childhood friends, and they were each others first love. Everything was going great, until Minami’s dad left his Minami for his new love. From that point on, Chiyomi and Minami drifted apart, even though they were next door neighbours. One day, Chiyomi decided to talk out with her parents about going to her favourite dance group’s workshop, which was in Tokyo. Her parents did not agree with her, because the college entrance exam was coming up and Tokyo was so far away. Chiyomi kept arguing, even though her parents refused. They didn’t keep up with her, to the point where Chiyomi’s dad suddenly slapped her right on the face. Chiyomi felt sorrowful and leaves the house. While she was walking back home after buying soy sauce, which her parents texted her to buy. She meets Minami and opens up her feelings to him. He tells her that he had stopped liking her and he has no feelings for her anymore. She got heartbroken when she heard this and she runs away. On the way, her umbrella flies away of the strong wind and fails to get the grip of it. There she ends up in the hollow cave beside the park, while trying to avoid the rain. The cave looked so familiar and then she remembers that is where her and Minami told that they love each other. She wishes that everything could go back to the way it was when they were little. And with a blink of an eye, Chiyomi becomes the size of the one-inch princess, that the grandma told them about. That is when Prince Minami comes to the rescue!
This is a 2013 teenage romantic comedy film, starring Filipino’s power couple Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. The story revolves around two childhood best friends; Patricia a.k.a Patchot (Kathryn Bernardo) and Ivan (Daniel Padilla). After Patchot’s mum abandoned her child, due to the depressed poor life after marriage. Patchot’s dad raised her as a boy, because he does not want his daughter to become like his wife and leave him. And because that was the only way he knew how to raise her as a single parent. On the other hand, her best friend Ivan was every girl’s dream guy, whom she was in love with. One day, when everyone was playing basketball together, Patchot felt the slow-mo (slow motion) moment, when watching Ivan play. That was the very first time she felt the slow-mo. It felt like the world stopped right before her eyes. All she could ever see is Ivan looking at her and smiling. She couldn’t see a single ball which was coming her way. Right before she could notice anything, the ball hit her and she eventually fell to the ground. That was when Patchot blabbered the 3 words “I love you” several times. Ivan and the others looked at her confused and thought this has to be a joke. No one couldn’t even take what she was saying seriously. That was all because of PATCHOT! Even though she is a girl, she didn’t look quite appealing for a guy to look at. She basically looked like a guy, wore clothes like a guy and behaved like a one too. She also knew that herself, but once Ivan asked if those words were sincere, she immediately shook her head and said no. She said she wasn’t in her right mind and she was only joking. After a few days, a new girl comes into town, when Ivan discusses about how girls are to Aunt Baby. Ivan got attracted by her astonishing beauty and couldn’t stop staring at her, as she was looking back at him too. When she set back into the taxi and left, Ivan longed every single day to see her. That is when he suddenly meets her back again at a shop. And hears the news from the others that she came to town to stay for a few weeks. When he gets home and starts researching about her hereabouts, he finds out that this girl is called Angel and she is Patchot’s cousin! After that, Ivan asks Angel out on a few dates and eventually became a couple…
How is Patchot going to react? Will she give up her love for her cousin? Does she have a plan B to make Ivan fall for her?
This is a 2013 Taiwanese family comedy drama, starring Leroy Young, Lin Yo Wei, Megan Lai, Liang Jin and child actress Xie Yu En. Tang Xiang Xi and Wen Zen Hua recieve a message from the woman they dated in the past. They get notified that she gave birth to a girl and the left. Without knowing who the baby’s father is, they decide to raise the baby together. The reliable lawyer Xiang Xi attracts the attention of a stubborn teacher and and the gentle florist Zen Hua attracts the attention of their perky next door neighbour. The two men often get mistaken as a “homosexual” pair whenever they are out with their daughter. But they do not care, because all they care about is their one and only daughter. Two fathers is a spin off about two fathers raising a daughter.
It started when I was in kindergarten, and I was so proud I did not have to go to Bingo class, unlike my friends, because I could speak good English -
although I had no idea what a yellow dog that could spell had anything to do with Chinese.
(I figure out now that it was probably called Bilingual class)
I am lucky. I speak the fluent, accentless English of newscasters, the dialect spoken by the children of immigrants, that we learned not from our parents but rather from watching Sesame Street and other things on tv.
Last year, a white facebook friend of mine posted, “In order to celebrate Chinese New Year, me talk rike chinese man arr day.”
And then told me that she was “sorry I was offended” and “she didn’t mean anything by it” when I (nicely, sweetly) told her that that shit was not okay. She said that she saw it the same as doing an accent, like Irish. Or British. Or Italian. (for bonus points, she even said that she has lots of Asian co-workers and friends, and LOVES Asian people, and so is not a racist.)
And when one of my white friends gets drunk, he thinks his “Asian accent” is hilarious.
And I was told by a coworker about the time my Asian coworker mispronounced “Barroway” as “Bwawwoway” and how hilarious it was.
Here’s the thing - can you guess how many Asian people I know who actually say
me rikey
me from _____
me so solly
(or, if you like, the fetishized versions: me so horny, me love you long time)
if you said ZERO, then ding ding ding! Congratulations, you have working brain cells.
No, my misguided fb friend, the “Asian accent” is not an actual imitation of an accent, comparable to your bad British/Irish/Italian - but rather a mockery of Asian people and their supposed inability to speak English. It is the perpetuation of the image of Asian people as perpetual foreigners in America.
Like that time when my family was at an Italian restaurant, and we were speaking to my father in Cantonese, and a drunken white lady said very loudly, “GOD when you come to this country at least learn the language!”
Or when my father was pulled over for speeding, and although he said “what’s the problem, officer?” the first thing the state trooper said was, “Do you speak English?”
Your fake “Asian accents” are not harmless and silly, because at the root of the joke, it says - you, you are stupid. You cannot speak English. You are Other. You do not belong.
my parents have been in this country for 30 years. They have been American citizens for 30 years.
And they are very self-conscious of their imperfect English, afraid that it makes them look ignorant, knowing that it marks them as immigrants. That, after 30 years, you can still be told (in not so many words) that you do not belong.
The Cultural Revolution started in China when my father was 13. He was pulled out of school and, later, sent to work in the fields. (He escaped to Hong Kong when he was 18, but that is another story for another time.)
When my father came to this country, he had a middle school education and did not speak a lick of English. He worked as a busboy at a Chinese restaurant, the evening shift that ran until 3 or 4 in the morning, and went to school during the day.
It took my father ten years to earn his bachelor’s degree. He is now an engineer.
Is this not your “American Dream?”
When my mother came to this country, she spoke very little English. She got a job as an entry level clerk. Over the years she earned one promotion after another. She is now management at a large federal agency, and manages funds for the whole state.
Is this not your “American Dream?”
And my father didn’t understand why his coworkers said, “flied lice, flied lice!” to him over and over and laughed.
And my father is still afraid to speak in a professional setting, even when he has ideas.
And my mother still checks and double checks her professional e-mails with me, for fear of mockery from the same people she manages.
And people don’t understand why I can’t take a harmless joke. Why I don’t think that shit is funny.
No, I don’t “rikey.”
No, I won’t “love you long time.”
And no, I’m not sorry.
So, please, kindly - FUCK OFF.
Reblogging this for, like, the fiftieth time because it has never stopped being relevant to my life and it always, always breaks my heart.
It’s not funny. It’s not okay. It’s not harmless. It’s alienating and hurtful.
My foreign friends - we do not have jaundice, or at least, most of us - we’d tell you if we had jaundice. Our skin has yellow undertones, it’s not bright yellow like a Simpsons character, or bright orange like Trump (he’s white to boot). Don’t even make our skin a tone of yellow in any sense. Look at a real-life East Asian before you draw. I don’t care if you look at Xinnie the Pooh or Curry Lamb as a skin tone reference, as long as you use an art reference for once. Thank you.
How isn’t this just reproducing stigma against people with brighter yellow undertones?
Bright yellow undertones are NOT necessarily indicative of disease or health problems. Stop perpetuating that idea.
You CAN push for greater diversity of complexions without just reproducing stigma against certain complexions and implying they shouldn’t be represented because they’re an embarrassing to your race.
Not only that, East Asians themselves portray their own skin is informed by colorism and the drive to make their skin as white as possible and WE sure as hell shouldn’t be reproducing that.
First of all… stop. I’m actually East Asian (I live in Hong Kong) and am backed by Asian friends on this reply, so please, listen to me on this:
I’m not against people with yellow undertones. Hell if I know, I have yellow undertones myself. But news flash, this isn’t the Simpsons, healthy, normal East Asians - nor anyone else for that matter - has bright yellow skin the colour of highlighter ink.
Iam trying to push for diversity in East Asian complexions - you see my Gacha models with pale and tan/dark skin (dark by East Asian standards, mind you). I’m not glamorizing having pale skin and promoting colorism, even if the cosmetics stores around me all sell products for lightening skin - I am well aware of colorism in my society. I am saying that no healthy East Asian has Yellow™️ skin like I have seen in many pieces of fan-art.
People who draw East Asians in Yellow™️ skin tones tend not to be East Asian. I am trying to raise awareness that Asian skin is not effing jaundice-yellow as many Westerners tend to perceive, as if they are using 1940s propaganda posters as art references.
You are a black guy (according to your profile) who primarily reblogs pictures of women in bikinis. You are not East Asian. You do not have a say in the matter.
Contrasting Traditional versus Modern (Western) Views of Magic and Spirit WorkHow Asian Spirituality Differs from Western Occultism
Introduction
For those who want to delve into Asian practices legitimately, it can be very difficult to find genuine information. You have to navigate the heavily appropriated New Age websites,…
