Pork’s feet with thin noodles (Custom)

I think it’s a good idea to sell 豬腳麵線(zhu jiao3 mian4 xian4), pork’s feet with thin noodles, outside Taiwan’s prisons. Why? What’s so special about the food?




You might have seen such a scene from Taiwan’s news: A celebrity comes home from prison after doing his time, greeted by his family with a dish like this. Without exception he will eat the food, some even accompanied by a ritual called 過火(guo4 hou3), stepping over burning flames.

It’s been Taiwanese’s belief that eating豬腳麵線 can rid people of ill luck. So people eat 豬腳麵線 to get rid of ill luck. People who just leave prison or survive a disaster such as a car crash certainly have some ill luck to kick away. This is why they eat pork’s leg—let the pig’s feet do the kicking!

And 麵線, fine noodles, symbolize longevity since they’re long. Back in grandma’s time, people ate豬腳麵線 on their birthday. They were cautions about not cutting off the noodles while cooking or taking them into the bowls, which is a bad sign—cutting off your longevity.

These days those who sell豬腳麵線must be happy, because we have another custom that is related to this food. This year we have an extra lunar fourth month, which is called intercalary month, 閏月(run4 yue4), which is said to be bad for parents’ longevity. So those married daughters will get 豬腳麵線 for their own parents as a wish for their health and longevity.

Well, for Taiwanese sometimes food is not only food. Got some bad luck to kick away? Let the pigs do the job for you. What about kicking ass? That I don’t know.

豬腳麵線=猪脚面线

過火=过火

閏月=闰月

搶頭香 (Custom)

Before we start the topic, let’s watch a short film first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBYdvy6c718

What exactly are they doing?

It’s believed that he who gets to burn the first incense of the year in the temple, i.e. to put his incense stick into the incense burner first would be extremely blessed and lucky for the year. That’s why a lot of people will wait outside some prestigious temples for the gates to be open during the midnight of the Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Such an act is called搶頭香(qiang3 tou2 xiang), literally meaning competing to burn the first incense. The competition is such that you can see some funny scene as someone “cheating” like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f2pUUKhkJc&feature=related

It turns out that this term is not limited to temples, but has become a common usage to describe the act of getting to be the first to do something. For example, Taiwan’s newly elected legislators reported for duty on Feb, 1. According to the news report, a DDP legislator had arrived at the Legislative Yuan around 6:00 a.m. to “搶頭香” even though the procedure was scheduled to start at 8:00. Somehow another legislator entering from the side gate accidentally turned out the one who搶了頭香.

For the man who turned over the incense burner in the film, the physical pain might not as much as that when he saw the grandma putting her incense into the burner leisurely and “elegantly.”

搶頭香=抢头香

孝女白琴 (Custom)

If you ask me, what troubles me most living in Taiwan, I’ll say it bugs me most when someone in my neighborhood passes away and the family has a funeral with a孝女白琴(xiao4 nu3 bai2 chin2).

General speaking, living in Taiwan is pleasant. You enjoy the peace and freedom people in some other countries don’t have. But sometimes the tranquility is ruined when you hear a disturbing loud noise from the microphone with a woman crying and chanting in South Min dialect. You know that someone has died in your neighborhood. And you know you’re gonna put up with the noise for a while.

Funeral has been considered a big deal in our convention. People judge from the way a family has the funeral to see if they show 孝順(xiao4 nu3), filial piety, for their parents. To accuse someone of 不孝(bu2 xiao4) or 不肖(bu2 xiao4), neglect of filial piety, is a very serious one, which in the past might cost a man his post in the government. A government official had to retire from his work for three years if one of his parents or grandparents died, which was called 丁憂(ding you), unless the emperor ordered to discharge such a practice.

In many novels I read scenes like this: In a 靈堂(ling2 tang2), a mourning hall, where people place the deceased for people to mourn before the funeral, female family members stop whatever they are doing to howl and cry when having visitors to mourn. Or a woman comes to a靈堂, howling and yelling dramatically even though the deceased is a neighbor who she hardly cares about.

Women of the old times were in some way good actresses. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that everything you see in funerals was fake.

In short, funerals are supposed to be full of crying and mourning of the family members to show the offspring’s sorrow. But, what if someone dies with few family members or even without any offspring?

Thus comes an occupation—“professional mourners” who do the crying and howling for you. Usually it is women who do the work and we call them 孝女白琴.

It is said the name 白琴derives from a female character of a 布袋戲(bu4 dai4 xi4), Taiwanese hand puppet show 雲州大儒俠(yun2 zho da4 ru2 xia2), a hit some four decades ago. The character named白瓊(bai2 qong2) somehow was changed into白琴. She appeared in the show in a mourning dress howling for her deceased mother. The related workers thus named this occupation after her.

What bothers me is the noise they make. In a densely-populated city it’s really a pain in the neck to hear the piercing howling from a microphone, let alone the hypocrisy-tinged part.

I used to think this is an exclusive custom that is only practiced in Taiwan until I read online that in medieval Spain they have similar custom. Frankly speaking, I’m not very proud of this and I tend to be impatient when I hear such a ritual going on nearby, which rarely happens these days, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o32fBTHXeNM&feature=related

孝順=孝顺

丁憂=丁忧

靈堂=灵堂

布袋戲=布袋戏

雲州大儒俠=云州大儒侠

白瓊=白琼

搶孤(chiang3 gu) (II) (custom)

   

When the contestants reach the top of the column, they have to move their body towards the edge of the above platform by their hands, and then turn their body onto the platform by hooking their legs to it. This is said to be the most dangerous stage of the game, where many contestants fall. Back to the old times, there was no security such as a security net. Such an activity was dangerous and could be fatal.

In fact, the activity was so dangerous that I read there had been a time the Qing Government banned it. I’ve been wondering why people back then would risk their lives just for a competitive ritual. But after reading a documentary on World War II in the past few days, I think I understand more.

At a time of war or great immigration and land cultivation, people are facing death every day. The only thing they can count on is their courage and stamina. Those who are stronger, braver, and more skillful survive. The搶孤ritual was a showcase for the strong and skillful. When it came to the deities and ghosts, people couldn’t be more serious.

Back to the competition. After the first contestant reaches the platform, the孤棚, he sweeps off the cakes and cookies the “ghosts” have “enjoyed” down the platform to feed the poor and hungry.

The game is not over yet. After reaching the platform, the contestants have to race climbing up the pyramid-shaped column to cut the rope and grab the flag, 順風旗. Only at the moment do we have a winner.

Besides 超渡亡靈(chao du4 wang2 ling2), to release souls from purgatory, 搶孤is also meant as charity to benefit the poor. There’s no denying it is a challenge for people to hone their skills and strengthen their stamina. Somehow the repeating process of people slipping down the columns and climbing up reminds me of Sisyphus, the stone-rolling hero. What a metaphor of life.

These days in Taiwan, the ritual usually takes place in 頭城(tou2 cheng2), Yilan and Kenting, the northeastern top and the southern top of Taiwan respectively.

Of course there have been many variations in today’s搶孤 from that of the past. Security such as safety nets or suspension strings has been set up so that the contestants no longer have to take the risks our ancestors had to. It might have been made easier so that it won’t take so long. The point is to preserve the convention, recall our ancestors and have fun.

搶孤is only part of the中元普渡. There are other interesting rituals such as display of water lanterns that are worth seeing. It’s a pity that this year’s 搶孤wasn’t held as planned due to Typhoon Nanmadol, which had collapsed the 孤棚.

You may watch some brief introduction on this website to get a general idea of this activity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhJthjYxCb4

超渡亡靈=超渡亡灵   

頭城=头城           

搶孤(chiang3 gu) (I) (custom)

In Taiwan, lunar July is a month of low season for many businesses, including restaurants, moving companies, real estate agencies, car dealer . . . , because most people don’t get married, move, or purchase a house or a car in this so-called “ghost month.” 鬼月(gui3 yue4).

People believe that since the first day of this ghost month when the “hell gate” 鬼門(gui3 men2) is open, those 孤魂野鬼(gu hun2 ye3 gui3), ghosts without any offspring to offer sacrifice, are allowed to come from Underworld 陰間(yin jian) to our world. To appease those孤魂野鬼, people prepare abundant sacrifice to worship them three times this month,  with the one on the 15^th day this month the biggest, which is called 中元普渡(zhong yuan2 pu3 du4).

The Han Chinese have thought that people without offspring or people who 死於非命(si3 yu2 fei ming4), die of an unnatural death such as an accident or a murder, would turn to sinister ghosts and harm people after they die. During the immigration era from the 17^th century, when a great number of the Han Chinese started to immigrate to Taiwan, there had been tons of deaths caused by shipwrecks, natural disasters, plagues or fighting for land. To prevent those 孤魂野鬼from doing harm and also, out of sympathy for those who die an untimely death, people have taken the worship for ghosts very seriously.

Aside from the usual worship, there is a unique custom originating from Yilan 宜蘭(yi2 lan2) called搶孤, which takes place on the last day of the lunar July as a contest.

                                                                    

Before the activity, a platform is erected supported by 12 big columns that measure around 30 meters in length and one man’s arms around. The platform is called 孤棚(gu peng2).

  (fm4715/魯獅  flickr.com)   

Above the platform stand thirteen (these days, it can be simplified to only one) some 30 meters long pyramid-shaped columns with a variety of sacrifice around. A flag called 順風旗(shun4 feng qi2)is flying on the top of one of the pyramid-shaped columns. This part of columns is called 飯棚(fan4 peng2). The preparation won’t be complete without applying a thick layer of cattle fat onto the 12 big columns supporting the platform.

 (fm4715/魯獅  flickr.com)

When the gong is beaten to mark the start of the game, each of the team rushes to a column trying to climb up to the platform along the slippery column. Tools such as hemp ropes or strips of cloth are used to increase friction. Human pyramids are also made to reach the goal. With the fat, it’s really a time and energy-consuming task. (To save time, I’ve seen sometimes the game changed to a personal competition without so much fat.)

(TO BE CONTINUED)

                                                                                            

搶孤=抢孤

陰間=阴间

飯棚=饭棚

順風旗=顺风旗

                                         

Let’s pick out a lucky day (custom)

What is the best-seller, the book with the most versions in Taiwan?

Non-farmers as we are, most of us keep at home a “Chinese farmer’s calendar” 農民曆(nong2 min2 li4), or黃曆(huang2 li4), yellow calendar. Yes, statically it is the best-selling book in Taiwan. Every year around three million copies are published. Nearly 80 percent of Taiwanese families keep a version of it. I got one too, which is a present from a certain company. A lot of enterprises publish黃曆as a gift for their customers, for it is frequently used.

You may call it an encyclopedia in the traditional society, especially for the farmers. It is arranged based on the 24 solar terms, 節氣(jie2 qi4), by which farmers regulate their agricultural activities. There’re also weather predictions from a long-term observation and statistics.

For example, there’s a chant going like this, 立秋無雨最堪憂，萬物從來只半收(li4 qiu wu2 yu3 zui4 kan you, wan4 wu4 cong2 lai2 zhi3 ban4 shou). It worries farmers the most If it doesn’t rain on the day “start of autumn立秋,” because that foretells a bad harvest.

Opening a 黃曆, you’ll see today is a good day for wedding or offering services to god or ancestors, 宜：嫁娶、祭祀(yi2: jia4 qu3, ji4 si4)but not good for remodeling or building houses 忌：修造(ji4: xiu zao4) This is how most non-farmers depend on this calendar, not for anything related to agriculture, but for “picking out good days.” 看日子(kan4 ri4 zi)

It is generally believed that when conducting important affairs, such as marrying, starting a business, moving, offering religious or ancestry services. . . etc, it is important to pick out an auspicious day 黃道吉日(huang2 dao4 ji2 ri4), so that everything will go smoothly and no ill luck will be incurred. Some people believe it’s a matter not only of days, but even hours. They might go to a fortune teller to pick out the exact hour of the exact day according to the day and hour of their birth.

But you can’t go to a fortune teller for everything. So the黃曆solves the problem. It includes the dos宜 and don’ts忌 on a daily basis. And the activities included range from bathing, hunting, meeting friends to getting married or having a funeral, almost every routine in our life.

Though time has changed and so have our notions, 農民曆is still frequently consulted because many people consider it harmless and nothing will be lost if you just check it out, picking a day that is both convenient for you and “right” to do something important. That’s our attitude when dealing with things like this—寧可信其有(ning2 ke3 xin4 qi2 you3), you’d rather believe in it when you get nothing to lose.

When I was a little girl, I loved to read 黃曆. You’re wrong if you take them as nothing more than a calendar. When reading them carefully, you’ll find many interesting information, which reveal details of life in the past. For example, besides the do’s and don’ts, it has a 沖煞 every day. It means a certain day is unlucky for people born in certain years. So, if today’s沖煞is people born in the years of tiger. It’s better for those “tigers” not to enter the bride’s room if there’s a wedding today.
In addition, every day there will be one or two “lucky directions.” Years ago when we spent Chinese New Year in the city, my mom-in-law would tell us in the morning of the lunar New Year Day which direction to go once we finished our breakfast and wanted to go out. She checked the黃曆before she told us this, in the hope that we would have a good start by going the “right direction.”

Another interesting item would be telling your fortune by the time you were born. There’s a list of “weight” for each year, month, and hour. You add these numbers and get a total amount of your “weight.” For each weight, you’ll find a general description of your life in rhymed lines.

I really can’t remember what my “weight” was when I did the counting. Nothing too bad, I guess. At least I didn’t start my life with the burden from the thought that I was “doomed,” or no matter how hard I tried, I was destined to be miserable. Actually I didn’t take it so seriously when I read it. But I wonder how many people are “ruined” by this from taking it too seriously. My point here is it more or less reflects the general belief that your destiny has been written in the stars the moment when you were born.

Usually the bottom cover of the book is a list of food, the kinds of food that clash with each other, which you can’t eat together. “Antidotes” are also offered. But we have a lot of doubts about those lists, which might result from misleading hearsays in old days. For example, do you believe that chicken plus plums will be “poisonous?” I know some people have done experiments according to the lists and have proved parts of them wrong.

However ridiculous you think parts of the farmer’s calendar are, it is still a part of our life. Its content is changing to cope with the changes of times. It’s harmless if you check it out once in a while as a reference. Today, for example, is a good day to say to your sweetheart, “Let’s get married today. According to the book, it’s the right day to do so!”

農民曆=农民历
節氣=节气

立秋無雨最堪憂=立秋无雨最堪忧

萬物從來只半=收万物从来只半收

寧可信其有=宁可信其有

沖煞=冲煞

Prince white horse and the ring (Custom)

With the world watching and cheering for the wedding of Prince William and Kate, I noticed a report on the difficulty Prince William had when putting the ring on Kate’s finger. The journalist jokingly commented he wondered if Kate had been “instructed” by a 高人(gao ren2), a capable man or an expert. (But it has nothing to do his height.)

To understand what the journalist means, you have to know some Taiwanese customs concerning engagement. But before I talk about this, I’d like to deal with the term “prince white horse,” 白馬王子(bai2 ma3 wang2 zi3) first.

It’s what we call prince charming in Mandarin. I tried to find out the origin of the phrase, but in vain. I guess it more or less has something to do the fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, where the prince, who bravely rescued the spell-bound princess, always shows up on a white horse perhaps, as I remember when reading those stories as a little girl?

Anyway, 白馬王子has always been every girl’s dream. Since the moment when they start to read those fairy tales or upon their puberty, more or less they have their own image of白馬王子in their mind. And having a romantic of luxurious wedding like Prince William and Kate’s may be, a dream come true for a lot of girls.

After a Taiwanese girl meets her白馬王子, goes through the process of a relationship and decides to marry him, there would be an engagement ceremony, which is optional, and a wedding like most westerners do. Westernized as we are, we have many customs that unique to us.

First of all, prince charming’s parents , or the elder members of the family if either of the parents can’t be there, have to go to the girl’s place to meet her parents and 提親(ti2 qin), literally meaning to mention the wedding , which could be considered an official proposal. Though arranged marriage 媒妁之言(mei2 shuo4 zhi yan2) is no longer practiced, a matchmaker, 媒人(mei2 ren2) will go with the bridegroom’s parents as a formal matchmaker as it used to be.

The purpose of the ritual is to make sure parents of both sides agree with this marriage and decide some details, such as the date, the place of the wedding, 聘金(pin4 jin)，嫁妝(jia4 zhuang)，and喜餅(xi3 bing3)

聘金is the money from the bridegroom’s family to the bride’s family. 嫁妝is the dowry. You have to know in Chinese, we use different word for getting married. For the bridegroom, he is going to 娶(qu3) a woman; for the bride, she is going to 嫁(jia4) a man. That’s why dowry is called嫁妝.These days people are not so particular about these. Very often the bride’s parents will return the 聘金and the bridegroom’s family won’t ask fro any嫁妝 at all.

But the bridegroom’s family has to pay for the 喜餅, the wedding biscuit. Distributing the wedding biscuit is a way to let the bride’s relatives and friends to know about the coming wedding. The bride’s family has to count how many喜餅they’ll need and the bridegroom will pay for them. When you get a喜餅, you know someone’s daughter is getting married.

The engagement is held at the bride’s place. The bridegroom’s family and relatives as well as the matchmaker, usually in a lucky even number, go to the bride’s place at the appointed time. The bride will show up holding a plate with cups of tea to serve the guests. The guests take a cup of tea and put a red envelop on the plate.

The highlight of the engagement would be the couple’s exchange of rings. Almost every Taiwanese mom will emphasize to their son or daughter that they should bend their finger a bit when the ring is being put, so that the ring won’t go to the bottom of it.

Why? According to our great great grandmas, if you let your other half put the ring to the bottom of your finger very easily, you’ll get controlled or “bullied” by him or her for the rest of your life. That’s why everyone’s holding his breath and watching the couple if they are doing what their moms tell them. Tricky, uh? The “war” of manipulation starts even before the wedding!

That’s why I think every Taiwanese was laughing in his sleeve when seeing Prince Williams having a hard time putting the ring. Kate, you sly fox, have you been “coached” by a Taiwanese? 

提親=提亲

嫁妝=嫁妆

喜餅=喜饼

Bwa3-bui 跋杯 (III) (Custom)

In traditional Taiwanese beliefs, a deceased won’t realize the fact that he himself has passed away until the sixth or seventh day. His soul will return home on the seventh day of his demise. We call the day 頭七(tou2 qi), the first seventh day. The family will have a ceremony for him that night, which is called 做頭七(zhuo4 tou2 qi)

Before the funeral, the ceremony of做七(zhou4 qi), literally meaning “doing the seven,” will repeat seven times every seven day. To adapt to the busy modern life, the seven ceremonies have often been simplified by putting several together as one within a shorter span. But the first and the last “seven” are the most important.

The ceremony of 做七 basically consists of two parts. The family prepares food for the deceased to enjoy. And 道士(dao4 shi4), one or several Taoist priests are invited to do the chanting, which is believed to be able to help the deceased’s soul go to heaven. If the deceased died in an accident outside, there will be a ceremony of 招魂(zhao hun2)¸ soul calling at the site of the accident, which is done to guide the soul of the dead to return home.

                

 (from ent.qq.com)                      (from1941.cn)

Before the Taoist priest starts to do the chanting, he has to make sure that the deceased has been “present.” So here comes the ritual of Bwa3-bui , where two coins are used to serve as bui . The oldest son of the family is usually asked to do it. He has to call the deceased’s name and ask if he’s present, the way people do when asking the deity at the temple. He throws the coins to the ground. If it’s a head plus a tail, the ceremony goes on. If not, he repeats the asking.

Some people may take this procedure as probability. With my experiences, I really don’t know if you should take this so “scientifically.”

When my dad passed away, for example, I went to one of the “seven” ceremonies, 女兒七(nu3 er2 ji).女兒 means daughter. It is called so because this particular ceremony falls to the daughters’ responsibility. That was why I had to do the Bwa3-bui . I tried several times but couldn’t get a “yes.” Then I remember my kids, who weren’t present because that was a school day. Silently I told my dad in my mind that his grandchildren weren’t there because they had to go to school that day. Then I got a shing bui, a yes, so the ceremony could proceed.

Same thing happened at my grandmom’s “seven.” My mom told me they got stuck when they failed to get a “yes” even though they had tried many times. Then someone among the crowd found out that one of my uncles was missing. After he was summoned and came back, they finally got a shing bui and got to start.

The latest examples would be my mom-in-law’s. To keep my dad-in-law, who was suffering from bad coughing, from the smoke caused by the burning of the incense, we asked him to stay outside. We couldn’t start even though several people took turns doing the Bwa3-bui , her sons, her daughter, her grandson. The problem was solved until the one doing the asking remembered the absent widower and told the deceased about his whereabouts.

Such experiences are abundant and often heard. Believe it or not, it’s a common way for us to communicate with the deceased. You may ask him about his opinions on such things as how to arrange his funeral, where to keep his coffin or ashes. . . , so the ones left behind will feel comfortable and relaxed because the deceased has been arranged as he wishes.

My coworker and good friend Mary, an extremely charming woman, told me that she was once bugged by a man she just met at a temple, who kept asking her out. To get rid of him, she told him she would let the deity to decide. If he could get a shing bui, she would go out with him. She got rid of the man because he just couldn’t get the green light from the deity. I forgot to ask her if she had bribed the deity; otherwise, what made her so sure about the result of this Bwa3-bui?

頭七=头七



P.S. I read on the paper that on April 29 Dalai Lama visited Japan to pray for the dead killed by the 311 Quake. He did this that day because it was the 49th day after the disaster. The news reminded me of the fact that I forgot to mention in my writing that we call the last “seven” 滿七(man3 qi). It is important because people believe that the sousl of the deceased will be wandering between the heaven and the earth for 49 days. After that, they may go on with their journey to heaven or 投胎 (tou2 tai), to their next life.

Bwa3-bui 跋杯 (II) (Custom)

When visiting Taiwan’s temples, you’ll see by the altar a bucket with dozens of bamboo sticks inside it. The bucket is called籤筒(qian tong2) and each of the stick is with a number on it.

 (from sunshine莊信賢影像世界... flickr.com)

One of the hearsays about the origin of this divine system 抽籤(chou qian), lot-drawing, was from a tribal witchcraft in Tung Dynasty. This is another way to consult the deity. Sometimes you may not have a definite yes-no question to ask, but just want to know your luck of the year in general. You may do this.

For example, you’d like to know what it will be like with your career for the coming year, you may do the Bwa3-bui process, i.e. burning the incense, taking the bui, and telling your name. You ask the deity about your luck in your career and tell him if he’s answering your question, please give you a shing bui 聖杯. You throw the pair onto the ground. If you get a “yes,” go on with the process. If no, you can do it again, but altogether three times at most.

You draw out a stick from the bucket after you get a yes from Bwa3-bui. You check out the number on the bamboo stick, then go find the corresponsive 籤詩(qian shi), the lottery poem, from籤詩櫃(qian shi gui4), the closet with all lottery poems in it. 

(from veela-viva flickr.com)

籤詩, lottery poetry, is the deity’s answer to your question, which is put in rhymed lines in classical poetic form on a stripe of thin paper. Lots of the poems seen at earlier times were written by elite scholars or officials. The prevalent sets used in Taiwan consist of poems ranging from 6o to several hundreds. It is said a temple in Xin-zhu County has a set that has the most lottery poems, which is 366.

 (from tw.knowledge.yahoo.com)

Since the poems are written in classical Chinese poetic form, it’s not so easy for the ordinary public to understand exactly what they mean. When they draw a lot and get the lottery poem, they can go to the解籤人(jie3 qian ren2), who will explain the meaning of the lottery poem for them.

(from lavie.somode.com)

A modern way to do this is to put the explanation by the peom, which saves the manpower. And each of the poem has a conclusive phrase such as 上吉(shang4 ji2), top auspicious, 10-point auspicious, 中吉(zhong ji2), medium auspicious, 下吉(xia4 ji2), minor auspicious, and 兇(xong), inauspicious to give you a general idea about the lottery. Today you can even find websites helping you interpret those poems.

It occurred to me just now: is there any relationship between the “fortune cookies” practiced at the Chinese restaurant in the US and the籤詩I’ve mentioned above? Since we don’t have such a custom in our restaurant, is it possible that it was some early Chinese immigrant, who came up with the idea to put this into his restaurant as a gimmick to boost his business?

As I said earlier, Bwa3-bui is not limited to the communication with the deities, but also used with the deceased. I think I’ll leave this until later.  

(TO BE CONTINUED)

籤詩櫃=籤詩柜