Re: Sneezing and other silly culture
to | ranma@usagi.jrd.dec.com
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from | "'The Bear --' Frank Ho" <dkshadow@u.washington.edu>
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subject | Re: Sneezing and other silly culture
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date | Mon, 31 Jul 1995 16:14:57 -0700 (PDT)
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On Sun, 30 Jul 1995, Kevin Lew -- 'The Lai-Lai Boy' wrote:
> Where are these "Japanese culture" books? I couldn't figure out where
> they are located in bookstores. Most of them just don't carry any.
Check out Barnes & Noble, their idea of a foreign language section is an
area where you can get books toeach you various languages. Get Theo to
take you to the one here at UW.
> -- Banging your chopsticks like a drum brings famine. (Learned this
> when I was in the single-digit age.)
Sticking your chopsitcks up right into something so that they stand-up is
a har-bringer of death.
(The reason behind this, was that in the early "village" days of asia, lo
the centuries ago, when people were buried, instead of a headstone, their
chopsticks were struck upright in the ground instead. Yes, in these
peasant villages, each person had their own set of chopsticks that they
used throughout the course of their life time.)
> Death is a really great fear in Chinese superstition. You get all kinds
> of STOOO-PID things with death.
Just because you don't understand the reasoning behind them, is no reason
to call them stupid. Silly I'll admit, but then most superstitions are
kinda silly, if taken from an outsiders point of view.
> -- Four is horribly unlucky. (So buying glasses is a real pain.)
This is because the number four as pronounced in mandrin chinese is a
homonym for "to die". In fact, each digit has a homonym assigned to it.
Combinations of digits are combined in order to form phrases that will
bring about good luck.
> -- Don't wear white in your hair. (So like, Kasumi in Ranma 1/2 would
> be considered a total Devil Worshipper.)
White is the color of death in China, much like the color black is
considered the same thing in most "western" countries.
> When I go to Japan, I want to go to "Manga no Mori". The damn commercial
> jingle has wedged into my brain. I want to see if the Tenchi Muyou cast
> really shops there.
Gunning for an autograph?
Frank
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