You had just arrived at the airport of Tuxla Guttierez, Chiapas, Mexico half an hour ago. Now you are on a highway snaking its way upwards 2500 meters, on your way to San Cristobal de las Casas, the home of the Zapatistas and the central meeting ground for the local indigenous groups like the Chamulas. On your right you can see the world falling away as you get closer to the clouds. It is your first time here. You have read the travel guides, and searched the internet for things to do. Everywhere you looked you ran across the same things, Palenque, Chamula, Lagos de Montebello. But you want something different. You want to see the real Chiapas, and visit places that are not overflowing with tour groups. As you look out at the sky you see two green streaks. As you focus in on them you realize that it is actually a pair of parakeets flying towards some unknown location. "Where did they come from?" you wonder....
Cima de Cottoras
Located 1.5 hours outside of Tuxla Guttierez (take the bus service that leaves from the Plaza de Marimbau), the Cima de Cotorras (Parakeets), is a 180 meter deep sink hole. While the area surrounding area tends to be dry during the summers, at the bottom of this sink hole is a tropical jungle that remains humid all year round. But the main attraction of this location is the thousands of parakeets that call this sinkhole home. For the adventurous, a daily tour is offered at 5:00 a.m. to descend halfway down the sinkhole, and watch as the thousands parakeets wake up and ascend in unison out of there jungle home. Facilities include a hotel, camp grounds and one restaurant overlooking the sinkhole. Proceeds from the site go to maintain the natural habitat of the cotorras.
.. The clouds part, and you find yourself looking at a valley surrounded by green mountain tops. In the middle of this valley you see signs of life. San Cristóbal de las Casas. You can already make out the the Churches of San Cristóbal and Guadalupe on there respective hills, looking over the town. It must have rained recently, because you see puddle of water all over the road. You think to yourself "they almost look like lakes"...
Lagos de Colon
The Lagos de Colon are located 4 hours south of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Take a shuttle from San Cristóbal to Comítan and then transfer to a bus that goes to Lagos de Colon. This string of lakes are known for there smooth mirror-like surfaces. A popular weekend site for local Mexicans, these beautiful lakes are perfect for swimming and relaxing the day away. Follow the path away from the main lake area and you will find beautiful waterfall, and keep going down this path and you will find a small set of newly discovered Mayan ruins. Facilities include a guest house, free camping area, 3 small family restaurants, and during the day there are a few small vendors selling food like fried plantains and fresh fruits.
.. The taxi driver turns from the main road onto Ave. Insurgents. You have just entered the historic downtown of San Crístóbal. Colonial style building surround you. As you are driving you pass an incredible potpourri of humanity. Europeans, American, Asians, Mexican and numerous indigenous groups. As you try to take it all in, your thoughts are interrupted by a grumbling sound. It's your stomach. You realize you haven't eaten since breakfast 10 hours ago. "Where could I get a bite to eat?" you wonder...
Comítan
Just 1 hour south of San Cristóbal is the town of Comítan. Most tourist only pass through the outskirts of this town on their way to the Lagos de Montebellos or Chiflon. They are missing out. From the bus station take a short taxi ride (or walk for 15 minutes) to the beautiful historic center. The central zocalo is pristine, and is littered with art and sculptures from around the world. The plants and flowers are always in bloom and the weather is always perfect. The main attraction of Comítan is that most local Chapanecos (people from Chiapas), acknowledge that it has the best food in the state. Restaurants on the plaza are tasty, but tend to be little more expensive. If you want the best deal simply walk 1-2 blocks away from the Zocalo in any direction and find a local restaurant.
.. You fight down the growing feeling of hunger. First things first. You need to find a hotel. Luckily there seems to be dozens on every block in San Cristóbal. You ask the taxi driver to drop you off in front of one that looks nice and seems to fit your budget. You pay your fare and get your bags out of the trunk, but as you turn around to enter the hotel, you find you have can't pass. You are surrounded by dozens of indigenous women and children saying "comprame". You don't speak Spanish, but it is not hard to figure out that they want you to buy one of there multicolored bracelets, belts or Sub-commandante Marcos dolls. "Where did they all come from?" you ask...
San Juan del Rio
The small village of San Juan del Rio is not on any map. You have to take a collectivo (local public transport) to Cancuc, and then take a local taxi (probably the back of a pickup) to the entrance to this village. From this entrance you have to walk 1.5 hours to get to the village. The village has no roads, or electricity. The town of 500 people survives by growing coffee. It is a perfect place to see how life is for most Chapanecos. Have traditional food, cooked over an open fire. Spend some time relaxing in a Mayan steam room, and then go down to the local river and have a swim. Foreigners are so rare here, that the kids at the river will probably stare and point in wonder at any outsiders who show up. You have to arrange a tour with one of the local villagers to get here. Money from these tours go to the village fund to build a road.
.. You fought your way through the crowd that surrounded you outside. You are now the proud owner of 5 colorful bracelets and a clay figure that looks to you like a turtle. You ask if there are any rooms available. In broken English the girl at the reception says "Yes", and gives you a list of the prices. The prices were fair. As the receptionist prepares the paperwork you scan the tour pamphlets lain out on the front desks. There are hundreds, each selling tours to the same places. Then one catches your eye. This one is not glossy or professional like the others, it is black and white with nothing more than a pyramid on the cover. "Where is Toniná?" you ask the receptionist...
Toniná
Toniná is located 3 hours from San Cristobal. Take a bus to Ocosingo, and then get a taxi, or collective to Toniná. Toniná is located in the middle of an open plain. Standing atop its highest level you can see for miles and miles in all directions. Getting a tour guide is highly recommended. The guide will lead you through the pitch black maze of the Shaman of death, and show you how the ancient Mayans had designed rooms to have natural air conditioning. A little known fact is that Toniná is actually responsible for the fall of Palenque (its famous cousin to the west). The museum outside the ruins is small, but worth a visit. Bring a large bottle of water, since there is very little shade during your tour and you will get thirsty.
You are finally here. Settled into your hotel room. Exhausted but excited. All that is left to decide is "What am I going to see tomorrow?"
by: Ray Blakney
วันจันทร์ที่ 22 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2553
Why Waldorf Kindergarten
Waldorf kindergarten is an extension of the family experience, an intermediate step for the child between the home and formal schooling. The goal is to provide a warm, calm, secure, aesthetic environment in which the imagination and creativity of the child will flourish.
The quality of the environment of a Waldorf kindergarten is integral to its goals for the children. The feeling of warmth and security is created by using only natural materials: woods, cotton, wool in the construction of the decor and toys. The curtains transmit a warm glow into the room. In this warm environment are placed toys which the children can use to imitate and transform the activities that belong to everyday adult life. In one corner stands a wooden scale and baskets for children to pretend they are grocery shopping; a pile of timber stands ready to be constructed into a playhouse, a boat or a train; a rocking horse invites a child to become a rider; homemade dolls lie in wooden cradles surrounded by wooden frames and cloths the children can use to create a pretend family and play house.
Pinecones and flowers are artistically dispersed; lovely watercolors adorn the walls. The effect of this beautiful arrangement of decorations and toys is a feeling of entering a “children’s garden”, where one can breathe easily, relax and play according to the impulses of one’s heart.
The 3 R’s are reverence, repetition, and rhythm. Structured group activities consist of finger plays, singing, reciting poems, and doing body movements known as eurythmy. Fairy tales are told to the children on successive days for up to two weeks, culminating in the tale as a puppet show offered to the children by the teacher or as a play with costumes acted out by the children with the teacher narrating. Art and crafts consist of water coloring with the three primary colors to impart a true appreciation of the nature of color, modeling with beeswax, drawing with beeswax crayons, finger knitting, and baking.
It has been noted that the fantasy play of children who attend the Waldorf kindergarten changes. Their fantasies are often about being the characters from the fairy tales told to them each week. The children become more respectful of one another, move with greater self-assurance and grace, and are much more open in their creative self-expression. This kind of growth, this kind of unfolding of the imagination and creativity through free play, art, drama, music, oral recitation, and dance are essential to our time.
The importance of child’s play
One of the major changes in public school education in the past fifteen years has been the transformation of the kindergarten room from a “children’s garden” full of toys and play-like activity into a pre-first grade, full of work sheets and learning stations. There has been an assumption that all of this is appropriate for the five year old and will help the child in its academic work and in its growth and development in general. More and more, that assumption is now being challenged.
In his book, The Hurried Child, David Elkind, child psychologist and professor at Tufts University, discusses the problem of stress that he finds in children who come to him for treatment. He points out that, in the great rush to bring children into academic work, we have ceased to ask if children are inwardly ready for such concentrated, intellectually-oriented work.
There is a growing body of research that supports the position of Waldorf schools that children should remain in play-oriented preschool until the age of six. The clearest example of such research which has come to our attention is a major study undertaken in Germany comparing 100 public school classes for five year olds. Fifty of them had only play in their program and the other 50 had academics and play together. The children entered first grade when they were six, and the study surveyed their progress until they were ten. The first year there was little difference to be seen. By the time the children were ten, however, those who had been allowed to play when they were five surpassed their schoolmates in every area measured.
One can imagine how startling these results were to the state educators. They considered the results so conclusive that within months they had converted all of the academic programs back into play programs. They also recognized the advantages of mixed-age kindergartens in which, through play, the children help one another to grow and learn.
What is living in the five year olds that makes play such an important aspect of their growth and development? To answer this question, one needs to look at the progression of play throughout early childhood up to the age of six. For the two year old, play consists of doing what the adult does. Fantasy has not yet entered, and if one offers a two year old a cake made of sand, he is very likely to eat it. By the time the children turn three, this is no longer the case, for they are generally full of fantasy and imagination.
This is a time of great fluidity in their play. They are inspired by whatever comes into their hand, and a single object will change its meaning for them several times during a single play session. For the parent this can be a frustrating stage, for the child generally leaves a stream of toys behind him as he moves about. It’s quite hopeless to tell him to put away a thing when he is finished. His play is always in the process of changing and becoming.
In the four year olds, one sees more constancy entering. They will build a house and stay in it for much longer periods of time than will the three year olds. Yet the inspiration for the house comes very much out of what catches their eye in the moment. This is no longer the case with five year olds.
They will often enter the classroom and tell you exactly what they are going to build. They carry an image within themselves, but they still need the physical materials for carrying the image into play. This image may now last for weeks at a time, and thus one will have five year olds in a kindergarten building boats or “hide outs” day after day for a month or more.
Around the age of six, yet another change enters. It is one of the changes which we look for as a sign of readiness for first grade. Now the child’s image is so strong that toys or props are almost unnecessary. One Waldorf teacher described her own transition into this stage as follows. As a young child she loved to play with little toys and would set up scenes on a large window seat and play by the hour.
One day, as she was turning six, she set a scene as usual, but then closed her eyes and played it all in her mind. I have seen six year olds in my kindergarten classes go through this same transition when they build their houses but cease to take any toys into them. They are now able to create everything they need in their mind’s eye, so to speak. It is quite a contrast to four and five year olds, who take as much as they can into their houses, leaving scarcely enough room in which to move.
When such a stage has been reached, one feels the child is ready for studying the academic subjects which demand a capacity to hold an image of a letter or a number and call it up at will. Such a feat of memory is simply not possible for the younger child. He may compensate by developing little aids to jog his memory, but this is not the same as having a true readiness for the activity.
When we interfere with this process of development by starting the children on their academic subjects too soon, the imagination does not seem to develop fully. A certain dryness can enter into the intellectual process, and academic learning becomes less interesting as time goes on. What may first seem to be a gain soon disappears and as the German study indicated, can turn into a liability.
At first, we separated the kindergarteners from the younger children, but after two years we mixed the ages, primarily fours and fives, with a few three year olds, and were happy with the results.
The younger children brought their fluidity into the play situations; the older ones brought their inner direction, and the two complemented one another very well. We also found that each age group came to the stories and activities in quite different ways, and each group took from the experience just what they needed for their development.
In addition, we have worked hard to develop a curriculum consistent with the preschool child’s dreamy, playful approach to life. For example, all the children paint with watercolor paints once a week. They work only with the three primary colors, and the youngest children are content to experience the pure colors in their most flowing form. The four and five year olds become intrigued with the discovery that additional colors can be created by mixing two colors, and the five and six year olds discover that the fluidity of the color on the wet paper can be controlled and forms and pictures begin to emerge. Fingers also learn to translate fantasy into form as the children model with beeswax, create tissue paper transparencies, sew with a needle and thread, or participate in other activities appropriate to their ages.
Baking, whether it involves kneading the dough, rolling and cutting cookies, or cutting fruit for pies, also provides opportunities for the awakening intelligence of the child to penetrate into the fingers. The manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination which result from all these activities are essential for later academic work, yet to the young child this is all play.
It is also very important that language arts skills be developed during the preschool years and our curriculum is very rich in this area. During story time, the children develop listening skills, and as they grow older one sees how actively they listen, for as five and six year olds, they will often go home and repeat the whole fairy tale they have heard to their families. During circle time, they gladly learn songs and verses coupled with appropriate gestures and movements. Recently, I had the opportunity of sharing a fall harvest circle with a group of non-Waldorf preschool educators. They were amazed that a group of three and four year olds could participate in such a lengthy series of songs and verses, yet my class delighted in doing this little circle play over and over during the fall.
Through all such activities, we prepare the children for the academic work they will encounter in the first grade whether they [continue in our school], go to public school or to other private or religious schools. We have stayed in touch with our “graduates,” and we have been gratified to learn how well they have done. They generally experience a transition period of a month or two when they enter first grade, but by Christmas time, the children have mastered the same academic material as their peers and are functioning at their own level.
It is interesting to note that all the published studies which look into the question of early academics show disadvantages for children who begin academic work under the age of six. We have yet to find a study which reveals a long-term advantage to those starting early. More and more books are being published about the problems children encounter when rushed into academic work before true readiness has taken place. This can be a very confusing time for parents who see that their five year olds would like to learn their letters and numbers, and assume that their child is ready for academic work before a true form of academic readiness has actually taken place. In addition, one must contend with a great deal of social pressure from neighbors, friends, and family as to why one does not want to rush one’s child.
Parents should feel free to discuss this question of school readiness with their child’s teacher. It is one of the most crucial questions affecting the lives of young children today.
What are the Needs of Five Year Olds?
by Joan Almon, president of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America
by: Joan Almon / Michelle Mitchell
The quality of the environment of a Waldorf kindergarten is integral to its goals for the children. The feeling of warmth and security is created by using only natural materials: woods, cotton, wool in the construction of the decor and toys. The curtains transmit a warm glow into the room. In this warm environment are placed toys which the children can use to imitate and transform the activities that belong to everyday adult life. In one corner stands a wooden scale and baskets for children to pretend they are grocery shopping; a pile of timber stands ready to be constructed into a playhouse, a boat or a train; a rocking horse invites a child to become a rider; homemade dolls lie in wooden cradles surrounded by wooden frames and cloths the children can use to create a pretend family and play house.
Pinecones and flowers are artistically dispersed; lovely watercolors adorn the walls. The effect of this beautiful arrangement of decorations and toys is a feeling of entering a “children’s garden”, where one can breathe easily, relax and play according to the impulses of one’s heart.
The 3 R’s are reverence, repetition, and rhythm. Structured group activities consist of finger plays, singing, reciting poems, and doing body movements known as eurythmy. Fairy tales are told to the children on successive days for up to two weeks, culminating in the tale as a puppet show offered to the children by the teacher or as a play with costumes acted out by the children with the teacher narrating. Art and crafts consist of water coloring with the three primary colors to impart a true appreciation of the nature of color, modeling with beeswax, drawing with beeswax crayons, finger knitting, and baking.
It has been noted that the fantasy play of children who attend the Waldorf kindergarten changes. Their fantasies are often about being the characters from the fairy tales told to them each week. The children become more respectful of one another, move with greater self-assurance and grace, and are much more open in their creative self-expression. This kind of growth, this kind of unfolding of the imagination and creativity through free play, art, drama, music, oral recitation, and dance are essential to our time.
The importance of child’s play
One of the major changes in public school education in the past fifteen years has been the transformation of the kindergarten room from a “children’s garden” full of toys and play-like activity into a pre-first grade, full of work sheets and learning stations. There has been an assumption that all of this is appropriate for the five year old and will help the child in its academic work and in its growth and development in general. More and more, that assumption is now being challenged.
In his book, The Hurried Child, David Elkind, child psychologist and professor at Tufts University, discusses the problem of stress that he finds in children who come to him for treatment. He points out that, in the great rush to bring children into academic work, we have ceased to ask if children are inwardly ready for such concentrated, intellectually-oriented work.
There is a growing body of research that supports the position of Waldorf schools that children should remain in play-oriented preschool until the age of six. The clearest example of such research which has come to our attention is a major study undertaken in Germany comparing 100 public school classes for five year olds. Fifty of them had only play in their program and the other 50 had academics and play together. The children entered first grade when they were six, and the study surveyed their progress until they were ten. The first year there was little difference to be seen. By the time the children were ten, however, those who had been allowed to play when they were five surpassed their schoolmates in every area measured.
One can imagine how startling these results were to the state educators. They considered the results so conclusive that within months they had converted all of the academic programs back into play programs. They also recognized the advantages of mixed-age kindergartens in which, through play, the children help one another to grow and learn.
What is living in the five year olds that makes play such an important aspect of their growth and development? To answer this question, one needs to look at the progression of play throughout early childhood up to the age of six. For the two year old, play consists of doing what the adult does. Fantasy has not yet entered, and if one offers a two year old a cake made of sand, he is very likely to eat it. By the time the children turn three, this is no longer the case, for they are generally full of fantasy and imagination.
This is a time of great fluidity in their play. They are inspired by whatever comes into their hand, and a single object will change its meaning for them several times during a single play session. For the parent this can be a frustrating stage, for the child generally leaves a stream of toys behind him as he moves about. It’s quite hopeless to tell him to put away a thing when he is finished. His play is always in the process of changing and becoming.
In the four year olds, one sees more constancy entering. They will build a house and stay in it for much longer periods of time than will the three year olds. Yet the inspiration for the house comes very much out of what catches their eye in the moment. This is no longer the case with five year olds.
They will often enter the classroom and tell you exactly what they are going to build. They carry an image within themselves, but they still need the physical materials for carrying the image into play. This image may now last for weeks at a time, and thus one will have five year olds in a kindergarten building boats or “hide outs” day after day for a month or more.
Around the age of six, yet another change enters. It is one of the changes which we look for as a sign of readiness for first grade. Now the child’s image is so strong that toys or props are almost unnecessary. One Waldorf teacher described her own transition into this stage as follows. As a young child she loved to play with little toys and would set up scenes on a large window seat and play by the hour.
One day, as she was turning six, she set a scene as usual, but then closed her eyes and played it all in her mind. I have seen six year olds in my kindergarten classes go through this same transition when they build their houses but cease to take any toys into them. They are now able to create everything they need in their mind’s eye, so to speak. It is quite a contrast to four and five year olds, who take as much as they can into their houses, leaving scarcely enough room in which to move.
When such a stage has been reached, one feels the child is ready for studying the academic subjects which demand a capacity to hold an image of a letter or a number and call it up at will. Such a feat of memory is simply not possible for the younger child. He may compensate by developing little aids to jog his memory, but this is not the same as having a true readiness for the activity.
When we interfere with this process of development by starting the children on their academic subjects too soon, the imagination does not seem to develop fully. A certain dryness can enter into the intellectual process, and academic learning becomes less interesting as time goes on. What may first seem to be a gain soon disappears and as the German study indicated, can turn into a liability.
At first, we separated the kindergarteners from the younger children, but after two years we mixed the ages, primarily fours and fives, with a few three year olds, and were happy with the results.
The younger children brought their fluidity into the play situations; the older ones brought their inner direction, and the two complemented one another very well. We also found that each age group came to the stories and activities in quite different ways, and each group took from the experience just what they needed for their development.
In addition, we have worked hard to develop a curriculum consistent with the preschool child’s dreamy, playful approach to life. For example, all the children paint with watercolor paints once a week. They work only with the three primary colors, and the youngest children are content to experience the pure colors in their most flowing form. The four and five year olds become intrigued with the discovery that additional colors can be created by mixing two colors, and the five and six year olds discover that the fluidity of the color on the wet paper can be controlled and forms and pictures begin to emerge. Fingers also learn to translate fantasy into form as the children model with beeswax, create tissue paper transparencies, sew with a needle and thread, or participate in other activities appropriate to their ages.
Baking, whether it involves kneading the dough, rolling and cutting cookies, or cutting fruit for pies, also provides opportunities for the awakening intelligence of the child to penetrate into the fingers. The manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination which result from all these activities are essential for later academic work, yet to the young child this is all play.
It is also very important that language arts skills be developed during the preschool years and our curriculum is very rich in this area. During story time, the children develop listening skills, and as they grow older one sees how actively they listen, for as five and six year olds, they will often go home and repeat the whole fairy tale they have heard to their families. During circle time, they gladly learn songs and verses coupled with appropriate gestures and movements. Recently, I had the opportunity of sharing a fall harvest circle with a group of non-Waldorf preschool educators. They were amazed that a group of three and four year olds could participate in such a lengthy series of songs and verses, yet my class delighted in doing this little circle play over and over during the fall.
Through all such activities, we prepare the children for the academic work they will encounter in the first grade whether they [continue in our school], go to public school or to other private or religious schools. We have stayed in touch with our “graduates,” and we have been gratified to learn how well they have done. They generally experience a transition period of a month or two when they enter first grade, but by Christmas time, the children have mastered the same academic material as their peers and are functioning at their own level.
It is interesting to note that all the published studies which look into the question of early academics show disadvantages for children who begin academic work under the age of six. We have yet to find a study which reveals a long-term advantage to those starting early. More and more books are being published about the problems children encounter when rushed into academic work before true readiness has taken place. This can be a very confusing time for parents who see that their five year olds would like to learn their letters and numbers, and assume that their child is ready for academic work before a true form of academic readiness has actually taken place. In addition, one must contend with a great deal of social pressure from neighbors, friends, and family as to why one does not want to rush one’s child.
Parents should feel free to discuss this question of school readiness with their child’s teacher. It is one of the most crucial questions affecting the lives of young children today.
What are the Needs of Five Year Olds?
by Joan Almon, president of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America
by: Joan Almon / Michelle Mitchell
Do We Share the Same Taboos? Cultural Influence on Language Choice
Taboos are established in a society to avoid harmful consequences to their people either because the non-verbal or verbal behavior violates a code based on supernatural beliefs or it violates the moral code of the society. According to Adler (1989), taboos are subject to the environment and they are language-specific. This research was held in the United States to examine whether the Chinese and Korean immigrants in a western society share any taboos in (1) non-verbal phonologically-linked taboos, related to death or separation and (2) verbal animal-linked taboos to describe people. The results show that these Chinese and Koreans share only one phonologically-linked taboo – the number “4”, which associates with “death,” and one animal-linked taboo – the “tiger” for a woman, which is used negatively to hot-tempered females.
Introduction
In an intercultural setting, good communication requires not only the linguistic and sociolinguistic knowledge of the host language for interaction but also knowledge of the culture and cultural rules which contribute greatly to the content and the process of meaningful communicative interaction (Saville-Troike, 1989). Most people are motivated to adjust their conversation in expressing attitudes and intentions toward others. Though individual variation may exist, people will basically choose appropriate language as a means of reducing the cultural differences between them. Knowledge of prominent language features of a culture like non-verbal and verbal taboos, seldom discussed in language textbooks or in classrooms as part of cultural instruction, is probably essential to successful communicative interaction (Shen, 1993).
Taboos are subject to the environment. They are language-specific; therefore, they are not universal or timeless (Adler, 1978). In many cases, foreign people realize the existence of the rules associated with taboos only after they have violated them. Those who do not observe these social “rules” might face serious results, such as total embarrassment or, as Saville-Troike (1989) has stated, they may be accused of immorality and face social ostracism or even death.
In this paper, two types of Chinese “possible taboos” are examined in the context of Korean culture and language: (1) Non-verbal phonologically-linked taboos from traditional Chinese society that are associated with the “separation” and “death”. Do Chinese and Koreans share these taboos because similar sounds occur so often in their languages? (2) Verbal zodiac-animal-linked taboos in modern Chinese society. Do Chinese and Koreans share more zodiac-animal-linked taboos than either shares with Americans because of the same customs? Data were collected in two ways: questionnaires and interviews.
What is a Taboo?
The word ‘taboo’ in early contexts was primarily used to evoke a breach of good manners. Today the word evokes either attitudes that are outdated and irrational or topics that were deemed unmentionable in the past but are now being openly discussed (Thody, 1997).
“Taboo” is a borrowed word from Tongan, a Polynesian language. To most people, it refers to “forbidden” or “to be avoided” behaviors, both verbal and non-verbal. A taboo is also an expression of disapproved behaviors in a society. Taboos are established because people believe that such inappropriateness will bring harmful consequences to them either because this non-verbal or verbal behavior violates a code based on supernatural beliefs or it violates the moral code of the society (Wardhaugh, 1992). Once taboos are formed in a country, references to them become taboo, too (Shen, 1993).
We may find that taboos occur in all kinds of environments, from ancient to modern society, and at all levels of civilization. Members of each community are psychologically and physically trained and shaped by the community to observe the “rules” closely. For example, Westerners wear black for a funeral and white for a wedding. But in the ancient Chinese weddings, a white dress was not allowed to be worn because white was for a funeral. Therefore, all individuals involved had to wear black formal costumes. Later, the color changed to red. Now under Western influence, white is the customary formal color for brides and sometimes for bridegrooms, too (Shen, 1993).
Non-Verbal and Verbal Taboos
Non-Verbal Taboos
Some non-verbal taboos may seem funny, but severe punishment might have come to those who failed to observe the rules in an earlier time and today as well. Accidents may also result from taboo non-verbal cues (e.g., an inappropriate gesture). For example, In 1988, in Los Angeles, an entertainer from Thailand was reported to have been convicted of the murder of a young Laotian. The entertainer was singing in an after-hours Thai cabaret when the Laotian, a patron, put his foot on a chair with the sole directed at the entertainer. When the cabaret closed, the entertainer followed the man and shot him. The reason was that among Southeast Asians, showing or directing the sole of the shoe to another person is considered a grievous insult (Axtell, 1991).
An incident also took place in Hong Kong a few years ago because of a hand signal miscommunication. A television station there took an annual picture of all the contracted entertainers before the Chinese New Year. As a joke, famous Kung-fu actor Jackie Chan, who recently played the main actor in the movie “Rush Hour,” held his fist with his middle finger stuck out on top of the head of an actress who stood in front of him. When his photo appeared in the newspapers, the station received dozens of calls from Westerners living in Hong Kong complaining about the indecent gesture. To them, when the middle finger is used, there is only one interpretation – indecency. When Chan applied this gesture, he meant to suggest that his friend had grown horns on her head for fun. Chan refused to apologize because his gesture was not intended to be an insult as the gesture is not considered indecent in Chinese Society
Several times, when my Korean informant talked about classic words or terms used in Korean, I could figure out the exact Chinese counterparts merely from her pronunciation. This is not surprising because the cultural influences of China upon Korea over the centuries have left an indelible mark upon both the written and spoken Korean language. It is possible to trace many aspects of Korean language and culture back to ancient China. But not long ago, when my Korean informant gave me a fan as a gift, I was a little shocked.
To many Chinese people, a fan is a forbidden present because it has the identical sound as “separation.” If a person gives a fan to his or her friend, their friendship will stop or diminish from that time. Therefore, it has become a phonologically linked taboo to give friends a fan in Chinese society. One question is if Korean people also have similar phonologically-linked taboos as the Chinese do. The first part of the questionnaire elicits data to see if there are any similarities between Chinese and Korean people on this point because of the similar sounds.
Verbal taboos
In every language there seem to be certain “unmentionables” – words of such strong affective connotation that they cannot be used in polite discourse. Two verbal taboos are probably universal. The first of these are words that deal with excretion and sex. For example, when a woman needs to go to the toilet because “nature calls,” she will ask people where the “rest room” or “powder room” is, although she has no intention of resting or putting powder on her face. Second, in both Western and Asian cultures the fear of death carries over into fear of the words having to do with death. Many people, therefore, substitute words, such as “died” or “death” with expressions such as “passed away,” “went to his reward” or “departed” (Hayakawa, 1982).
People generally like to hear words that bless one’s good health and long life or metaphors that generate positive descriptions of one’s personality and appearance. However, because of different cultural backgrounds, an expression in one country can cause a quite different effect in another. For example, Chinese people would feel horrified or upset if they were told before a performance to “break a leg,” an English expression used to wish one good luck.
In the study in this paper, Chinese animal-linked taboos are compared with those of Korea because both countries have the same twelve animals (i.e., the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig) as part of the zodiac cycle representing a unit of time. At the same time, these verbal animal-linked taboos are also compared with animal expressions in America to see if there are any significant differences.
Hypotheses
To this day many Chinese people are superstitious to the extent that they will avoid doing anything that they believe can bring bad luck. Chinese non-verbal phonologically linked taboos are products of ancient days. They were generated from an identical sound or group of sounds which represents evil objects, disasters, and other negative occurrences. (Shen, 1993). Since a large portion of Korean vocabulary comes from Chinese culture, especially Confucian classics, my first hypothesis is that Korean people will have most of the phonologically linked taboos that China does.
A special zodiac cycle, consisting of the twelve animals mentioned above, has been shared by Chinese and Korean people for hundreds of years. One animal represents one year, and twelve years is a complete cycle. In ancient Chinese culture, most of these animals were good symbols. They were quite welcomed and respected. Nevertheless, in modern society in China negative connotations are given to some of the animals, which means some of the animals have become verbal taboos in describing a person’s character or appearance.
Koreans, being so historically and geographically related to the Chinese, probably at some time in the past associated the same meanings to the twelve animals as Chinese people did. Furthermore, it seems likely that meanings would have evolved over the years as they have for the Chinese, but not necessarily in the same direction. The second part of the questionnaire is designed to examine if Chinese and Korean people still come to a consensus on which animal-linked vocabulary words are forbidden and which are acceptable to use in reference to a friend. Regarding verbal taboos, my second hypothesis is that Chinese and Koreans will share more animal-linked taboos than either shares with Americans.
Methods
The sample for this study consists of thirty respondents from three countries. Ethnicity was determined through questionnaires in which respondents provided their own label for their background. In all, there were ten Chinese people (seven from Taiwan, one from Mainland China, one from Hong Kong and one from the US), ten Koreans (from South Korea) and ten Americans (three German-Americans, one Italian-American, one African-American, and five Anglo-Americans). Among the ten Chinese people, aged from 25 – 38, are two males and eight females. Among the ten Koreans, aged from 28 - 40, are six males and four females. Among the ten Americans, aged from 27 – 50’s, are four males and six females.
Data collection
Data were collected in two ways: informal interviews and the questionnaire. The questionnaire was culturally determined. To focus on the characteristics of Chinese taboos, questions fell into two categories: (1) non-verbal phonologically linked examples of inappropriate usage, such as homonyms or expressions forbidden to certain groups within Chinese culture; (2) verbal animal-linked metaphors and inappropriate language choices from the Chinese and Korean zodiac.
In the questionnaire, Questions one through six are non-verbal phonologically linked taboos that Chinese people have been aware of for hundreds of years. In Questions 7 through 19 are designed to elicit what animal-linked vocabulary words would be verbal taboos among the Chinese, Korean, and American peoples.
Results and Discussion
Non-verbal phonologically-linked taboos
Because Chinese people yearn to reach or be close to a state of “being blessed” and to stay away from “evil” or “bad luck” as much as possible, they create taboo situations. The phonological parts of taboos mentioned in the first six questions in the Questionnaire are examples of evil-related things: death and separation; thus, they became representative of the Chinese taboo system. Some examples follows:
(1) Chinese: The fan (? shan) and the umbrella (? san) have very similar sounds to the word “? san”, which means “separation”. Korean: The fan (? son) and the umbrella (? san) do not sound similar to the word “? zhok”, which means “separation”. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 1: It is appropriate to give a female friend a fan as a gift.
Question 2: It is appropriate to give a friend an umbrella as a gift.
The Chinese word ? (shan) is a term meaning “to break up, to dismiss, to dissolve.” It is a “forbidden” word among Chinese performers because their professional survival depends on a continuous succession of contracts; therefore, for them, the very notion of “breaking up” infers the destruction of their career. This tradition is carried to the extent of preventing a performer not only from voicing this particular word, but even from mentioning any term that includes the same sounds, such as “? shan” which means fan, or “? san” which means umbrella. Therefore, 50 or less had no objection to such a gift. The reason was that a beautifully painted fan can decorate the wall and an umbrella is very useful in our daily life. It is also interesting to note that, in ancient China, a fan could be given as a parting present in the hope that the traveler could use it to keep himself cool.
But 90 of the Chinese respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with giving a friend a clock as a gift. The ones who agreed said they would only give it to a person their age.
One hundred percent of Koreans and Americans all agreed or agreed strongly with giving a clock to a friend. To Korean people, a clock is a traditional and popular gift for a friend when he or she starts a business. The Korean sound for “giving a clock” is “song zhong,” and the sound for “biding farewell to a dying person on his or her deathbed” is “song young.” They sound quite different. To Americans, clocks or watches make lovely gifts and they are long lasting. Certain brands and styles would be more acceptable. One American responded that the fancier, the more appropriate.
(3) Chinese: “Turning over (? fan) a fish ” can be a forbidden action on a boat to avoid the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean. Korean: “Turning over (? zhokban) a fish” is not a forbidden action on a boat to avoid bad luck. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 4: If eating fish on a boat, it is appropriate to turn the fish over after one finishes eating the meat on the top side.
Fifty percent of the Chinese respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with doing it. In Southern China, seamen’s families generally avoid voicing “? fan” (a Chinese sound for “turn over”). They associate the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean with the action word for the concept. If fearing what one says might bring the unwanted consequence into reality, the taboo situation is established. To these families, it is also a taboo behavior to turn a fish topside down after one finishes the meat on that side. They envision the fish as the ship that carries their loved ones, so turning the fish over on the dish would symbolize that the ship has capsized in the ocean.
Ninety percent of the Koreans agreed with the action because they thought it would be a way to finish a fish neatly or to see if there is more to eat. They do not associate the sound for “turn over” with the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean through the action word for that concept. Eighty percent of the Americans agreed because they thought it makes sense and would probably be easier that way, especially if the fish has a lot of bones in the middle. The rest who disagreed (20 of the Chinese and 90 of the respondents agreed. Only the number “13” is considered bad luck in American culture. Therefore, a Chinese or Korean patient would react far more strongly to being assigned to a room or a floor in a hospital with the number four than would an American patient assigned to a “Room 13” or “floor 13.” This is the only phonologically-linked taboo that I found shared by these two countries.
(5) Chinese: “Cutting a pear in two halves” (?? feng li) can be another forbidden action among Chinese because it sounds exactly like ?? (feng li), which means “separation”. Korean: “Cutting a pear in two halves” (?? bun yi) does not sound like ?? (bul li), which means “separation”. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 6: It is appropriate to cut a pear in two halves and share it with a friend.
In one Chinese opera, a fruit merchant claims that his pears will make a marriage happy. But lovers should never cut up or divide pears since the word for “pear” (li) is phonologically identical with the word for “separation” (? li). For the same reasons, relatives or friends will avoid dividing pears among themselves. Therefore, at the end of twentieth century, 50 of the Koreans agreed or agreed strongly. They and the American respondents thought there was no problem with this action and that it would be seen as a gesture of friendship and generosity. Sharing is considered a good thing as it shows that one cares for another. Cutting a pear is the same as cutting any other fruit.
Verbal animal-linked taboos
As mentioned above, Chinese and Koreans have the same twelve animals (i.e., the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig) in the zodiac cycle to represent a unit of time. They are used to convey positive values in both cultures.
Since Asian people have become more and more westernized in the last twenty years, some animal-linked vocabulary words in modern Chinese society have different connotations from what they did in old Chinese culture. These animals were compared among the Chinese, Koreans and American respondents to find if there are significant differences between the East and the West. Which are verbal taboos and which are not? Data were collected in two ways: the questionnaire and interviews.
(1) The rat
The rat is the first creature in the old Chinese zodiac. It was associated with money; when you hear a rat scrabbling around for food at night, it is said to be “counting money”. The term “money-rat” is a disparaging way of referring to a miser. In some old legends, rats can turn into demons, male usually, in contrast with the fox that turns into a female demon.
Question 7: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a rat.
Fifty percent of the Chinese respondents agreed that it is fine to say to a person’s face that he or she is like a rat, but they claim that it must depend on the tone of voice, the hearer’s age, and the context. The other 50 of them disagreed or disagreed strongly. To them, bulls are stubborn and might mean the person is aggressive. Likewise, cows are fat and sloppy.
(3) The tiger
The tiger is the third sign in the Chinese zodiac. The tiger is a symbol of courage and bravery. Nevertheless, the tiger was so much feared that its very name was taboo, and people referred to it as ?? da chong, meaning “big insect” or “king of the mountains”.
Question 9: It is appropriate to say to a man’s face that he acts like a tiger.
Question 10: It is appropriate to say to a woman’s face that she acts like a tiger.
On Question 9, 80 of the Chinese disagreed with describing a woman as a tiger because it is over exaggerating. Forty percent of them agreed with using it negatively for a woman if she is really hot-tempered.
On Question 9, 50 of them disagreed with using “tiger” to describe a woman even if she were disgraceful or very hot-tempered.
Ninety percent of the Americans agreed or agreed strongly with using it for a man as it implies strong, clever, fast, assertive, initiative, successful, or sexually powerful. It can also be an encouragement to kids as in “Go get’em, tiger.” At the same time, about 80 of the Chinese agreed because the rabbit is a cute animal. They are smart and fast. Twenty percent disagreed because the rabbit is too timid and too dependent.
Fifty percent of the Koreans who agreed also think the rabbit is cute, so it is appropriate to describe a person as a rabbit. The other 50 disagreed as it indicates small, weak, and timid, not very intelligent, or it could be an insult to mean the person has had too many children.
(5) The dragon
The dragon is the fifth creature in the Chinese zodiac. It is one of China’s most complex and multi-tiered symbols. It is said that, like a magic animal, it could fill the space between heaven and earth.
Question 12: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a dragon.
Sixty percent of the Chinese respondents agreed but they did not know why and 40 who agreed strongly think the snake implies a person’s being double-faced/tongued.
(7) The horse
The horse is the seventh creature in the Chinese zodiac. In Old Chinese, there were many words denoting the different sizes and colors of the horse. The fact that these words have all died out is an indicator of the declining role of the horse in recent history. In old texts, horses stood for success, speed, and loyalty.
Question 14: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a horse.
Sixty percent of the Chinese agreed if it implies hard work without a rest. Forty percent disagreed because the horse has a very long face. When the Chinese say to a person “the horse does not know its long face,” it means that the person does not know his or her own shortcomings.
One hundred percent of the Korean disagreed or disagreed strongly with describing a person as a horse. They all think it implies that a person’s face is exceedingly long, so it is an insult.
Fifty percent of the Americans agreed if it is a compliment to say that the person works hard as in a “workhorse” or he is “strong as a horse”. It can also mean someone who runs fast. In addition, terms like “stallion” and “stud” used for men are usually considered complimentary. The horse is often used in “You eat like a horse” to imply a healthy or big appetite, or “Stop horsing around” to imply “stop wasting time.” Fifty percent disagreed because a horse might be used to mean a big and ugly woman.
(8) The sheep/lamb
The sheep is the eighth creature in the Chinese zodiac. It is the emblem of filial piety as it kneels when suckling its mother. Sheep were, on the whole, less important than the ox and horse in China.
Question 15: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a lamb.
Ninety percent of the Chinese agreed because the lamb is a friendly, nice-tempered, soft animal. But it is also used to describe someone being shy and timid because they lack confidence and follow orders completely.
Forty percent of the Koreans who agreed think the lamb is pretty, pure, naïve, and innocent, so it is appropriate to describe a person as a lamb. The other 60 who disagreed think it is not appropriate to use it to an adult. It means he/she is too active.
Only 10 of them agreed with using it in certain contexts. For the other eleven zodiac animals, more than 50 of them disagreed with using the rat, the bull/cow, the snake, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig to anyone. And other terms like the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the horse, and the lamb can also have bad connotations in certain situations. In order to interact with people of a different culture appropriately, one needs to adjust his/her language to others’ cultural rules for meaningful communication. Most people believe that human beings are above every other living creature in the world because human beings can be educated, cultivated, and have the ability to tell right from wrong and good from evil. To avoid cultural misunderstandings, not to choose any of the animal-linked metaphors for people is highly recommended.
by: Man-Ping Chu
Introduction
In an intercultural setting, good communication requires not only the linguistic and sociolinguistic knowledge of the host language for interaction but also knowledge of the culture and cultural rules which contribute greatly to the content and the process of meaningful communicative interaction (Saville-Troike, 1989). Most people are motivated to adjust their conversation in expressing attitudes and intentions toward others. Though individual variation may exist, people will basically choose appropriate language as a means of reducing the cultural differences between them. Knowledge of prominent language features of a culture like non-verbal and verbal taboos, seldom discussed in language textbooks or in classrooms as part of cultural instruction, is probably essential to successful communicative interaction (Shen, 1993).
Taboos are subject to the environment. They are language-specific; therefore, they are not universal or timeless (Adler, 1978). In many cases, foreign people realize the existence of the rules associated with taboos only after they have violated them. Those who do not observe these social “rules” might face serious results, such as total embarrassment or, as Saville-Troike (1989) has stated, they may be accused of immorality and face social ostracism or even death.
In this paper, two types of Chinese “possible taboos” are examined in the context of Korean culture and language: (1) Non-verbal phonologically-linked taboos from traditional Chinese society that are associated with the “separation” and “death”. Do Chinese and Koreans share these taboos because similar sounds occur so often in their languages? (2) Verbal zodiac-animal-linked taboos in modern Chinese society. Do Chinese and Koreans share more zodiac-animal-linked taboos than either shares with Americans because of the same customs? Data were collected in two ways: questionnaires and interviews.
What is a Taboo?
The word ‘taboo’ in early contexts was primarily used to evoke a breach of good manners. Today the word evokes either attitudes that are outdated and irrational or topics that were deemed unmentionable in the past but are now being openly discussed (Thody, 1997).
“Taboo” is a borrowed word from Tongan, a Polynesian language. To most people, it refers to “forbidden” or “to be avoided” behaviors, both verbal and non-verbal. A taboo is also an expression of disapproved behaviors in a society. Taboos are established because people believe that such inappropriateness will bring harmful consequences to them either because this non-verbal or verbal behavior violates a code based on supernatural beliefs or it violates the moral code of the society (Wardhaugh, 1992). Once taboos are formed in a country, references to them become taboo, too (Shen, 1993).
We may find that taboos occur in all kinds of environments, from ancient to modern society, and at all levels of civilization. Members of each community are psychologically and physically trained and shaped by the community to observe the “rules” closely. For example, Westerners wear black for a funeral and white for a wedding. But in the ancient Chinese weddings, a white dress was not allowed to be worn because white was for a funeral. Therefore, all individuals involved had to wear black formal costumes. Later, the color changed to red. Now under Western influence, white is the customary formal color for brides and sometimes for bridegrooms, too (Shen, 1993).
Non-Verbal and Verbal Taboos
Non-Verbal Taboos
Some non-verbal taboos may seem funny, but severe punishment might have come to those who failed to observe the rules in an earlier time and today as well. Accidents may also result from taboo non-verbal cues (e.g., an inappropriate gesture). For example, In 1988, in Los Angeles, an entertainer from Thailand was reported to have been convicted of the murder of a young Laotian. The entertainer was singing in an after-hours Thai cabaret when the Laotian, a patron, put his foot on a chair with the sole directed at the entertainer. When the cabaret closed, the entertainer followed the man and shot him. The reason was that among Southeast Asians, showing or directing the sole of the shoe to another person is considered a grievous insult (Axtell, 1991).
An incident also took place in Hong Kong a few years ago because of a hand signal miscommunication. A television station there took an annual picture of all the contracted entertainers before the Chinese New Year. As a joke, famous Kung-fu actor Jackie Chan, who recently played the main actor in the movie “Rush Hour,” held his fist with his middle finger stuck out on top of the head of an actress who stood in front of him. When his photo appeared in the newspapers, the station received dozens of calls from Westerners living in Hong Kong complaining about the indecent gesture. To them, when the middle finger is used, there is only one interpretation – indecency. When Chan applied this gesture, he meant to suggest that his friend had grown horns on her head for fun. Chan refused to apologize because his gesture was not intended to be an insult as the gesture is not considered indecent in Chinese Society
Several times, when my Korean informant talked about classic words or terms used in Korean, I could figure out the exact Chinese counterparts merely from her pronunciation. This is not surprising because the cultural influences of China upon Korea over the centuries have left an indelible mark upon both the written and spoken Korean language. It is possible to trace many aspects of Korean language and culture back to ancient China. But not long ago, when my Korean informant gave me a fan as a gift, I was a little shocked.
To many Chinese people, a fan is a forbidden present because it has the identical sound as “separation.” If a person gives a fan to his or her friend, their friendship will stop or diminish from that time. Therefore, it has become a phonologically linked taboo to give friends a fan in Chinese society. One question is if Korean people also have similar phonologically-linked taboos as the Chinese do. The first part of the questionnaire elicits data to see if there are any similarities between Chinese and Korean people on this point because of the similar sounds.
Verbal taboos
In every language there seem to be certain “unmentionables” – words of such strong affective connotation that they cannot be used in polite discourse. Two verbal taboos are probably universal. The first of these are words that deal with excretion and sex. For example, when a woman needs to go to the toilet because “nature calls,” she will ask people where the “rest room” or “powder room” is, although she has no intention of resting or putting powder on her face. Second, in both Western and Asian cultures the fear of death carries over into fear of the words having to do with death. Many people, therefore, substitute words, such as “died” or “death” with expressions such as “passed away,” “went to his reward” or “departed” (Hayakawa, 1982).
People generally like to hear words that bless one’s good health and long life or metaphors that generate positive descriptions of one’s personality and appearance. However, because of different cultural backgrounds, an expression in one country can cause a quite different effect in another. For example, Chinese people would feel horrified or upset if they were told before a performance to “break a leg,” an English expression used to wish one good luck.
In the study in this paper, Chinese animal-linked taboos are compared with those of Korea because both countries have the same twelve animals (i.e., the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig) as part of the zodiac cycle representing a unit of time. At the same time, these verbal animal-linked taboos are also compared with animal expressions in America to see if there are any significant differences.
Hypotheses
To this day many Chinese people are superstitious to the extent that they will avoid doing anything that they believe can bring bad luck. Chinese non-verbal phonologically linked taboos are products of ancient days. They were generated from an identical sound or group of sounds which represents evil objects, disasters, and other negative occurrences. (Shen, 1993). Since a large portion of Korean vocabulary comes from Chinese culture, especially Confucian classics, my first hypothesis is that Korean people will have most of the phonologically linked taboos that China does.
A special zodiac cycle, consisting of the twelve animals mentioned above, has been shared by Chinese and Korean people for hundreds of years. One animal represents one year, and twelve years is a complete cycle. In ancient Chinese culture, most of these animals were good symbols. They were quite welcomed and respected. Nevertheless, in modern society in China negative connotations are given to some of the animals, which means some of the animals have become verbal taboos in describing a person’s character or appearance.
Koreans, being so historically and geographically related to the Chinese, probably at some time in the past associated the same meanings to the twelve animals as Chinese people did. Furthermore, it seems likely that meanings would have evolved over the years as they have for the Chinese, but not necessarily in the same direction. The second part of the questionnaire is designed to examine if Chinese and Korean people still come to a consensus on which animal-linked vocabulary words are forbidden and which are acceptable to use in reference to a friend. Regarding verbal taboos, my second hypothesis is that Chinese and Koreans will share more animal-linked taboos than either shares with Americans.
Methods
The sample for this study consists of thirty respondents from three countries. Ethnicity was determined through questionnaires in which respondents provided their own label for their background. In all, there were ten Chinese people (seven from Taiwan, one from Mainland China, one from Hong Kong and one from the US), ten Koreans (from South Korea) and ten Americans (three German-Americans, one Italian-American, one African-American, and five Anglo-Americans). Among the ten Chinese people, aged from 25 – 38, are two males and eight females. Among the ten Koreans, aged from 28 - 40, are six males and four females. Among the ten Americans, aged from 27 – 50’s, are four males and six females.
Data collection
Data were collected in two ways: informal interviews and the questionnaire. The questionnaire was culturally determined. To focus on the characteristics of Chinese taboos, questions fell into two categories: (1) non-verbal phonologically linked examples of inappropriate usage, such as homonyms or expressions forbidden to certain groups within Chinese culture; (2) verbal animal-linked metaphors and inappropriate language choices from the Chinese and Korean zodiac.
In the questionnaire, Questions one through six are non-verbal phonologically linked taboos that Chinese people have been aware of for hundreds of years. In Questions 7 through 19 are designed to elicit what animal-linked vocabulary words would be verbal taboos among the Chinese, Korean, and American peoples.
Results and Discussion
Non-verbal phonologically-linked taboos
Because Chinese people yearn to reach or be close to a state of “being blessed” and to stay away from “evil” or “bad luck” as much as possible, they create taboo situations. The phonological parts of taboos mentioned in the first six questions in the Questionnaire are examples of evil-related things: death and separation; thus, they became representative of the Chinese taboo system. Some examples follows:
(1) Chinese: The fan (? shan) and the umbrella (? san) have very similar sounds to the word “? san”, which means “separation”. Korean: The fan (? son) and the umbrella (? san) do not sound similar to the word “? zhok”, which means “separation”. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 1: It is appropriate to give a female friend a fan as a gift.
Question 2: It is appropriate to give a friend an umbrella as a gift.
The Chinese word ? (shan) is a term meaning “to break up, to dismiss, to dissolve.” It is a “forbidden” word among Chinese performers because their professional survival depends on a continuous succession of contracts; therefore, for them, the very notion of “breaking up” infers the destruction of their career. This tradition is carried to the extent of preventing a performer not only from voicing this particular word, but even from mentioning any term that includes the same sounds, such as “? shan” which means fan, or “? san” which means umbrella. Therefore, 50 or less had no objection to such a gift. The reason was that a beautifully painted fan can decorate the wall and an umbrella is very useful in our daily life. It is also interesting to note that, in ancient China, a fan could be given as a parting present in the hope that the traveler could use it to keep himself cool.
But 90 of the Chinese respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with giving a friend a clock as a gift. The ones who agreed said they would only give it to a person their age.
One hundred percent of Koreans and Americans all agreed or agreed strongly with giving a clock to a friend. To Korean people, a clock is a traditional and popular gift for a friend when he or she starts a business. The Korean sound for “giving a clock” is “song zhong,” and the sound for “biding farewell to a dying person on his or her deathbed” is “song young.” They sound quite different. To Americans, clocks or watches make lovely gifts and they are long lasting. Certain brands and styles would be more acceptable. One American responded that the fancier, the more appropriate.
(3) Chinese: “Turning over (? fan) a fish ” can be a forbidden action on a boat to avoid the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean. Korean: “Turning over (? zhokban) a fish” is not a forbidden action on a boat to avoid bad luck. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 4: If eating fish on a boat, it is appropriate to turn the fish over after one finishes eating the meat on the top side.
Fifty percent of the Chinese respondents disagreed or disagreed strongly with doing it. In Southern China, seamen’s families generally avoid voicing “? fan” (a Chinese sound for “turn over”). They associate the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean with the action word for the concept. If fearing what one says might bring the unwanted consequence into reality, the taboo situation is established. To these families, it is also a taboo behavior to turn a fish topside down after one finishes the meat on that side. They envision the fish as the ship that carries their loved ones, so turning the fish over on the dish would symbolize that the ship has capsized in the ocean.
Ninety percent of the Koreans agreed with the action because they thought it would be a way to finish a fish neatly or to see if there is more to eat. They do not associate the sound for “turn over” with the disastrous outcome of a ship being overturned in the ocean through the action word for that concept. Eighty percent of the Americans agreed because they thought it makes sense and would probably be easier that way, especially if the fish has a lot of bones in the middle. The rest who disagreed (20 of the Chinese and 90 of the respondents agreed. Only the number “13” is considered bad luck in American culture. Therefore, a Chinese or Korean patient would react far more strongly to being assigned to a room or a floor in a hospital with the number four than would an American patient assigned to a “Room 13” or “floor 13.” This is the only phonologically-linked taboo that I found shared by these two countries.
(5) Chinese: “Cutting a pear in two halves” (?? feng li) can be another forbidden action among Chinese because it sounds exactly like ?? (feng li), which means “separation”. Korean: “Cutting a pear in two halves” (?? bun yi) does not sound like ?? (bul li), which means “separation”. Therefore, the Chinese and Koreans did not share this taboo.
Question 6: It is appropriate to cut a pear in two halves and share it with a friend.
In one Chinese opera, a fruit merchant claims that his pears will make a marriage happy. But lovers should never cut up or divide pears since the word for “pear” (li) is phonologically identical with the word for “separation” (? li). For the same reasons, relatives or friends will avoid dividing pears among themselves. Therefore, at the end of twentieth century, 50 of the Koreans agreed or agreed strongly. They and the American respondents thought there was no problem with this action and that it would be seen as a gesture of friendship and generosity. Sharing is considered a good thing as it shows that one cares for another. Cutting a pear is the same as cutting any other fruit.
Verbal animal-linked taboos
As mentioned above, Chinese and Koreans have the same twelve animals (i.e., the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig) in the zodiac cycle to represent a unit of time. They are used to convey positive values in both cultures.
Since Asian people have become more and more westernized in the last twenty years, some animal-linked vocabulary words in modern Chinese society have different connotations from what they did in old Chinese culture. These animals were compared among the Chinese, Koreans and American respondents to find if there are significant differences between the East and the West. Which are verbal taboos and which are not? Data were collected in two ways: the questionnaire and interviews.
(1) The rat
The rat is the first creature in the old Chinese zodiac. It was associated with money; when you hear a rat scrabbling around for food at night, it is said to be “counting money”. The term “money-rat” is a disparaging way of referring to a miser. In some old legends, rats can turn into demons, male usually, in contrast with the fox that turns into a female demon.
Question 7: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a rat.
Fifty percent of the Chinese respondents agreed that it is fine to say to a person’s face that he or she is like a rat, but they claim that it must depend on the tone of voice, the hearer’s age, and the context. The other 50 of them disagreed or disagreed strongly. To them, bulls are stubborn and might mean the person is aggressive. Likewise, cows are fat and sloppy.
(3) The tiger
The tiger is the third sign in the Chinese zodiac. The tiger is a symbol of courage and bravery. Nevertheless, the tiger was so much feared that its very name was taboo, and people referred to it as ?? da chong, meaning “big insect” or “king of the mountains”.
Question 9: It is appropriate to say to a man’s face that he acts like a tiger.
Question 10: It is appropriate to say to a woman’s face that she acts like a tiger.
On Question 9, 80 of the Chinese disagreed with describing a woman as a tiger because it is over exaggerating. Forty percent of them agreed with using it negatively for a woman if she is really hot-tempered.
On Question 9, 50 of them disagreed with using “tiger” to describe a woman even if she were disgraceful or very hot-tempered.
Ninety percent of the Americans agreed or agreed strongly with using it for a man as it implies strong, clever, fast, assertive, initiative, successful, or sexually powerful. It can also be an encouragement to kids as in “Go get’em, tiger.” At the same time, about 80 of the Chinese agreed because the rabbit is a cute animal. They are smart and fast. Twenty percent disagreed because the rabbit is too timid and too dependent.
Fifty percent of the Koreans who agreed also think the rabbit is cute, so it is appropriate to describe a person as a rabbit. The other 50 disagreed as it indicates small, weak, and timid, not very intelligent, or it could be an insult to mean the person has had too many children.
(5) The dragon
The dragon is the fifth creature in the Chinese zodiac. It is one of China’s most complex and multi-tiered symbols. It is said that, like a magic animal, it could fill the space between heaven and earth.
Question 12: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a dragon.
Sixty percent of the Chinese respondents agreed but they did not know why and 40 who agreed strongly think the snake implies a person’s being double-faced/tongued.
(7) The horse
The horse is the seventh creature in the Chinese zodiac. In Old Chinese, there were many words denoting the different sizes and colors of the horse. The fact that these words have all died out is an indicator of the declining role of the horse in recent history. In old texts, horses stood for success, speed, and loyalty.
Question 14: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a horse.
Sixty percent of the Chinese agreed if it implies hard work without a rest. Forty percent disagreed because the horse has a very long face. When the Chinese say to a person “the horse does not know its long face,” it means that the person does not know his or her own shortcomings.
One hundred percent of the Korean disagreed or disagreed strongly with describing a person as a horse. They all think it implies that a person’s face is exceedingly long, so it is an insult.
Fifty percent of the Americans agreed if it is a compliment to say that the person works hard as in a “workhorse” or he is “strong as a horse”. It can also mean someone who runs fast. In addition, terms like “stallion” and “stud” used for men are usually considered complimentary. The horse is often used in “You eat like a horse” to imply a healthy or big appetite, or “Stop horsing around” to imply “stop wasting time.” Fifty percent disagreed because a horse might be used to mean a big and ugly woman.
(8) The sheep/lamb
The sheep is the eighth creature in the Chinese zodiac. It is the emblem of filial piety as it kneels when suckling its mother. Sheep were, on the whole, less important than the ox and horse in China.
Question 15: It is appropriate to say to a person’s face that he/she is like a lamb.
Ninety percent of the Chinese agreed because the lamb is a friendly, nice-tempered, soft animal. But it is also used to describe someone being shy and timid because they lack confidence and follow orders completely.
Forty percent of the Koreans who agreed think the lamb is pretty, pure, naïve, and innocent, so it is appropriate to describe a person as a lamb. The other 60 who disagreed think it is not appropriate to use it to an adult. It means he/she is too active.
Only 10 of them agreed with using it in certain contexts. For the other eleven zodiac animals, more than 50 of them disagreed with using the rat, the bull/cow, the snake, the monkey, the chicken, the dog, and the pig to anyone. And other terms like the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the horse, and the lamb can also have bad connotations in certain situations. In order to interact with people of a different culture appropriately, one needs to adjust his/her language to others’ cultural rules for meaningful communication. Most people believe that human beings are above every other living creature in the world because human beings can be educated, cultivated, and have the ability to tell right from wrong and good from evil. To avoid cultural misunderstandings, not to choose any of the animal-linked metaphors for people is highly recommended.
by: Man-Ping Chu
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