When Ying Taiwan

1)      撿拾路上物品 在民俗信仰中，這些路上的物品可能是別人想轉運而放置；這運勢會因撿拾而轉嫁到動貪念之人身上。在這社會中也有一種近年較少見的儀式：冥婚，這儀式便是從撿拾路上物品開始。我認為這禁忌的根本是希望世人皆不貪，讓失主能找回自己遺失的物品，是種體恤他人的心。 Picking up lost objects It is traditionally believed that the unattended objects are a conduit for transferring karmas. Anyone who takes the objects will inherit the karma. Although it is rarely performed nowadays, it can also be the beginning of a marriage - a marriage to the perished. I believe the taboo rooted in empathy for others. We want people to leave those things alone so the owners can find them at those places if they trace back their steps. 2)      贈送時鐘 在中文裡這是很不吉祥的一件事，因為發音相近於送終，會被視為詛咒他人早逝。有些人會將錶也歸於此類，也可能因此不小心得罪人，所以比較不建議以鐘錶類作為禮品。 Giving clock as a gift In Mandarin, this is rather inauspicious. For the pronunciation of the action is similar to that of attending someone’s burial service. It is considered as cursing someone to his early grave. Some people may also file watch under ...

農曆七月的諸多禁忌來由究竟為何 ? 這有諸多說法，多數故事指出這項習俗源於佛教，但也有部分故事認為這些禁忌源於古代君王。「寧可信其有，不可信其無。」因此不論這些習俗由何而來，至今它們仍是現代人在農曆七月中所遵守的規則。         Where do we get all these taboos of the seventh month of the Lunar Calendar? There are many theories, most of the stories point towards Buddhism, while others suggest they originated from ancient monarchs. It is better to believe it to be true than not. Therefore, no matter the origins we still abide by these regulations during the seventh month. 普遍的規則         農曆七月多數老一輩的人會說此時諸事不宜：不移居、不出遊、不嫁娶、不安排手術等等的禁忌。在七月初一的子時後，鬼門便會開啟整整一個月。在這一個月中來自冥界的居民可以在這世上自由來去，不受限制；因此人們在這一個月中便會盡量迴避。          不過在七月二十九日便會因鬼門關而回歸正常，從現代觀點來看這些習俗，或許迷信，但主要還是因為夏日天氣炎熱，希望孩子們多注意自身以及他人安全而來。 General Rule of Thumb         The elders would tell the youth this month is not good for anything. Migrating, traveling, wedding, operating, and many more things are tabooe...

Starting from this post I will be blogging in both Mandarin and English as frequent as possible, turning this blog a bilingual one. 猜猜看這個奇特的紅色鐵桶是什麼? 我們拿它來做什麼? Guess what this peculiar red can is? What we do with it? 如果你答這是一個金爐那麼恭喜你，你答對了！ 我們將它用於焚燒紙錢或稱為金紙，紙錢是又什麼呢？ 相傳蔡倫造紙因多次試驗失敗，欲將失敗的成品銷毀又不想他人知曉，於是乎假借家人染上惡疾之名，創千百年來焚燒紙錢祈福之濫觴。 If you say this is a papier-mâché incinerator, congratulations, you're correct. We use it to burn papier-mâché or so-called ghost money.  Legend has it, this practice began with Cai-Lun, for his failures on improving the making of paper. He would like those failed attempts to be destroyed, but he did not want the others to know about the experiments. Therefore, he pretended that one of his family had an incurable ailment, only through burning the papier-mâché one shall regain her health. Thus, it began the century-old tradition of burning the papier-mâché as offerings. 近來有許多文章表示此一說法相當不正確並舉例駁斥之，但這傳說不也為這充滿東方色彩的儀式增添不少趣味嗎?學者們認為此儀式是為防盜墓衍...

Qū Yuán (屈原） was an actual person. He was in the court of the Chu state（楚國）. However, he was not being valued by the head of the state.  He was sent to exile a number of times.  The head of the state would not care for his citizens that had been Qū Yuán's worry. Legend has it, on May 5th, disheartened as he was he decided he would not want to see the downfall of his beloved country. At the bank of Miluo River, he said his good-bye to his country and leaped into the river. The news of the death of Qū Yuán (屈原） shocked the nearby villages. The villagers were afraid that the fish and the dragon in the river would feed on his remains. They quickly put together teams of cook to assemble food wrap inside leaves. Teams of boats to dunk the wrapped food into the river. Ever since then, in honor of Qū Yuán(屈原）who died on the fifth day of May, we have food wrapped in leaves which are called zongzi and dragon boat race on May 5th of the lunar calendar. Coming up next is the ...

Dunāwǔ Jié, or in my native tongue- Taiwanese, this particular day is called Gōo-lit-tseh because it is held on May 5th of the lunar calendar. Gōo-lit means the fifth day. It is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival to the West. Dragon Boat Festival According to Wikipedia, around this time of the year is when the weather gets unbearably hot and all the vermin are the most active. Therefore, we carry out the rituals to keep all the bugs away. There are many legends of why we have certain rituals on Dunāwǔ Jié. I will be sharing two of the most well-known ones - the legend of Qū Yuán and the legend of the White Serpent with you.

Taiwan a beautiful Asian island situated on the Pacific Ocean - east of China, north of the Philippines, and south of Japan. During the late16th century, people named her Formosa - meaning beautiful. Though there are no written records, we often accredited the Portuguese for the name. Nonetheless, she really deserves this name. Pic: Gonçalo Cruz Taiwan was nominated for the friendliest country in the world. As someone who grew up on the island I might be biased, but from my own experience, most people are genuinely kind and loving. We are just ordinary people. We are no different from anybody else. We act just like most people. We do have flaws. Therefore, you may still see some people that might not fall into the category of friendly. Mandarin is our common language. Our native languages are rather diverse. I, myself, speak both Mandarin and Taiwanese. English is taught in schools. We might not be fluent in English, but a lot of people understand English. If you can...

Packing for a Winter or Spring (November to May) trip to Taiwan is much the same as packing for summer. Check out my last blog on how to pack and what to expect . But there are still a few things to keep in mind. Though some of the public indoor spaces may have heating systems, but most of the places aren't.  This would be tricky if you're packing. How much should you pack would depend on which parts of the island you're going to visit. For Northern parts of the island (that is Yilan and north of Taichung) Expect it to rain or, at least, drizzle. For hotels, most of them have heating systems. Hostels and bed and breakfast, on the other hand, might depend on the owner. It is, after all, a subtropical island. Therefore, sweaters, turtlenecks, or hoodies may be a good idea to pack for this time of the year.  It can be windy, so coats might come in handy. If the weather reports say it would be 10 to 12 Celsius out (that would be 50 -53 Fahrenheit), gloves and scar...