Learn about superstitions related to low lighting in a residence, and wearing red in a zodiac recurrent year
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hello and welcome to Culture Class: Chinese Superstitions and Beliefs, Lesson 5 - Low Lighting and Wearing Red in a Zodiac Recurrent Year. I'm Eric and I'm joined by Dehua. |
| Dehua: 你好! (nǐhǎo!), I'm Dehua. |
| THE TWO SUPERSTITIONS |
| Eric: In this lesson we’ll talk about two common superstitions in China. The first superstition is about bad luck. What’s it called in Chinese? |
| Dehua: 住所光线暗, (zhùsuǒ guāngxiàn àn). |
| Eric: Which literally means "low lighting in residence." Dehua, can you repeat the Chinese phrase again? |
| Dehua: [slow] 住所光线暗 [normal] 住所光线暗 |
| Eric: In China, it's believed that having low lighting in your house is bad. |
| Dehua: This is related to the concepts of Yin and Yang. |
| Eric: Darkness is related to Yin, which is negative, while Yang is positive. |
| Dehua: So, when buying a house, Chinese people avoid choosing a house with little or no light. |
| Eric: So choose a house with lots of windows and maybe facing south to have light all day. |
| Dehua: Exactly! |
| Eric: The second superstition is about good luck. What's it called in Chinese? |
| Dehua: 本命年穿红色, (běn mìng nián chuān hóngsè). |
| Eric: Which literally means "wearing red in one's zodiac recurrent year." Let’s hear it in Chinese again. |
| Dehua: [slow] 本命年穿红色 [normal] 本命年穿红色 |
| Eric: In China, it's believed that one should wear red in their zodiac year. How do we know when our zodiac year is? |
| Dehua: It’s the year you are 12 years old, 24, 36, 48 and so on. |
| Eric: But your zodiac year is actually an unlucky year right? |
| Dehua: That’s correct. But Chinese people believe the color red repels bad luck. |
| Eric: Oh so wearing red, a lucky color, counteracts the bad luck of your zodiac year. |
| Dehua: You got it! |
Outro |
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| Eric: There you have it - two Chinese superstitions! Are they similar to any of your country’s superstitions? Let us know in the comments! |
| Dehua: 再见! (Zàijiàn!) |
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