Are you Chinese?

Mommy asked Dai Dai, "Are you Chinese?"
Dai dai responded "Well Baba told me that Chinese people don't like blue and purple." These are funeral colors. Hence why in recent years when Hong Kong puts out Moon Cakes in a Navy blue tin box, you will be sure to hear about it from an old Taishanese man. "And well i like blue and purple so i'm not Chinese."

"What about Shao?" asked Mommy.

"Well Baba said that Chinese people  like red and things that are red and Shao likes red. So Shao is Chinese."

Mommy started cracking up.


Actually recently I realized I am really not that Chinese. I mean, even though i may follow some of the traditions, it's for fun. Even if I do believe in some of the superstitions, the way in which I believe it is such an American perspective.

For instance I was talking to a man who was a bit older than me, maybe in his 40's And he explained to me the Chinese Mentality. That for Americans, for Hundred's  of years, the Law has controlled people. But for Chinese, for thousands of years, people have controlled people. And this affects the world view of the people in the society.

He was saying that although Europeans have often said that Chinese have no religion, it's not true. They just have a different one. For instance bowing to you ancestors is so important, that many Chinese feel that they cannot completely cut ties with China, even though they would like to, because ancestors are buried there. But they often look forward to the future generations when their descendants no longer feel tied down like that, almost as if they will be more free. Free to speak out, etc.

I think at home point, living at the Kung Fu school, being around Sifu all the time, I actually started to absorb this thinking, But since my parents were cthe closest ancestors to me and they were buried here, it became a non-issue.

I mean you will hear some Chinese talk about how it must be so sad that my children don't know my parents. Like not having a strong living tie with those that came before you is the worst thing ever.

For me it's like, it's nice to have ties to the past, but I can survive without it.

I remember following Shao to the bathroom and I happened to be carrying his lion head, which has not been opened. So in a way, it is just a toy. It hasn't gone through the ritual of bringing it to life.

 Would I have brought it into the bathroom? No because I didn't want to get it physically dirty.
But my friend said, "This... don't bring into the bathroom." And he put it up on a stair post. In fact I didn't have to enter the bathroom myself at all because Noah just did his business himself.

But I got the sense that he would not want the head in the bathroom, because it could become spiritually dirty. It is the whole idea of Ling Hei. When you do something dirty.. a sexual act or other stuff, you are supposed to wash your hands and even your hair before entering into the Kung Fu School. That protects the Ling Hei of the school.

Do I believe in that?

I do in a way. But even if I do it's not a major factor in my decision making. It occupies 10% out of other factors instead of say, 90%. But at one point it probably occupied 99% of my decision making process. I.E. since having kids my worldview has changed dramatically.

This means that worldviews can change. People that are in ISIS now, can suddenly change their minds. People who are racist can change their minds. So if we are in a battle of hearts and minds what does that mean?

Tell me your experiences in the comments below. I like to hear feedback from the world.