Never Whistle at Night (and Other Asian Superstitions)

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Never Whistle at Night (From the Banana Archives: Issue 005)

Words: Tiffany Wong
Design and Illustrations: Lucky Numbr - Grace Hwang and Ruth Kim

When I’m eating a meal, I never stick my chopsticks upright in my bowl. When I’m walking home at night, I won’t whistle. And when I sign my name, I remember not to do so with a red pen.

Growing up in my Malaysian American household, I’ve gotten used to living with superstitions. If I accidentally didn’t follow one, my mother would quickly point it out, warning me of the repercussions. They seemed absurd, but there was always a small part of me that took them seriously.

We’re not the only ones. All over Asia, superstitions play a part in everything people do, from the way they run their businesses to the gifts they give to loved ones. There’s no definitive reason as to how these superstitions came to be, but they’ve lived on, even when the superstitious move away from their homes and start families of their own in foreign countries.

Like the food our parents cook for us and the holidays we celebrate, superstitions are a part of our culture, even if we don’t believe them. And hey, if we could avoid bad luck and wandering spirits, it doesn’t hurt to write our signatures with a black pen instead.

We crowd-sourced our superstitions, asking our Instagram followers about the beliefs they grew up with in different Asian households.

Spot the Asian Superstitions
Try your luck at identifying the 14 Asian superstitions we found in our Banana household.

Never stick chopsticks upright into your food.
For the Japanese and Chinese, placing your chopsticks upright in your food resembles the incense used to mourn dead family members and the offering placed on the altar of a shrine.

Never whistle at night. According to Chinese and Korean beliefs, whistling at night will attract wandering ghosts who will follow you home.

Never place your bed in front of a mirror. Mirrors are said to be portals for ghosts, and some even believe that mirrors might be used to steal your soul.

Never shake your leg. When you’re shaking your leg, you’re thought to be shaking off your wealth and good luck. This superstition could have come from the old belief that shaking your leg suggests idleness—you’re shaking your leg because you’re not doing any physical labor for work.

Never put your bag on the floor. There’s an old Chinese saying that goes, “A purse on the floor is money out the door.” Putting your purse on the ground is said to suggest that you don’t care about your wealth, have a hard time managing your finances, and will end up poor.

Always avoid the fourth floor of a building. In the Chinese language, the number four is nearly homophonous with the word “death.” Many buildings in Asia don’t have a fourth floor because it’s thought to be unlucky.

Never sleep with the fan on while the door or windows are closed. The Korean famous superstition may have originated from a story printed in a newspaper in 1927 called “Strange Harm From Electric Fans.” The article warned readers that electric fans, which were new at the time, could cause nausea, facial paralysis, and asphyxiation (which came from a theory that the fan would circulate stale air, causing the sleeper to choke on their own carbon dioxide).

Never write your name or other’s in red ink. Writing your name in red ink is said to cause death. This superstition could have stemmed from the practice of writing a deceased person’s name on the family register in red ink, or it could have come from the system of having prisoners signing their names in red before they were executed.

Don’t take photos of a group of three. If you take a photo of three people, it’s said that the middle person will die. This superstition is fairly widespread in Asia, although its origins are unknown.

Always spit in your crush’s drink. A popular Filipino belief is that if you spit in someone’s drink, they’ll fall in love with you.

Never give handkerchiefs as gifts. Because handkerchiefs are used to wipe tears, many Thais believe that someone who receives a handkerchief as a gift will spend a lot of time crying in the future.

Never give knives as gifts. Giving a knife as a gift is seen as “cutting the friendship” between the giver and the receiver.

Never gift pears or shoes. For Koreans, giving shoes as a gift to your significant other means that they will run away from you in the future. For the Chinese, the phrase 分梨 (fēnlí), which means “to share a pear,” sounds the same as 分离 (fēnlí), which means “to separate.” It’s believed that sharing a pear will lead to friendships or marriages splitting.

Always finish every grain of rice in your bowl. It’s believed that not finishing the rice in your bowl will lead to your future spouse being pockmarked. This popular Chinese superstition could have stemmed from the fact that rice is a staple food and wasting any would be in bad taste.

Thanks for reading and being a part of the Banana community! While we stay put to combat the COVID-19 pandemic together, the Banana team wants to be a resource for you to stay inspired, hopeful, and creative. We'll be curating stories from our past issues every week to rediscover our ambitions and to remind ourselves to, even during these tough times, stay positive and celebrate the moments that bring us happiness and pride.

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