Comments on: Fire, Peaches, and the Wrath of the Gods…No, seriously. http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/ A Qing historian reads the newspaper... Sat, 02 Jul 2011 03:31:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Resolutions, Honor and Dreams http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/comment-page-1/#comment-2041 Resolutions, Honor and Dreams Sat, 14 Jun 2008 23:38:59 +0000 http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/#comment-2041 [...] It’s been a bad year and as Jeremiah over at Jottings from the Granite Studio earlier this week noted: Report out of Tianjin, the city by the sea, only 80 miles east and 20 years behind [...] [...] It’s been a bad year and as Jeremiah over at Jottings from the Granite Studio earlier this week noted: Report out of Tianjin, the city by the sea, only 80 miles east and 20 years behind [...]

]]> By: Charles Frith http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/comment-page-1/#comment-2034 Charles Frith Sat, 14 Jun 2008 07:57:57 +0000 http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/#comment-2034 I never really understood the firecrackers till I saw the film 'and the spring comes' a while back. Half of me laughs at it and the other half says ceremony can be all important. I never really understood the firecrackers till I saw the film ‘and the spring comes’ a while back. Half of me laughs at it and the other half says ceremony can be all important.

]]> By: ChuckUFarley http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/comment-page-1/#comment-2029 ChuckUFarley Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:47:08 +0000 http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/#comment-2029 Yeah, it seems to be escalating instead of dying out. At first I thought it was some new tradition of celebrating Duan Wu Jie, which I thought was a little weird (zongzi aren't enough- scare the fish away!), but I got the scoop from the mother in law. From what I understand, the fear is only for the young, virgin children, so the social pressure is on again- if you are a parent and not setting off firecrackers, your daughter must be catting around town. Just another 'look at me!' moment. Thanks for ruining my sleep. Yeah, it seems to be escalating instead of dying out. At first I thought it was some new tradition of celebrating Duan Wu Jie, which I thought was a little weird (zongzi aren’t enough- scare the fish away!), but I got the scoop from the mother in law. From what I understand, the fear is only for the young, virgin children, so the social pressure is on again- if you are a parent and not setting off firecrackers, your daughter must be catting around town. Just another ‘look at me!’ moment. Thanks for ruining my sleep.

]]> By: Jeremiah http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/comment-page-1/#comment-2025 Jeremiah Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:28:00 +0000 http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/#comment-2025 Jim, Thanks for checking in from TJ and giving us some background to the whole thing. I remember some firecrackers around SARS as well, but I was in Beijing where, at the time, fireworks were prohibited. Cheers. Jim,

Thanks for checking in from TJ and giving us some background to the whole thing. I remember some firecrackers around SARS as well, but I was in Beijing where, at the time, fireworks were prohibited.

Cheers.

]]> By: jg http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/comment-page-1/#comment-2024 jg Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:20:33 +0000 http://granitestudio.org/2008/06/12/fire-peaches-and-the-wrath-of-the-godsno-seriously/#comment-2024 The firecrackers indeed are being set-off here to protect the children. And the canned peaches thing too. Both of these practices were common back in the time of SARS, as were several others, though my favorite was the buying of eggs. To ward off all things bad, you were supposed to buy six and/or eight eggs from six/eight different egg sellers, though the sixth egg must have been purchased from a seller named Liu, and the eighth from a seller named Ba. If I remember correctly, all of these things got going in response to the purported discovery of an abnormally large snake on a construction site somewhere near the Haihe, which unleashed the 'she wang' (the snake king) story, a portentous sign that bad things were about to happen. And so the firecrackers, canned peaches, and egg-buying remedies got some real tooth. In our neighborhood SARS was a loud time of firecrackers, which I am sure has the same folk roots as 'Guo Nian,' the passing of the year; make a lot of noise to keep it from landing. The firecrackers indeed are being set-off here to protect the children. And the canned peaches thing too. Both of these practices were common back in the time of SARS, as were several others, though my favorite was the buying of eggs. To ward off all things bad, you were supposed to buy six and/or eight eggs from six/eight different egg sellers, though the sixth egg must have been purchased from a seller named Liu, and the eighth from a seller named Ba. If I remember correctly, all of these things got going in response to the purported discovery of an abnormally large snake on a construction site somewhere near the Haihe, which unleashed the ‘she wang’ (the snake king) story, a portentous sign that bad things were about to happen. And so the firecrackers, canned peaches, and egg-buying remedies got some real tooth. In our neighborhood SARS was a loud time of firecrackers, which I am sure has the same folk roots as ‘Guo Nian,’ the passing of the year; make a lot of noise to keep it from landing.

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