Why is white the color of death to the Chinese? It's a real pain in my arse. One time I gave Poor George this very pretty white scented candle and he just about had a fit. "You never give something white to a Chinese person!" he proclaimed.
Coaster Punchman
I don't want to be responsible for strengthening your relationship, but have you tried just asking him why? I understand your reluctance if not however. If he's freaked out by a candle who's to say how he'll react when you question his heritage. No matter how much your cat pictures annoy me I wouldn't wish murder on anyone.
As a species superstition is built into us as a survival instinct. If a tiger rips our heads off we learn, pretty quickly, that tiger's are bad and invent the spear. But this can also misfire. For example, if one person buys a rabbit's foot and has a stroke of luck, the mind links the two together. The end result is a lot of unlucky, slightly poorer people and a boom in the Bunny wheelchair trade. Even worse than this we can't accept this life is all there so we invent things to make life more exciting. That’s why, for example, when 2000 years ago an unwed teenage mother had an unplanned pregnancy and blamed it on God, she became famous enough to appear in oil stains and cooked bread. Thankfully, those who've reached guru status know that all superstitions are foolish. Except those about Nirvana, black cats and Richard Gere.
Regarding Poor Georges Chromataphobia, it is entirely possible it is unique to him. Maybe his mother suffered from a cleanliness OCD and kept the house spotless. As white shows dust without mercy it would have been contraband, and so he was trained, as a child, to fear white. Not knowing any different he would naturally assume that all Chinese people felt the same way. All of our religions have been spread in a similar way. Or it could be that some lover of white in his town was blighted by misfortune. The brain links, the rumours spread and before you know it sales of Daz plummet.
The fear of white does seem to be documented however, albeit very sparsely, so we can assume Poor George is not alone in this delusion. Perhaps the great firewall of China has prevented the western world from discovering the true extent of the superstition, indeed no-one seems to be sure why these phobia exists but the most likely reason white is associated with death is due to the white cloth used to enshroud corpses, the pale skin of a dead person, and the stark whiteness of bones and skeletons.
In the Western world we bury our dead in sombre coloured dress suits and don't have a habit of looking at skeletons for entertainment, so we associate black with death instead.
In short though, we may never be certain why the Chinese fear the colour white until the Aliens that founded the human race come back and explain themselves. And as this won't happen till 2012 (as everyone knows) we've still got a while to wait.
And to be honest, surly any American citizen would be horrified if you offered them something white after labour day.
10 Comments:
"Maybe his mother suffered from a cleanliness OCD and kept the house spotless."
Surely you must be kidding with this, or else you have not been keeping up with The Mama Gin Files.
George is living in the past. Chinese brides in Hong Kong wear white wedding dresses. Marriage may be a living death for some, but the Chinese are above all that.
Dear GB:
Chinese brides in Hong Kong have been brainwashed by the European Crown Colonization. Also keep in mind that Chinese brides, regardless of their geographic location, are nevertheless inscrutable. They may get "married" in a traditional white wedding gown to keep the Vera Wangs in business, but at the traditional tea ceremony that is performed behind closed doors, they quickly don the fire engine red that is the hallmark of any lasting relationship of their peoples. Following the tea ceremony comes the banquet, large tables full of distant relatives that the bride and groom may only meet on their one night get to see the bride change dresses 3 times, each one a different shade from magenta to fuscia to powdery pink. All "white" are you kidding me?
Dear Guru,
I think your friend is just a little hard of hearing... that Asian gentleman probably said he was afeared of "whites" and thought the gift came with a hidden price tag! Of course whites have color fears too. They used to be scared of black, but fear of pink took over. Many folks are scared of green.. and try and eliminate all of it they can. Fortunately, past 90 you can't hardly tell one color from the next.
Sincerely
Aunt Bloggie
Personally, I think Coaster Punchman can use this to advantage! Next time he forgets to give a gift, he can simply say, "I'm sorry, I wanted to give you a lovely (whatever) but it was only available in white."
As for Aunt Bloggie's comment that whites are afraid of "pink," I'd say that in my neck of the woods, they are more afraid of "brown" and are even trying to build a wall to keep it away from them.
You had an excellent explanation of this enigma.
The great firewall of China? Now that's hilarious. I think This Eclectic Life has hit on the perfect solution to Coaster Punchman's gift giving dilemmas. He should have typed it in white though to avoid Poor George reading it.
Are you serious? Forgive my rude behavior, but that was scarcely even informative. Besides, the part where you did supply a minimal amount, in which was not completely absurd, it was pasted off an unreliable source such as wikipedia. Is this site supposedly an informative one or merely for amusement?
Dear Mr Anonymous.
Your question has been recieved and added to the queue, and like the good ex-call centre worker I am will be answered in the order recieved.
This should be all you need to know.
I do hope you get giving a name soon, no one should have to be called Anonymous...
as this is the superstitions in people Chinese
White is the color of peace .It highlights your spiritual feeling and make you feel more near to God.That's why.
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