Beating petty persons in Wan Chai
March 6, 2006 8:17 AM Subscribe
Today is Jingzhe (驚蟄). Legend has it that on the day when insects and hibernating animals are awakening and the demon white tiger starts to seek its prey, the petty person would also start to offend others by making rude remarks. Therefore it is advisable to honor the white tiger with sacrifices and beat the petty person on this day.
From CXB: In the days of yore, the petty person you hated so much was beaten up for some good time by the professional beaters (about HK$50 per fix) with Chinese cloth shoes vigorously. But what a sad fact for your nemesis! These beaters these days use high heels, which in my opinion is ten times deadlier than cloth shoes.
From CXB: In the days of yore, the petty person you hated so much was beaten up for some good time by the professional beaters (about HK$50 per fix) with Chinese cloth shoes vigorously. But what a sad fact for your nemesis! These beaters these days use high heels, which in my opinion is ten times deadlier than cloth shoes.
Or boxes in Opera's case
posted by wheelieman at 8:28 AM on March 6, 2006
posted by wheelieman at 8:28 AM on March 6, 2006
goldism, there's a number of good MeTa/AskMe threads about getting foreign characters to display properly in your browser... I can't find any of them right now, but a bit of searching should do the trick.
posted by rxrfrx at 8:28 AM on March 6, 2006
posted by rxrfrx at 8:28 AM on March 6, 2006
I sense a great Web 2.0 opportunity to launch on Jingzhe: Beatr, on-demand IRL cloth-shoe beating of petty people you don't like on the internet.
posted by brownpau at 8:31 AM on March 6, 2006
posted by brownpau at 8:31 AM on March 6, 2006
They always come out fine in good ol' Firefox. Yay.
I wonder if there's a Western culture equivalent to dedicating a day to symbolically beating on your adversaries.
Note to future readers: They don't beat real people. :(
posted by Atreides at 8:43 AM on March 6, 2006
I wonder if there's a Western culture equivalent to dedicating a day to symbolically beating on your adversaries.
Note to future readers: They don't beat real people. :(
posted by Atreides at 8:43 AM on March 6, 2006
Atreides:
In Brazil, Hallelujah (sp?) saturday (the saturday between good friday and easter) is the day in which kids on the neighbourhood make a dummy called "Judas", from old clothes and such, and beat it. Among kids, beating Judas is one of the traditions of that time, right with not eating meat on friday, eating lots of chocolate eggs on sunday, and being sick because of too much chocolate on monday.
posted by qvantamon at 8:52 AM on March 6, 2006
In Brazil, Hallelujah (sp?) saturday (the saturday between good friday and easter) is the day in which kids on the neighbourhood make a dummy called "Judas", from old clothes and such, and beat it. Among kids, beating Judas is one of the traditions of that time, right with not eating meat on friday, eating lots of chocolate eggs on sunday, and being sick because of too much chocolate on monday.
posted by qvantamon at 8:52 AM on March 6, 2006
There seem to be a lot of "beating the devil" or "chasing the evil spirit" traditions around the world, but this one seems unique in that it's "beating the annoying guy" and it's directed specifically at real people you don't like (or pretend to not like).
posted by rxrfrx at 9:20 AM on March 6, 2006
posted by rxrfrx at 9:20 AM on March 6, 2006
rxrfrx:
There's a lot of the "beating the annoying guy"/"beating someone you don't like" tradition in grade school too... Quite less symbolic, though :)
posted by qvantamon at 9:23 AM on March 6, 2006
There's a lot of the "beating the annoying guy"/"beating someone you don't like" tradition in grade school too... Quite less symbolic, though :)
posted by qvantamon at 9:23 AM on March 6, 2006
If only every day could be Jingzhe!
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:44 AM on March 6, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:44 AM on March 6, 2006
We'll call them eBeatings.
I thought that was...something else.
posted by voltairemodern at 11:12 AM on March 6, 2006
I thought that was...something else.
posted by voltairemodern at 11:12 AM on March 6, 2006
This explains why I was surrounded by chinese people and beaten with stick this morning. And being the petty guy am, don't think I'll forget this little incident when Promontory Point day comes around.
posted by tkchrist at 12:39 PM on March 6, 2006
posted by tkchrist at 12:39 PM on March 6, 2006
From the (unlinkable) South China Morning Post. I'm particularly impressed by the alturism of Mr Yip.
Shouted curses and the sound of shoes banging on cement echoed around Wan Chai yesterday as crowds gathered for the traditional practice of "beating the devil" to take revenge on their enemies.
For $50 a pop, ritual performers battered paper effigies of workplace enemies while shouting appropriate imprecations. While the practice appeals to older women, growing numbers of young people have adopted it in recent years.
Among the queues that snaked around Canal Road was a Mr Yeung, 24, who went with his girlfriend to deal a blow to "kings and queens of gossip" in her workplace. "Though I am only 24, I am quite superstitious and I believe in the practice of beating the devil. I think it really works," he said.
"My girlfriend has had some trouble at work in the past two years. She's been dragged into gossip by vicious colleagues, so we came to beat them."
Another young pair was Mr Yip, 26, and his friend, Ms Ho.
"Hateful colleagues are everywhere. Many friends want to come too, but they have to work. I'm off today, so I'll help them beat those they dislike at work," Mr Yip said.
They almost lost count as they asked a ritual performer to curse numerous coworkers for themselves and their friends - at $50 per enemy.
posted by mono blanco at 5:20 PM on March 6, 2006
Shouted curses and the sound of shoes banging on cement echoed around Wan Chai yesterday as crowds gathered for the traditional practice of "beating the devil" to take revenge on their enemies.
For $50 a pop, ritual performers battered paper effigies of workplace enemies while shouting appropriate imprecations. While the practice appeals to older women, growing numbers of young people have adopted it in recent years.
Among the queues that snaked around Canal Road was a Mr Yeung, 24, who went with his girlfriend to deal a blow to "kings and queens of gossip" in her workplace. "Though I am only 24, I am quite superstitious and I believe in the practice of beating the devil. I think it really works," he said.
"My girlfriend has had some trouble at work in the past two years. She's been dragged into gossip by vicious colleagues, so we came to beat them."
Another young pair was Mr Yip, 26, and his friend, Ms Ho.
"Hateful colleagues are everywhere. Many friends want to come too, but they have to work. I'm off today, so I'll help them beat those they dislike at work," Mr Yip said.
They almost lost count as they asked a ritual performer to curse numerous coworkers for themselves and their friends - at $50 per enemy.
posted by mono blanco at 5:20 PM on March 6, 2006
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posted by goldism at 8:22 AM on March 6, 2006