Teochew culture through the glasses of its language

I mentioned in an early post that there are many Teochew communities abroad (outside of the region in China) - around 10m people!

Several hundreds of thousands of them live in the Chinatown in Paris' 13th arrondissement alone (this is where I grew up), having emigrated there from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in the 1970s.




Teochew people may be living in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, France, the US, etc, but there is a real identifiable Teochew culture that is passed on from generation to generation.

As a 3rd generation expatriate (my grandparents lived in Teochew, but neither my parents' generation nor mine ever lived or even went there), this is my observation of the Teochew culture through the glasses of its language and use of expressions.






1) Life is hard and bitter

Bitter melon is a vegetable prized by Teochew people despite its aggressively bitter taste.

It looks like a pale knobbly cucumber, and is used in soups (my favourite is soup of bitter melon stuffed with mince pork), omelettes, stir-fries, etc.

When eating with my non-Chinese friends, if we happen to have it on the table, I will feel a slight sense of dread as I watch them put it in their mouth for the first time, and my face will automatically take an empathetic look. Invariably the corners of their mouths will turn down, from the aggressively bitter taste that has no real comparison in any Western cuisine that they or I have ever tasted (maybe raw olives or broad beans still in their pod if you have ever tasted them).

My uncle says that you need to have tasted the bitterness of life to be able to appreciate that vegetable.

I personally liked it from an early age. Clearly I've had a very hard life!




I have always felt that there is indeed a real belief in Teochew culture that life is difficult and that you have to work very hard to survive. And it makes me think of this expression: 'waist like a tortoise' means 'hunchback', the idea that your back has been forced to bend by the heavy burden of hard work. You might say 'he works until his waist is like a tortoise'.








2) Social values

There is a concept that my mum has spent our childhood and our adulthood to date (and most probably for many more years to come) trying to get into our heads: the concept of 'Zuo ren'. Litterally 'to be a person / human'.


Note: I am using mandarin phonetic translation because I am unfamiliar with Teochew phonetic translation and always end up confusing myself when I try.

Sentences I often hear are 'bu hui zuo ren' (one doesn't know how to be a person), referring to people who don't abide by the correct social etiquette, and 'bu shi zhe yang zuo ren' (this is not how you are / behave like a person), referring to someone who has behaved in a way that society will disapprove of.

To me this is a very strong and unforgivable concept, to be able to judge whether someone is worthy of being called a person. If they can't be called a person, then what are they? An animal?




I have wondered for a long time what exact array of criteria make up this concept. I will reserve a more thought through explanation for another time, but for now, here are a few illustrations of what is valued or disapproved of.




'He is so salty astringent':

He is so stingy. The astringent taste of unripe plums or olives makes your tongue dry, it makes you wince a little.


The mental image I get is of someone skinny, shriveled and wrinkled.




'Desiring to be in the limelight':

This is a derogatory adjective used for someone who likes showing off, something that Teochew people disapprove of. Humility is a laudable character trait.




'Eat fast, walk fast; go to sleep late but rise early':

Teochew people are generally very hard workers and acute business minds. They are sometimes called the 'Jews of Asia'.

I guess that might explain why many of my family members are what Western people might call workaholics?






3) Talking with strong colourful expressions that give your imagination (and your stomach) a roller-coaster ride!
As I grew up, my parents were using certain expressions as encouragements or (mainly) threats to ensure that we behaved, and because I had heard those expressions so many times, I only focussed on their purpose but never dissected them to extract their literal meaning.

Until recently, when I was on a business trip with some family members. We hooked up with my uncle's best friend in Hong Kong, and he used some very colourful expressions which I had never heard before.

It took a little while for my Western brain to get over the crudeness of the expressions, but eventually my eyebrows dropped back down to their normal place, I took my hand away from before my mouth and pushed my jaw back up (elements of my usual horrified look), and started to appreciate the art of colourful scatological expressions.



One thing is for sure: the images strike your imagination and you really understand and remember what the person using the expression wants to say!

Warning: it is not for the faint-hearted! You may want to leave it till after your dinner to read...




'Taking your trousers off to fart':

It seems that for Teochew people, when one needs to fart it is unnecessary to take one's trousers off. One only needs to take their trousers off to poo. This refers to an unnecessarily complicated process. 'Faffing around' could be an approximate translation.





'Give someone a smelly fart beforehand':

This uses the idea that a smelly fart is generally the precursor of an activity of the bowel. Isn't this a really stinky way of saying 'preparing someone for some big news'?







'Treating something (said) like a fart':

As this refers to not giving consideration to something said or not listening to, acknowledging or obeying a suggestion, recommendation, order, etc, this has to mean that for Teochew people, farting is an activity that is overlooked in society, and that it is common and acceptable for people to fart in other people's presence.

Hmmmm I think that Chinese people's idea of what falls into the 'tasteful' category is very different to that of the French or the British! What do you reckon?








'Smelly mouth':

This means talking inconsequently or saying the opposite of what you actually believe in your heart, and may be translated by 'you don't mean what you are saying'.


I can't come up with a clever explanation of what this has to do with a smell in your mouth. Maybe that there is a bad smell coming from inside which betrays hidden thoughts?







'Spitting poo and spitting pee':

This is actually a cruder version of our 'talking sh*t'. Except this is not mere talking, it is spitting! Teochew people love strong images!




And to crown it all... one that accompanied much of my childhood...




'Did you grow up eating poo?' (generally uttered by a very angry shouting Chinese parent after you have done something you are really, but really not supposed to do):

This refers to the upbringing rules 'fed' by parents to their children for them to grow up (in maturity vs physically). If you are behaving in an unacceptable way, then you have been badly brought up, or you have been 'fed' unsuitable rules.

Although this rhetorical question always brought me close to tears by how insulting it is and how horrible the image is (who likes being told off by their parents?!), I always thought that saying this also reflects on the parents' responsibility to bring their children up properly...?





No doubt this is another one of the mysteries that I might crack one day in my long quest to bridge the gap between my French and Chinese sides...



Do you know strong colourful expressions that strike the imagination and teach cultural concepts and values effectively?


I would love to hear your thoughts!


















Note:


The title of this post was inspired by 'Through the Language Glass' by Guy Deutscher, a very interesting and clever book about the interaction between language and culture. I hope Mr Deutscher won't mind (if he notices)!
I also used a post from Friends of Station SIN to help me explain some of the expressions.