just saw an insane tumblr post where someone who isn’t from china is like ‘we don’t celebrate the chinese government because [we don’t like the video games that their new policy is restricting], we celebrate the chinese government because we’re communists’
今天是1939年九月一日。
攻勢正式開始了,我指揮第二軍團(II Army Corps)與第十裝甲師(10th Panzer division)快速地朝東普魯士前進。維斯瓦河畔地區馬上就掃除了障礙。我要第二軍團的史特勞斯在庫爾姆(Kulm)的方向設立橋頭堡。這時候英國與法國還是只會在邊上嚷嚷而已,感覺上有夠俗辣。因為我催史特勞斯催得緊,波蘭轟炸機根本炸不到我們的人。
Handbell: The ringing of a handbell attracts the jiangshi's attention. If already subdued, it follows the commands of the person who rings the handbell. Otherwise, it will only hop towards the source of the sound.
Fulu (Taoist talisman): The person must take a thin yellow piece of paper and write out a distinct spell in chicken's blood, which will then be attached to the jiangshi's forehead. It can be used to immobilise them as long as the talisman is firmly stuck on its forehead. Alternatively, take a small amount of blood and place it on the creature's forehead to stop a jiangshi in its place.
Mirrors: A person defending themselves against jiangshi can use an 8 sided mirror called Ba-gua mirror, which is often used in Feng Shui. The mirror's purpose is to reflect light, which in turn scares the creature away. Alternatively, surround the jiangshi on eight sides with large panels of mirror in an octagonal shape. Jiangshi are said to be terrified of their own reflections.
Holy symbols/items: Jiangshi keeps its distance away from holy symbols and items, particularly those of Taoist origin, such as the Ba-gua, wood from a peach tree, and the books I Ching and Tong Shu.
A rooster's call: Jiangshi, like most evil spirits in Chinese culture, is scared of sunlight, so they withdraw when they hear the rooster's call during sunrise.
Blindness: Jiangshi can't see and rely on their hearing sense to navigate around. When evading the notice of a jiangshi, holding one's breath makes the jiangshi unable to find you.
Jujube seeds: "Nail seven jujube seeds into the acupuncture points on the back of a corpse." (棗核七枚,釘入屍脊背穴。)
Adzuki beans
Fire: "When set on fire, at the sound of crackling flames, blood rushes forth and bones cry." (放火燒之,嘖嘖之聲,血湧骨鳴。)
Hooves of a black donkey
Blood of a black dog
Vinegar
Thread stained with a concoction of black ink, chicken blood and burnt talisman
Glutinous rice: To banish a jiangshi, a person can throw sticky rice at the creature drawing out the evil in it.
Coins: Dropping a bag of coins can cause the jiangshi to count the coins. In the rare case, a sword charged under the light of the moon made of Chinese coins can be used in an attack against the vampire.
Causes of Becoming a Jiangshi
Jiangshi are corpses that were reanimated who feed on the qi of a living individual for sustenance and in order to grow more powerful (basically zombies that act like vampires). They can be classified into two categories: a recently deceased person returning to life, or a corpse that had been buried for a long time but does not decompose.
Some of the causes include:
The use of supernatural arts to resurrect the dead.
Spirit possession of a dead body.
A corpse absorbs sufficient yang qi to return to life.
It is a Taoist belief that a person's body is governed by "three huns and seven pos". Hun is the spiritual, ethereal, yang part of the soul which leaves the body after death, while po is the corporeal, substantive, yin part of the soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. If their po takes control of the body, the dead person becomes a jiangshi.
The dead person is not buried even after a funeral has been held. The corpse comes to life after it is struck by a bolt of lightning, or when a pregnant cat (or a black cat in some tales) leaps across the coffin.
A person's soul fails to leave their deceased body, due to improper death, suicide, or just wanting to cause trouble.
A person injured by a jiangshi is infected with the "jiangshi virus" and gradually changes into a jiangshi over time, as seen in the Mr. Vampire films.
Apparently it's Pride Month in the wider world (not in Taiwan because it's too HOT and rainy we gotta wait til October), here are two articles about 酸六, a Taiwanese trans model/activist/artist. The first is an easier read with a positive slant, the second is much more poetically written with a darker tone (trigger warning?), so I picked out some interesting unfamiliar words.
蠻牛 mán niú / an energy drink brand
工裝褲 gōngzhuāng kù / overalls
鏤空小可愛 lòukōng xiǎo kě'ài / cut-out camisole
渾圓 húnyuán / perfectly round
二次元 èr cìyuán / 2D, the fictional world of anime, comics and games
任憑 rènpíng / even though, despite
龍蛇雜處 lóng shé zá chǔ / different kinds of people mixed up together, often referring to gangsters
苟且偷生 gǒuqiě tōushēng / drag out an ignoble existence, drift and live without purpose
獵巫 liè wū / conduct a witch hunt
侃侃而談 kǎnkǎn ér tán / speak with fervour and assurance
接踵而來 jiēzhǒng ér lái / come one after another
碰壁 pèngbì / to hit a wall, have the door slammed in one's face
嘖嘖 zézé / to click one's tongue
負心漢 fùxīn hàn / unfaithful lover (or husband)
賽博龐克 sài bó páng kè / cyberpunk
有別 yǒu bié / different, distinct
燈紅酒綠 dēnghóngjiǔlǜ / feasting and revelry, "red lanterns and green wine"
釋懷 shìhuái / get over something, dismiss from one's mind
自艾自憐 zì ài zì lián / to feel sorry for oneself
輕生 qīngshēng / commit suicide, "make light of one's life"
搖旗吶喊 yáoqínàhǎn / give support to, "wave flags and shout battle cries"
花言巧語 huāyánqiǎoyǔ / elegant but insincere words
遍體鱗傷 biàntǐlínshāng / covered with cuts and bruises
篤定 dǔdìng / certain, confident
辜負 gūfù / to let down, fail to live up to expectations
空喙哺舌 khang-tshuì-pōo-tsi̍h (Taiwanese) / to talk irresponsibly, make statements without evidence
Cattleyas was planted by my dad one of orchids about his hobbies in the back yard & front of yard too. when he passed away 14 yrs ago, took most of them by my older brother with his wife to their house in the beautiful sky garden... we left just a little pieces of Phalaenopsis amabilis (蝴蝶蘭) around the pond in front of yard to memorial him. and I saw my younger sister that she started planting Cymbidiuma(國蘭/蘭花草) a couple weeks ago, my dad gave her named just this kind of flower plant (her named 朱"蕙", and I have a gut saying her name, that's causing I know that she doesn't know my blog here lol if it's not she'll kill me soon, She has better than me of Chinese Kung-fu, I fighted a loser by her on each time, and my son saved me always, 🤌🤌🤌 I felt shame at all. 嘖嘖嘖!😅😆🤣) and I have known She's also missing our dad so much 🥲😢😭 (how we missed Dad after 14 yrs still couldn't forget him??? He's really a very "gracious and rich, knowledgeable & Excellent guy" to his children. 🤍💝💖)
I am the one who afraid of 4 person in this world only : Mom, my daughter & son, and my younger sister, why? ~ they're "PURE" to me. My children by my birth from God as a mirror to me always while I feel weakness, and my mom makes me speakless always, I am grateful Mommy even she's not always right, but I'll always pretend she's RIGHT, I was a pretty rebellious being a daughter to mom and I was making her life hard, very sorry. ( and now I go LEFT secretly & silently, still rebellious. lol 🥲😅🤣) xoxo 🦎 Lan~*