74
BEING CAUGHT BY A FISHNET
ON FENGSHUI IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
GÖRAN AIJMER
Big Stream Village is situated on the east shore of Tide Cove in Hong Kong's New Territories. It is a Hakka-speaking settlement exclusively inhabited by people of the surname of Zhang (*) all members of one major lineage. In 1964 there were 146 persons in the village and 33 members of the community working elsewhere. Big Stream Village is located at the mouth of a mountain valley. About one mile and a half further up this valley the small Plum Grove Village is picturesquely situated on the lower slopes of a cone-shaped mountain. It is inhabited by a localized major lineage of the surname of Wu (吳). In 1964 their number was 74 but over 20 members were then away.1
I was told a story about these two villages. Formerly, the story has it, the people of Plum Grove Village were living on the spot now occupied by the Zhang; and the Zhang were living where the Wu are now. Because of influences emanating from the natural surroundings the Wu were not too happy about their location at the mouth of the valley. It is said that the Zhang people pointed out to the Wu that the mountain on the other side of the fields in front of the village was a fishnet. This fact, it was pronounced, had a very special effect on the settlers there. The local Hakka pronunciation of Wu, their shared surname, is Ng. But ng in Hakka also means 'fish', and the Zhang assured the settlers at the mouth of the valley that they were, for certain, in the process of being caught by the net. The Wu seem to have agreed with this suggestion, and the result was that both communities exchanged their locations for their present-day situations.
This story may need some comments. It deals with influences emanating from the natural surroundings, a believed-in order that in Chinese is designated fengshui – ‘wind — water'. It implies an aspect of ecological adjustment in that it is concerned with natural
* Standard Chinese is given in pinyin form. Dr. Aijmer, whose article "Expansion and Extension in Hakka Society" appeared in Vol. VII of the Journal, is Assistant Professor in the University of Stockholm.
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74
BEING CAUGHT BY A FISHNET
ON FENGSHUI IN SOUTHEASTERN CHINA
GÖRAN AIJMER
Big Stream Village is situated on the east shore of Tide Cove in Hong Kong's New Territories. It is a Hakka-speaking settlement exclusively inhabited by people of the surname of Zhang ()* all members of one major lineage. In 1964 there were 146 persons in the village and 33 members of the community working else- where. Big Stream Village is located at the mouth of a mountain valley. About one mile and a half further up this valley the smalt Plum Grove Village is picturesquely situated on the lower slopes of a cone-shaped mountain. It is inhabited by a localized major lineage of the surname of Wu (A). In 1964 their number was 74 but over 20 members were then away.1
I was told a story about these two villages. Formerly, the story has it, the people of Plum Grove Village were living on the spot now occupied by the Zhang; and the Zhang were living where the Wu are now. Because of influences emanating from the natural surroundings the Wu were not too happy about their location at the mouth of the valley. It is said that the Zhang people pointed out to the Wu that the mountain on the other side of the fields in front of the village was a fishnet. This fact, it was pronounced, had a very special effect on the settlers there. The local Hakka pro- nunciation of Wu, their shared surname, is Ng. But ng in Hakka also means 'fish', and the Zhang assured the settlers at the mouth of the valley that they were, for certain, in the process of being caught by the net. The Wu seem to have agreed with this sugges- tion, and the result was that both communities exchanged their locations for their present-day situations.
This story may need some comments. It deals with influences emanating from the natural surroundings, a believed-in order that in Chinese is designated fêngshui - ‘wind — water'. It implies an aspect of ecological adjustment in that it is concerned with natural
* Standard Chinese is given in pingyin form. Dr. Aijmer, whose article "Expansion and Extension in Hakka Society" appeared in Vol. VII of the Journal, is Assistant Professor in the University of Stockholm.
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