BB Lam’s Sunday Special IV
🐦 Why Is There a Bird That Likes Spitting Blood on People's Clothes?
Eastern Mythology vs. Western Readers' Common Sense
Sometimes, being a bilingual writer means discovering that things you've known since childhood make absolutely no sense to someone raised in another language.
While reading WHITE DREAM, a close friend—and one of my readers—raised two questions I'd never considered. Another reader had a question of his own.
Suddenly, I was explaining a Chinese god apparently living in Antarctica, a bird that cries blood, and a snake afraid of heat.
Welcome to Chinese mythology. 😂
Why Is a Chinese Immortal Living at the South Pole? 🐧
In Chinese mythology, there's an elderly immortal called Nanji Xianweng (南極仙翁), a god associated with longevity.
In the story of the White Snake, he's someone Bai Su might seek out for a life-saving remedy.
My friend was puzzled.
"Why would an ancient Chinese god of longevity live at the South Pole?"
I stared at him.
The South Pole?
What South Pole?
Then it hit me.
Nanji literally means South Pole.
But in this name, it refers to an ancient Chinese celestial concept, associated with the southern heavens and the Longevity Star, rather than the geographical South Pole in Antarctica.
To me, Nanji Xianweng had always been one complete name.
I've known both the Chinese words for South Pole and the name Nanji Xianweng since childhood.
Somehow, my brain had never connected the two. Not once.
My friend, meanwhile, was trying to understand why a Chinese immortal who governs longevity would be living among penguins.
And I couldn't even blame him.
After all, he was simply translating the name correctly.
The problem wasn't his English. It was my Chinese brain. 😂
Why Is There Suddenly a Bird Crying Blood? 🩸🐦
This one is also thanks to my friend.
In Chapter Eighteen, Bai Su is gravely wounded.
Blood begins to seep through his snow-white robes, blooming like a scarlet-heart lotus bud, weeping crimson like the cuckoo's tears.
To me, this is a perfectly natural poetic image.
In Chinese classical literature, it's a familiar symbol of unbearable sorrow.
According to an ancient legend, a king of Shu named Du Yu, also known as Emperor Wang, became a cuckoo after his death.
The bird cried so sorrowfully that it was said to cry until blood flowed.
It's a beautiful, heartbreaking image.
At least, that's how I've always understood it.
But then comes the question.
"Why is there suddenly a bird?"
"What bird?"
"The cuckoo."
"It's a Chinese literary allusion. The cuckoo cries blood when it's terribly sad."
"But why does it cry blood?"
"Because it's a legend!"
"Okay. But why is it crying blood on Bai Su's clothes? Does it just like spitting blood on people?"
...
THERE IS NO BIRD!
IT'S A METAPHOR! 🤣
The image comes from centuries of Chinese poetry, where the cuckoo's cry evokes grief and longing.
When I read 杜鵑啼血, I understand the emotion. I don't imagine an actual bird entering the scene.
An English reader, however, might first imagine a cuckoo.
A real bird.
Possibly one with a very disturbing medical condition.
And that is how a tragic literary image can accidentally become a question about bird biology.
Why Is an Ancient Snake Afraid of Heat? 🐍
This question actually came from a reader.
Why would a snake spirit be afraid of heat?
Well.
That's a very good question.
In traditional Chinese imagery, snakes are often associated with shady, damp, and cool places. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Perhaps this helped shape the idea that snake spirits might dislike heat.
But that's my own guess. I haven't found a definitive historical explanation.
Biologically speaking, snakes are ectothermic animals. They depend on external heat to regulate their body temperature, but can suffer from both overheating and excessive cold.
And no, most snakes can't freeze into little sticks of ice and come back to life.
Now, let's consider Bai Su.
He's a snake immortal who has cultivated for over two thousand years.
He can take human form, wield a divine sword, and command supernatural powers.
And yet, apparently, he still has some very particular opinions about temperature.
Why?
Well...
Chinese ancient snake spirits don't always follow real-world snake rules. 😂
So, Does Chinese Mythology Make Sense?
Well, it depends on which kind of sense we're talking about.
An immortal whose name refers to the southern heavens.
A bird whose sorrow is so great that its cries turn to blood.
A snake spirit who may behave nothing like an ordinary snake.
Writing in a second language has made me realize how much cultural knowledge can hide inside a name, a phrase, or a poetic image.
Things that feel completely natural in Chinese can become wonderfully strange in English.
And sometimes, the questions are so reasonable that I don't even know where to begin.
My friend asks, "But does that make sense?"
And I find myself defending two thousand years of mythology with the only answer I've got:
"Well... it's Chinese mythology."
Not exactly a scientific explanation.
But it has served Chinese storytellers rather well for a very long time.
And now, apparently, it's my turn to add a little more trouble. 😂
— BB Lam 🐑