Bazi Fengshui Series: Villain Hitting - Da Siu Yan 打小人
‘Villain hitting’ also known as ‘Da Siu Yan’ or ‘Beating the Petty Person’ is a folk tradition especially popular in China and Hong Kong. Some group it under a type of folk sorcery that is used to curse one’s enemies and ward off bad luck.
It is typically administered by middle-aged to elderly women in gloomy places such as somewhere under an overpass. In Hong Kong this ritual is often seen performed at the intersection under the Canal Road Flyover where it was believed to converge spiritual energy hence creating an optimal environment for the ritual. The villain hitters will beat the human-shaped papers representing the people to be ‘beaten away’ or ‘ward off’ with shoes or other implements.
Science
The folklore came about as farmers traditionally carry out this ritual during Jingzhe (惊蛰) which is the third of the 24 solar terms (节气) on the Chinese lunar calendar. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 345° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 360°. More often, it refers to the day when the Sun is exactly at a celestial longitude of 345°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around March 5 and ends around March 20. Which is the time when this blog is written.
Metaphor
The word 惊蛰means the awakening of hibernating insects. 惊 is to startle and 蛰 means hibernating insects. Traditional Chinese folklore says that during Jingzhe, thunderstorms will wake up the hibernating insects, which implies that not only is the weather getting warmer, but also that insects and bad energies emerge from hibernation and become active. Hence with all sorts of bad energy looming in the air, the folk tradition of villain hitting take roots wherein it is a ritualistic representation of ridding oneself of toxic energies (including people) as soon as they appear just like the awakening of the hibernating insects, thus creating space for good luck to come in for the rest of the year.
Interesting?
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