With my preliminary search on “fortune cookie”, I only came across web sources that discussed the origins of fortune cookies. One source called it a “U.S. invention” probably inspired by moon cakes that were used in the 13th century by Chinese soldiers to hide their defense plans, while another source says it was introduced at a Japanese Tea Garden. A number of sources mention that the fortune cookie was developed by Chinese who helped to build the great American railways in California and Nevada, and during the Moon Festival exchanged biscuits with messages of good luck and fortune.
After Thursday’s class discussion and looking over my preliminary sources, I decided to broaden my search into “fortune telling”, “Chinese fortune telling”,” Japanese fortune telling”.
I have gathered from a few of my sources that traditional Japanese fortune telling plays a very influential part in today’s Japanese society…people’s lives and the economy. Also the Association for Asian Research reports that fortune-telling has increased in the China involving a range of topics such as finances, health, marriage, travel, education, etc. As I continue to search for information and resources on this topic, I hope to focus my project on the growth of traditional fortune telling in East Asian cultures, and possibly discuss how in the United States Chinese fortune telling is misrepresented in the form of fortune cookies. I hope to answer questions such as: “Why do all Chinese carryouts and restaurants serve Fortune Cookies? Who makes them? Would it be considered a “tradition” in the American/Cantonese cuisine?
“According to the September 21 Xin Hua Net report, financial outlook, health, and marriage are the three major topics of concern in fortune telling, with 28.4% of those who turn to fortune telling interested in learning about their financial situation. Other major topics are business, career, sensibility, school exams, and travel.”
“According to the report, people turn to fortune telling for reasons such as: searching for inner comfort, seeking some direction, helping themselves or a family member to avoid calamities, overcoming indecision when faced with a problem or opportunity, and hoping to gain inspiration or spiritual freedom.”
From Association for Asian Research http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1561.html
“It seems to me that over 90% of the population of Japan believe or have experienced any kind of divination. At midnight, many fortunetellers appear on the street near the Shinjuku station of Tokyo. As soon as they set up their desk, with lanterns as a billboard, a lot of clients stop at their favorite fortunetellers and make a long line. These clients want any advice for their many kinds of problems such as relationship with a partner, their future, and difficult decisions. Fortunetellers use their different methods like name divination, palmistry, tarots, inspiration, etc.”
From Culture Capsules: People, Places, and Processes
http://www.lclark.edu/~krauss/culturecapsules2002/leefukuweb/leefuku.html
I'm doing my project on Feng shui and I noticed that both of our projects have to deal w/ certain aspects of a person's life. In feng shui, people change their atmosphere to try and affect their lives. While with fortune tellers, they seek external help.
What might be interesting is to see why fortune tellers etc. seem to be so widely accepted over there. People here in america seem to always be very skeptical with anything of "another realm." I've had my palm and face read, but solely for amusement; I've never taken it seriously. Maybe it's getting too far into the culture to research this dramatic difference.
That's a great topic. I was initially going to do something similar to that. I think that part of your study will probably focus on religion. In accordance with what Emily said, fortune telling is probably so widely accepted because their religious beliefs are not nearly as forbidding of seeing into the future as our Christian-based society. Maybe you could even compare and contrast some of the fortune-telling techniques here and over there. Good luck with your search!
Posted by: Leah at October 13, 2004 03:05 AM