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EveryParampara

Folklore and belief

Legends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.

Folklore and belief gather the legends, charms, superstitions and customs of luck that people live by: knocking on wood, the evil eye, the tooth fairy, the black dog on the moor, the fox spirit of Japan, the spirits of the forest. These are not formal religion but a living layer of stories and habits, told by grandparents and kept alive in jokes, rhymes and small rituals. EveryParampara describes them as folklore, in the way those who keep them describe them, and takes no position on whether they are true.

Tales and creatures

Every region has its stories of giants, fairies, trolls, tricksters, ghosts and talking animals, often explaining a hill, a river or a custom. They are told to entertain and to teach, and collectors such as the Brothers Grimm and local folklorists have written many down. The same tale types appear across continents, with local details, which scholars have long studied. Storytelling nights, festivals and schools keep them in circulation.

Luck and protection

Customs of luck and protection are the small daily rituals: spilling salt, a horseshoe over the door, a red thread, a coin in the fountain, a lucky number. They answer the wish for some control in an uncertain world and are often kept with a smile. Some have a practical origin, and others are echoes of older beliefs. EveryParampara notes traditional use as tradition and offers no medical or financial advice.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Folklore and belief (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié) A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft 🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game 🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (Traditional Mongol) A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual 🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 2 moreChinese opera戲曲 / 戏曲 (xìqǔ) A sung, danced and acrobatic theatre from China, in over a hundred regional stylesPerformance 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤 A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance 🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語 Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance 🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft 🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿 Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual 🇹🇼 Yilan, Taiwan and 4 moreTaiwanese opera歌仔戲 A Taiwanese theatrical art of Hokkien balladry, stylized staging, and expressive song.Performance 🇨🇳 Puyang, ChinaFeng shui風水 The Chinese spatial practice of aligning homes and graves with natural energyFolklore 🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLion dance舞獅 A dynamic ritual dance featuring costumed lions, drums and martial acrobaticsPerformance 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 2 moreMongolian wrestlingBökh A traditional folk wrestling style of the Mongols, kept as a central part of Naadam festivals across Mongolia and neighbGame 🇯🇵 Aomori, JapanAomori Nebuta Matsuri青森ねぶた祭 A summer festival in Aomori featuring large warrior floats and dancing participants.Festival 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreShadow play A storytelling art using flat puppets and light to cast moving silhouettes on a screen.Performance 🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 3 moreGlove puppetry布袋戲 A traditional theatre of cloth-bodied puppets with carved wooden heads and live musicPerformance 🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見 A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた A Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.Festival 🇨🇳 China and 2 moreQixi Festival七夕 A Chinese night of romance, needlecraft wishes and stargazing for two mythic loversFestival 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節 An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름 A Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫 A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore 🇨🇳 Meizhou Island, China and 5 moreMazu媽祖 A sea goddess of the Chinese coast, asked for calm water and a safe returnSpiritual 🇰🇷 South KoreaJwibullori쥐불놀이 A Korean New Year game of whirling fire-cans to clear fields and wish good luckGame 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ) Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual 🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaYunnori윷놀이 A Korean board and stick-tossing game played with tokens during the Lunar New YearGame 🇨🇳 ChinaTorch Festival火把节 A summer fire holiday celebrated by Yi and neighbouring communities in southwest ChinaFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean traditional funeral A multi-day ritual blending Confucian rites and shamanic practices to guide the deceased to the afterlife.Rite of passage 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor veneration Honouring dead relatives with offerings, meals and prayers, kept in cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇯🇵 Takasaki, JapanDaruma doll達磨 (daruma) A round Japanese wishing doll: fill one eye to set a goal, the other to mark it done.Folklore 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreIomanteイオマンテ An Ainu rite that sends a hand-raised bear cub's spirit home to the god-worldSpiritual 🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance 🇯🇵 JapanKintsugi金継ぎ Mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold, so the repair stays visibleCraft 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 A hare seen in the Moon's dark patches, pounding rice cakes or the elixir of lifeFolklore 🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋 Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal 🇨🇳 ChinaQizhuang旗裝 (qízhuāng) The traditional attire of the Manchu people, characterized by riding coats, trousers, and horse-hoof cuffs.Dress 🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu臟腑 (simplified 脏腑; zàngfǔ) A Chinese medicine view of organs as networks of qi, blood and five phasesFolklore 🇨🇳 ChinaSymbolic stars神煞 Helpful and harmful influences read from the Chinese calendar's stems and branchesFolklore 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese patchwork A needlework craft joining fabric scraps into protective clothing, quilts and folk artCraft 🇨🇳 ChinaSanfutie三伏贴 A seasonal Chinese medicine practice applying herbal patches during peak summer heatSeasonal 🇨🇳 ChinaEighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute胡笳十八拍 A Chinese song and poetry cycle telling the story and sorrow of Cai WenjiPerformance 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreRed Thread of Fate姻緣紅線 An East Asian belief in an invisible cord binding two people destined for marriageFolklore 🇨🇳 ChinaChinese herbology中藥學 The traditional Chinese system of preparing and prescribing herbal and natural remediesCraft 🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲 A classical Chinese divination system that maps time, space, and strategySpiritual 🇲🇳 MongoliaBiyelgeeБиелгээ A traditional Mongolian dance of upper body movements rooted in nomadic lifePerformance
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.