Is Underfoot a Nice Thing to Call Your Friend?

Dear Reader,

What do you call your friend?

If you’re a lady, you may address a dear confidant of the same gender as “girlfriend” or “sister” If you’re a gent, maybe “buddy” or “bro.” Maybe you simply address them by their names, or perhaps use a nickname. But surely, you wouldn’t think of calling a dear friend a “foot”—and certainly nothing beneath your feet.

Would you?

Well, odd as it may seem (downtrodden as it may sound), one highly respectful ancient Chinese form of address among close friends literally translates as “underfoot.”

The legend behind it all is closely intertwined with the Qingming Festival (commonly called Tomb-Sweeping Day) and the associated Cold-Food Festival. Both are just a couple months away on April 5^th!

Our new story this month explores how both the Cold-Food Festival came about and why some ancients felt it prudent to call their best pals “underfoot.”

Also, since it's Lunar New Year holidays in Taiwan this week and since it's the year of the tiger, we're also highlighting a popular big-bad-tiger Taiwanese folktale down below. On a more serious note, February 28^th is Taiwan's Peace Memorial Day, commemorating a horrific mass killing of civilians that happened in 1947. We have an actual news article from 1947 below. Check it out!

Enjoy!

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Is Underfoot a nice thing to call your friend? Sounds a bit downtrodden, perhaps? Well, this expression—zúxià (足下) in Mandarin—happens to be an ancient Chinese form of address for the dearest of friends. If you find the expression itself a bit bizarre, just wait till you hear the story behind it. It gets even weirder.

The story is also intertwined with the Cold-Food Festival (Hánshí Jié 寒食節), part of the Tomb-Sweeping Festival (Qīngmíng Jié 清明節), when families visit loved-ones’ final resting places. It is one of the most important holidays in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

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If you know of any Taiwanese folktale, history, legend, myth or tradition that you'd like to share, let us know! Get in touch via the button below!

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Island Folklore: Taiwanese Tales & Traditions, an online repository of Taiwan's folktales, history, legends, myths and traditions, is published and managed by the Island Folklore Club.

Our mission:

• To collect and preserve Taiwanese folk traditions for future generations.
• To explore and showcase Taiwan's diverse and unique blend of cultures.
• To educate and enable Taiwanese communities worldwide to take pride in the shared Taiwanese heritage.