Interpretation of dreams among the Yao
The Yao have a complex system of dream interpretation, which, like other neighboring peoples, they divide into auspicious and unfortunate.
For them, to dream of the sun setting behind a hill announced a calamity upon the parents.
To dream of wind and rain is a sign of approaching disaster.
To dream of falling in love with a woman is also a sign of coming disaster.
To dream that one sings announces that one will argue with one’s neighbors.
To dream that one eats meat announces the arrival of an illness.
To dream that one is eating announces a year full of difficulties.
There are several dreams that announce the loss of wealth or economic disaster, one of them is to dream that one goes to the bathroom, another is to dream of a snake, and another is to dream of stones rolling down the side of a mountain.
To dream of one’s house burning down heralds riches, as does to dream of killing a snake.
To dream of one’s parents is a sign that rains are coming.
To dream of one’s own death and that of loved ones foretells longevity for the protagonists of the dream.
If one dreams that one cries, it is nothing more than the announcement of coming happiness.
Based on: Liu Wenying.- An Oriental Interpretation of Dreams. China Social Sciences Publishing House. 1996
Last posts
Most Frequent Scenes from the Life of the Buddha in Tibetan Art
Most Frequent Scenes from the Life of the Buddha in Tibetan Art In fact, only a few moments are repeated very frequently in Tibetan paintings. In some versions there are eight—an auspicious number for Tibetans, corresponding to the Noble Eightfold Path and the eight...
The Dog as Psychopomp in China
The Dog as Psychopomp in China One of the oldest human beliefs was that after death there existed an immaterial part of the person—later called the soul or spirit—that did not disappear with the body. Its origin may lie in the “presence” of the dead in dreams,...
An ambitious project to rewrite history
An ambitious project to rewrite history. It is what we see in Lhamsuren Munkh-Erdene, The Nomadic Leviathan. A Critique of the Sinocentric Paradigm. Brill. Leiden. 2023. Now free to download in the publisher’s webpage. This book is a critique of a theoretical paradigm...