Interpretation of dreams among the Yao

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

jinuo book

Last posts

The Muslim rebellion in 19th century Yunnan
The Muslim rebellion in 19th century Yunnan

The Muslim Rebellion in Yunnan in 19th century. This is the first English translation of Émile Rocher’s book on the Panthay Rebellion. Originally published in 1879 as La Province chinoise du Yunnan, is a valuable firsthand account of Yunnan during the mid-19th...

Kunming Scenes 2025-feb
Kunming Scenes 2025-feb

The World of Noodles If the variety of wheat or rice noodles found in China is already enough to fill an entire book, an appendix should be dedicated to noodles made from other ingredients. It seems that any vegetable that can be turned into flour only needs a bit of...

Sexual aspects of Gu venom
Sexual aspects of Gu venom

Gu illness resulted from a contamination by gu poison, which a recent analyst has characterized as “an alien evil spirit which entered [the] body and developed into worms or some similar animal that gnawed away at the intestines or genitalia.” This poison was thought...

Pin It on Pinterest