House and home in the world outlook of different cultures
House and home in the world outlook of different cultures
House and
home in the world outlook of different cultures
Essay in
Cross-cultural studies
Minsk 2008
Contents
Introduction
1. The choice of the place for the
future house. 4
2. The choice of the time of the
beginning of the construction works. 8
3. The process of house building.
9
4. A typical house, its orientation
and structure. 11
5. The main zones of the house:
5.1. The zone of entrance.
13
5.2. The zone of cooking.
16
5.3. The zone of sleeping.
17
5.4. The zone of the sacred.
18
6. The difference in the attitude
towards some objects:
6.1. A table.
19
6.2. A mirror.
20
Conclusion
References
House, as well as food,
water and clothes is essential for man`s life. But a human being differs from
animals; he wants to have not just a shelter but a place to satisfy all his
necessities: to sleep, to eat, to hide himself from bad weather, to raise
children, to worship God, etc. So he wants not just a house but a home. There
are a lot of proverbs supporting the importance of home to a person: East or
west, home is best; There is no place like home; My house
is my fortress; and others. Such sayings exist in any language and in any
culture. A house is a microlevel model of the Universe, so one can find a
definite structure in it. Any house has zones with a special predestination,
sacred objects, and there are always certain rules of living in a house. These
zones, objects and rules differ from one culture to another, depending on the
world outlook of a certain community, which in its turn has its roots in the
religion of a nation, its traditions and historic heritage. That is why there
are so many types of houses and ways of life in the world.
A person`s home as well
as his spoken language and festive clothes can tell us what culture he belongs
to, because consciously or unconsciously, one usually keeps to one`s native
traditions, though it is rather difficult to do so in the modern world,
especially in the city. Nevertheless, it is always very interesting to look
deeper into the culture of other peoples` and of course into your own one and
to try to compare them in any respect.
I am going to look at the
Slavonic, Chinese and Madagascarian traditions concerning home. Slavonic –
because Belarus is a Slavonic country; Chinese – because their traditions are
very popular in our country as well as in the whole world; Madagascarian – to
compare these two with something extremely exotic. I must mention that Slavonic
traditions are close to those in other European countries as Europe has been
Christian since the earliest times; Chinese traditions are also widespread in
other Asian countries; and Madagascarian ones are stuck to in many African
countries and on the isles of the Indian Ocean. Thus, comparing the three types
of traditional culture I shall compare the outlook of three large regions of
the world. It is rather difficult to find the roots of this difference; they
probably lie in the mentality of nations worked up for thousands of years.
Slavonic traditions are based on the Christian way of life, though one still
can see there a strong influence of popular beliefs. The basis for the Chinese
way of life is the understanding of the Universe as a mixture of different
kinds of energy. As for Malagasies, they live in accordance with the belief
that spirits rule the world. So any aspect of building a house has its own
rules different from those in other cultures and sometimes even opposite to
them.
I believe the best way to
compare the traditions concerning home is to bring together the three points of
view on one particular subject and to look for the difference. So it is
necessary to single out the points on which the comparison will be based. In
any culture the following points are taken into consideration when building a
house: the choice of the time and the place of building, the process of
building, the typical structure of a house, the main zones singled out in a
house and on the territory around it, the main objects used in the house and
the rules of people`s behaviour at home. So my task is to find the points of
similarity and difference between three cultures in this respect by means of
consequent comparison.
1. The choice of the
place for the future house.
Slavonic tradition says
that the Earth has good and bad places: in good places temples are built, in
bad ones cemeteries are placed. A house should be built in a good place,
otherwise the family living in it will never be happy. The ways of finding out
whether the place is good are as follows:
1) Places where poultry
and cattle like to stay for the rest are considered good;
2) Places where black
ants make their ant-hills are also thought very good ones. An ant-hill is
carefully removed to the future building site and if the ants do not run away
from this place, a house is then built there.
The number of places
considered to be bad is much greater. In the past people used to pass the
history of their town or village through generations, and all the places where
something bad had ever happened were looked upon as bad ones. Thus, houses
should not be built:
1) near cemeteries;
2) in the places where a
person was killed or a battle happened in the past;
3) in the place where at
least one fruit tree was stubbed up, not to say about a garden;
4) in the place of a
former rye or wheat field;
5) in the places
connected with fire, e. g. sites of a fire or places ever struck by a lightening;
6) in the places of old
abandoned roads and crossroads, mills and wells;
7) on marshlands,
disposal sites or places used for cattle slaughter;
8) in the places of some
borders, e.g. between gardens;
9) in the places where
grass does not grow for some unknown reason;
10) in the places
connected with some accident, e.g. where a person fell off a horse and broke
his leg. [2; 497]
In the absence of these
bad indicators the place is considered appropriate even if there are no good
indicators either.
In the Chinese culture
the choice of a good place is based on other notions, though it has a great
prominence, too. An ideal place is the one where the four heavenly animals are
represented and harmonized; they are the Dragon, the Tiger, the Turtle and the Phoenix.
The Dragon is the symbol of happiness. It is represented by the landscape with
hills of a medium size; it is said that they are the best for the universal
energy Chi to move freely and to do good to the people living in this place.
High hills are avoided as they are obstacles for the movement of Chi; flat
country is also avoided as in this case the energy flies away from the place. The
East is the Dragon`s part of the world, that is why medium-size hills should be
on the left (eastern) side of the house.
The Tiger is a balancing
opposition to the Dragon; its part of the world is the West, its type of the
landscape is low-hilled.
The Turtle is the symbol
of help, constancy and longevity. Its part of the world is the North. The
Turtle is represented by low hills.
The Phoenix bird
symbolizes new possibilities. Its part of the world is the South and the
landscape with very low hills, though not flat country. [3; 16]
Thus, the choice of the
best place for the future house is made in accordance with the landscape. The
ideal place is the one where the highest hills are on the left (eastern) side
of the house, lower hills on the right side and behind the house. In front of
the house there should be very low hills. If the house is not isolated, but is
in a town or a village, the role of the hills is played by other houses.
There are also some other
indicators for the place to be good. It is great if there is a river in front
of the house, but it should make a turn, not to run straight, otherwise the
positive energy Chi will pass by the house without influencing people. The
river should also not run too fast or too slowly because everything should have
a measure.
The role of the river can
also be played by a road. A crossroads and a confluence of rivers is also a
good place if only the house does not face the acute angle, as acute angles,
pikes and any sharp objects directed towards the house accumulate the bad
energy Sha Chi, which destroys the peace and happiness and needs to be
protected from.
In Madagascarian culture
the place for a house is chosen in accordance with the beliefs different from
those in Slavonic and Chinese traditions. There are two main points to remember
about when choosing a proper place: the position of the house in accordance
with the landscape and in relation to some other buildings. The rules of
placing a house with respect to the landscape are as follows:
1) The house should not
be placed on the poor soil, otherwise the family will always be poor;
2) It should not be
placed in a swampy place, because the water there is ‘dead’ (unlike the water
in rivers). This water will cause many troubles to the family up to death;
3) A place near a river
is a good one unless it is a place where the river divides into two or more
branches, as it is said that the family will follow its fate and will be ruined
as a result of the negative influence of such a place;
4) A house should not be
placed near a lake or a waterfall, because these are the places where spirits
live. Only wizards ever go to the waterfalls where they communicate with gods.
Ordinary people never dare to approach waterfalls;
5) The entrance to a
valley is a bad place because the spirits living in the valley will worry
people to death. A house should not be placed in the highest part of the valley
either because the health, the wealth and the happiness of the family will run
down the valley and away from the house. If a valley is the only possible
place, then a special stone is used to protect the family. It is called a ‘male
stone’ and is placed near the house. It is believed to neutralize negative
energy as sacrifices are made there to gain the favour of the spirits;
6) A house should not be
placed on the top of or opposite a high steep rock or a mountain peak because
they are said to have stronger fortune than people can have, so the fortune of
the family will be destroyed by the strength of the mountain. Moreover,
sacrifices are often made in the mountains, which enforces the negative energy;
7) Neither should a house
be built near the place of a recent landslip. The danger is said to be not so
much of a possible new landslip, but of the gulf into which a person can fall
(both physically and spiritually);
8) One more place
considered to be bad is the one where birds do not want to build their nests.
It is believed that they feel the future misfortune, so people should also
avoid such places. [1; 106]
This was a list of rules
helping to find a good place from the point of view of the landscape. There is
also a set of rules to follow in order not to break one of the strongest
Madagascarian traditions – the respect to the elders. These rules are:
1) A son`s house cannot
be built to the North or to the East from the father`s house, because these
parts of the world are the best ones and if the son breaks this rule it means
that he wants to live in a better place than his father and does not respect
him. All the neighbours will despise him for that. And the house should be smaller
than the father`s (for the same reason);
2) A house should be
properly oriented according to the family tomb. People should not live to the
North of it because Malagasies sleep and place the dead with the feet towards
the South. If they break this rule it seems that the living kick the ancestors`
heads with their feet which is unacceptable. A house should not be placed on a
lower level than that of the tomb, otherwise the dead will affect the living
negatively. [1; 108]
2. The choice of the time
of the beginning of the construction works.
One of the main Slavonic
traditions says ‘the beginning determines the end’. That is why the choice of
the proper time for a house building is so important (it is no less important
for other cultures, although the principles of choosing the best time are
different up to the opposite). The following circumstances are taken into
consideration: the time of the year, the phase of the Moon, the day of the
week, the part of the day, some other dates important to the future lodgers.
The best time of the year
for building is that between Radunitsa (the day of the remembrance of the late
ancestors – the 9th day after Easter) and Whitsunday (the 49th
day after Easter). The Moon should be in the growing phase. The 7th day
after the full moon is also appropriate. These phases promise long life to the
family. As for the days of the week, there are good and bad ones. Monday is a
bad day, as it is called ‘a difficult day’ and is inappropriate for any
undertakings. Wednesday and Friday are also bad days, as these are the days of
the fasting. Saturday is the remembrance day, so it is not appropriate either.
Moreover, the latter three are called ‘female days’ in the Slavonic world, and
as building is not a women`s occupation, these days do not fit the purpose.
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are considered to be good days. As for the time of
the day, it is best to start building before the very dawn or from 9 to 12 a.m.
It is believed that the well-being of the family will grow on the analogy of
the growing day.
In Ukraine the days of
worship to the saints–protectors of family life are recognized as good ones.
For Belarusians there is one more good day – the birthday of the host of the
future house. The day recognized as bad is the one on which there is an
unburied dead person in the village.
For the Chinese the time
is not so important as the place. It is said that any undertaking will have a
good end if it is begun in the beginning of the year and on the growing phase
of the moon. In this case the well-being of the people will grow.
Unlike the Chinese,
Malagasies pay great attention to the time of the building. As for the season,
it should not be spring or summer, because in this case building can cause bad
crops. But the 1st day of the 3rd, the 4th or
the 5th months of the year (called Adizauza, Asurutani and
Alakhasati respectively, which corresponds to May, June and July as the year on
Madagascar begins in March) is considered favourable. It should be neither Thursday
nor Sunday, otherwise the family will be very poor. And it should never be the
birthday of the host or his father. This taboo is based on the belief that
everything has its own fortune. People born and undertakings made on the same
day of the year are said to share one fortune. In such cases one of them is
stronger in this respect, so the other will have to give in. Man is said to be
weak, so the house having a stronger fortune than a man can cause a lot of
misfortune to the host up to his premature death.
3. The process of house
building.
In Slavonic culture the
greatest importance in the building process is given to the laying the first
row of logs, according to the principle ‘the beginning determines the end’. A
lot of magic actions are done for the house to have a good fortune as the
building of a new house is associated with the creation of a new world.
Firstly, the host prays
to the God asking for his help. Then the work itself begins. A house should be
built beginning from the eastern side (the side of the red corner – the place
in the house where sacred objects are kept) and following the movement of the
Sun. A hole is made in the first log in the place of the future red corner and
such objects as a slice of bread, a handful of wheat, some coins and a flock of
sheep`s wool are put in there. This is done for the family to be rich. Such
objects as an Easter candle and a piece of glass are buried in the ground under
the red corner in order to scare away the evil spirit. When the first row of
logs is laid, the process stops for one day, after that it continues. The
number of rows is usually 13. Twelve rows create the living space for the
family and the 13th serves as a channel connecting people with the
other world, the world of the ancestors who help the living. The number 12 is
connected with the number of the God`s apostles; it is also looked upon as the
result of multiplication of the four parts of the world on the three notions of
time (past, present and future).
Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2
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