Beat a little guy
Da siu yahn brings good luck
By Hennis Tong
"Beating petty persons" or da siu yahn, is a traditional ritual that some Hong Kong people,
usually the older generation, practise during the second month of the lunar year.
The so-called "petty persons" may be ghosts or evil spirits that exercise supernatural influences on people, or they may be human beings whom the aggrieved dislike. The ritual is performed for blessing or exorcising purposes. It is believed that ta siu yahn can change one's luck and curse one's enemies.
It is difficult to find the source of the ritual because it has not been formally recorded in historical documents. Apart from Hong Kong, the ritual is also common in Guangdong Province and elsewhere in southern China.
People can "beat petty persons" all year round. However, according to the lunar calendar, the best day for the ritual is Jing-zhe in the second month of the lunar year, this also is the day when insects and animals supposedly awaken from hibernation.
According to some folk beliefs, the holy "White Tiger" and the "petty person" wake up, open their mouths and harm others on Jing-zhe. Therefore, people have to beat "petty persons" to protect their luck and self-interests.
Granny Kim (not her real name) is a practitioner. She performs the ritual on request from aggrieved parties. Like Granny Kim, practitioners are mainly elderly women, some working on a sidewalk under a flyover on Canal Road in Causeway Bay. That spot is known by locals as Goose Neck Bridge, and it is the best known spot where the ritual is held.
"I have been doing da siu yahn for 13 years here," Granny Kim said. "I learnt how to perform the ritual by observing other practitioners’ performing in the past."
Granny Kim said most of her customers are young women and housewives.
"They come for help because of several reasons," she said. "Maybe they encounter health problems or family problems that they cannot tackle. They want to change the luck of their family members.
"Or some of them are just curious about the ritual," Granny Kim added.
Granny Kim declined to reveal what she charges for "beating petty persons". "I do not set a fixed price,"said she. "Customers can pay me anything they want."
The ritual is not complicated. Certain steps need to be followed to make the ritual successful, however.
To start the ritual, the White Tiger has to be fed before beating the petty persons. The White Tiger is made of yellow paper with black spots. Usually pork fat is used to seal the mouth of the White Tiger and prevent it from harming the aggrieved again.
Besides pork fat, the aggrieved has to prepare other foods like pears -- "pears" because the word "pear" has the same pronunciation as "to separate from" in Cantonese. The presence of pears in the ritual separates petty persons and bad luck from the aggrieved.
After preparing the food for the White Tiger and the petty persons, candles and joss sticks are lit. The practitioner then asks the gender of the petty persons whom the aggrieved wants to beat. Charms, paper-made petty-person figures and mock money are then prepared.
The mock money and pieces of gold and silver bullion in the form of squares on coarse paper represent wealth and treasures. They are used to change the fortune of the aggrieved.
Then, the petty-person paper figure is folded and fiercely beaten with a shoe or pierced with a short sword or knife.
Later, the beaten or pierced paper figure is burnt with mock money and charms. After burning the paper, it is believed that bad luck and evil leave the aggrieved and good luck comes. Personal relationships with others improve because there is no more bad influence on the aggrieved.
At the end of the ritual, two bamboo "holy cups" are thrown to the ground. The resulting pattern of the cups determines whether the ritual was successful or not.
Another characteristics of the ritual is that the practitioner chants during the beating process. There are variations in the lyrics. The most famous version is related to beating petty persons who are real human beings.
Beat you, petty person, beat your head. . . . Beat your head so that you can hardly breathe. . . . Beat you, petty person, beat your feet. . . . Beat your feet so that you can hardly walk with shoes. . . .
According to a shopkeeper of an incense shop selling related products, anyone can perform the ritual if he knows the preparation work and the process of the ritual. People can buy a package of supplies, including the petty-person paper figures, charms and mock money, in incense shops.
She added that the ritual can take place in any open area, such as a crossroads, the foot of a bridge or a hillside.
These places are suitable because, according to folk belief, malevolent supernatural forces gather in such areas and it is easier to catch them or disperse them there. It is not necessary to perform the ritual specifically under Goose Neck Bridge.
While many assume the ritual is superstitious, scholars another.
According to Prof. Tam Wai Lun of the Department of Religion at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, to a certain extent, the ritual has social value.
"Da siu yahn can blow off one's anger and comfort one's attitude towards his luck, life or personal relationships. It prevents conflicts and violence from happening in real life.
"But this method can be considered as a kind of spiritual violence if the aggrieved want to use the magic to curse or harm the others."
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper said the nature of the ritual is positive and defensive, rather than negative and offensive.
"Everyone wants to have good luck and escape from bad luck," she said.
"We would not curse or harm anyone through beating petty persons if we were satisfied with our lives, luck and personal relationships."
