Villain hitting

What it is

Villain hitting is a form of folk sorcery among Cantonese communities. A client asks for it when a rival, a colleague or a widely disliked public figure is thought to be harming their interests or fortunes. The practitioner makes a paper figure standing for that person, sometimes adding a name, a photograph or an item of clothing, and strikes it, most often with a shoe. The act is believed to curse, drive away or otherwise neutralise the enemy. Offerings are made to deities and spirits, a paper tiger is fed, and two wooden blocks are cast to check whether the rite has gone through.

Where it comes from

The practice is usually traced to farming customs in Guangdong. In the Chinese calendar the year divides into twenty-four solar terms, and one of them, the spring Awakening of Insects, marks animals stirring again after winter. Farmers once fed the feared White Tiger by smearing pig's blood on paper tigers, an offering that stood in for food. In time the tiger, an outside danger, gave way to the villain as the figure to be expelled and symbolically punished, and that socially disruptive person became the main target.

How it is done

A rite begins with a request from a client. Paper figures in human shape are made, with details of the intended person attached when one is named. The figure is beaten, usually with a shoe, while incense and candles are offered to deities. Eight stages are commonly described: offerings to the gods, a report, the striking, a feeding of the paper tiger, a reconciliation, prayers for help from benefactors, the burning of paper wealth, and a casting of two crescent-shaped wooden blocks. Those blocks are read to see whether the work is complete.

Tools and materials

The rite works mainly with paper. There are effigies shaped like people, sometimes marked with the target's name, birth date, photograph or clothing. A fulu, a written charm, carries the client's own name and date of birth. A red sheet names the Gui Ren, the benefactors who may lend help, and paper goods stand for wealth given to the spirits. A shoe or incense sticks are used for the striking. On Jingzhe a yellow paper tiger represents Baihu and is fed pork soaked in pig's blood. Two crescent-shaped wooden blocks are cast at the close.

What it is for

People come to villain hitting over a rival, a workplace adversary or a public figure they dislike, and the aim is to curse, drive off or otherwise neutralise that person. On Jingzhe it is also sought as protection in advance, a way of heading off trouble in relationships and daily affairs before it begins. Benefactors, the Gui Ren, are invited to lend their help, so the rite looks two ways at once: holding harm away and drawing support in. Its language is harm and protection, and those who use it treat the outcome as a matter of belief.

Who does it

Villain hitting is often described as a modest, quasi-informal occupation, and those who take it up are mostly elderly women. They work at shrines beside roads or under flyovers, where clients come with a request. Alongside them stand the commercial do-it-yourself kits, which let a person carry out the rite without hiring anyone. So the work can be done by a paid specialist at a roadside shrine or by the client alone.

Peoples and places

Cantonese communities are the ones who keep the practice. It is found in Hong Kong, where it is well known, and in Guangdong, in mainland China. Hong Kong is where most of the described activity happens: the shrines, the practitioners, and the flyover site that draws people on Jingzhe. The Home Affairs Bureau has given it a preliminary place on the territory's list of intangible cultural heritage.

What people believe

Behind the rite lies traditional Chinese cosmology, which works with pairs of opposing forces. Human relations are read the same way: villains, the petty people, stand against the Gui Ren, the benefactors who help. That pairing is often understood through yin and yang. The solar term Jingzhe belongs to this picture as well. In folklore, spring thunder wakes creatures that slept through winter, and the White Tiger and human villains are held to grow active with them, which is why the date is thought to give protection before trouble arrives.

When it is done

The Chinese calendar splits the year into twenty-four solar terms, and the one called Jingzhe, spring's Awakening of Insects, is widely held to be the most auspicious moment for villain hitting. Folklore says thunder then rouses animals from winter sleep, and that harmful forces, among them the White Tiger and human villains, stir as well. Rites are also carried out at other times, whenever a client brings a request.

Compare and confuse

The practice carries more than one name. In Cantonese it is da siu yan, written 打小人. English texts also call it demon exorcising or petty person beating, while villain hitting is the name most used. It is usually grouped with Lingnan culture and with Chinese ideas about the spiritual world.

Today

The rite is still practised. Hong Kong's Home Affairs Bureau has given it a preliminary listing as intangible cultural heritage, and TIME magazine picked it out in its 2009 Best of Asia feature. At the Canal Road Flyover in Hong Kong, and at other shrines under flyovers and beside roads, elderly women take requests, especially around Jingzhe. Commercial kits let people perform it themselves at home, a sign of how far the practice has moved beyond the paid specialist.

Questions people ask about Villain hitting

Good reading and sources

• Villain hitting on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data