Abstract
This article explores the alleged Chinese origin of the piñata by examining Chinese textual sources and the book attributed to Marco Polo (1254–1324), The Travels of Marco Polo. First, my work will briefly survey the history of the Chinese tradition called Dachunniu (hitting the spring ox) and that of the piñata, speculating on the similarities and possible linkage between the two traditions. Second, it will conduct a textual investigation of the book attributed to Marco Polo and its historical context in order to examine the alleged Chinese connection of the piñata. I argue that the practice of the piñata can be tentatively attributed to the Chinese custom of the Dachunniu and that Marco Polo might have played a key role in the transmission of the tradition, but any definitive conclusion is dependent on additional evidences, textual, or material.
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Notes
In reality, Marco Polo did not mention the piñata in the book attributed to him, titled Livre des Merveilles du Monde in French, Il Milione in Italian, Los viajes de Marco Polo or Las Maravillas del Mundo or Il millione in Spanish, and The Travels of Marco Polo in English.
I heard about the so-called Chinese origin of the piñata from my father-in-law—a retired Mexican journalist and writer—for the first time and my curiosity eventually led to my current study, with Wikipedia as my starting point given the scarcity of any textual information about the tradition.
As of July 8, 2015, the webpage link for Lesli Aguilar’s article provided by Wikipedia “piñata” is not functional, and a search of the author and her article at the website Diario Despertar, where her article was published, has obtained no result.
Some articles on the internet are not dated, but they are included here due to their importance.
The currently available edition of Tu niu jing was edited by Zhou Lvjing and was printed during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), without specific year.
In modern China, Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival. This is due to the calendric reform initiated by Sun Yet-Sun at the inauguration of the Republic of China in 1911. In traditional China, the Spring Festival was just another name for Lichun.
This poem—“Guan xiao er xi da chun niu”—can be found on many webpages, including the entry at Baidu baike, http://baike.baidu.com/link?url=DuzjJ-a8cMOg0YN_Akw9KQUFHYYlV3PtyG4cBCpfoYYPtjM4qvUw3n43gQA36byIKZdHIXi0_gglJk87zvYmy, retrieved on July 8, 2015.
When the Mongols established the Yuan dynasty, they adopted the calendar from the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in north China, one that possessed the characteristics of traditional Chinese calendar. Thus, the New Year Marco Polo observed at Kublai Khan’s court was Chinese New Year.
This article is posted on the website called “We the Italians”. See “Italian traditions: Mamoiada Carnival in Sardinia”, http://wetheitalians.com/index.php/magazine/14583-italian-traditions-mamoiada-carnival-in-sardinia, retrieved on July 10th, 2015.
This article can be found at the website of John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. http://qcpages.qc.edu/calandra/community/commcarn.html, retrieved on July 10th, 2015.
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Chen, Y. From the Dachunniu to the Piñata: Tracing the Alleged Chinese Origin of a Mexican Tradition. Fudan J. Hum. Soc. Sci. 11, 69–81 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-017-0179-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-017-0179-6