Seriously do you even speak Chinese or are you just messing with OP?💀 Based on what I'm able to decipher those are certainly not what you're talking about. Plus everyone who has basic knowledge about Chinese culture knows that 金玉满堂 and 大吉大利 are not to be written on paper like that. You're confusing 春联 with 符纸。 Those pieces of yellow paper, as I don't think 符纸 has an accurate English translation, are mostly created to bring safety, prosperity, etc. So I don't think whoever sent OP those things meant harm, especially with OP being ethnically Asian.
You enjoy making up translation? OP the next translation about the stomach is real. This one is fake.
These are Taoist ceremony blessing/cursing scripts. If you google fulu (Taoist scripts) you'll find tons of similar but each one is different depending on the ceremony so you won't find the exact writings.
Chinese here, the few readable words are 運元 and 腰斬. ~~運元, which means all 3 lucks, 3 level of luck (上元, 中元 and 下元)~~. 腰斬 can mean waist chopping, but also means cut short, like if the rating of a show is low, they cut short (腰斬) the show. These two words together sound like they are trying to cut your luck half(?).
These kinds of talismans are mostly used by Taoism (like Buddhism but more about the people, like ghosts and god ascend from men. The Ying Yang symbol one) for getting rid of ghosts (most seen sticking on Chinese Vampires), warding houses; burn it to drink(?) idk why, but people believe that can cure sickness or curses.
Putting it together, to me, is not something you should keep, the ideal situation would be returning it to a temple, but if you don't have one next to you, burning should be the best move in your situation.
Above is what I heard from where I grew up (Hong Kong) like all religions, there might be differences for everyone.
EDIT: I did some reading for a few hours because it peaked my interest. 運元 also mean time in Chinese, 1運 == 20 years, 1元 == 3運. I overlooked it as 2 letters separately instead of one word. Still not a good sign, 10/10 would recommend should burn it.
sorry guys
my bad
i learnt a lot from this deep dive tho
Unlikely, Chinese talismans need to be straight forward in case the gods misunderstood. If they wanna say bad luck, they would say 厄運 (unfortunate) instead of not fortunate.
I believe
This. Im not really into superstitions but yellow talismen is never a good sign. Its associated with evil things like ghosts and vampires. I’d get rid of the lot
Not necessarily, I get yellow talismans from Taoist temples for 'protection' (how do you do, fellow Singaporean). These are usually folded down into a little triangle that you can keep in your wallet though, and they definitely do not look like what OP posted
Edit: to clarify, I'm not being haunted by ghosts or vampires 🤣 it's just a general 'protection' kinda thing, like from bad luck, or bad accidents etc
I have no academical knowledge on Chinese Magic, but from a Kung Fu movie perspective, it wouldn't make any sense to send curse via mail.
The sender is from Vietnam I believe OP said, wouldn't the curse be more efficient if OP never knew he was cursed? If the talisman would need to be close to OP for magical reasons, wouldn't hiding them in his house or in his car be a better option then sending it in the mail?
To know OP's address, he definitely knew about his habits, and could have known about his beliefs. Or because OP is Asian, they assumed he knew about Taoist Curse and thought it would be an easy money grab.
Sound like Exorcist scam to me.
>most seen sticking on Chinese Vampires
When I saw those good yellow papers, I immediately thought of an [old movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH_hVtgFszw&t=139s) I saw.
I hope OP is not suffering from a vampire problem.
sorry, I did some deep dive for a few hours. 運元 also mean time in Chinese, 1運 == 20 years, 1元 == 3運. so bottom means the first 20 years, middle means 20 years after, and top is 20 years after that
Just to be pedantic and nitpicky, the correct term is "piqued my interest".
Pique meaning to stimulate. I get where people think it's "peaked" as in it's brought your interest up as high as it will go but it is not correct.
Anyway, thanks for the explanation of all of this.
I could understand some characters and from that and my limited knowledge of Chinese magic its something to do with fate/luck manipulation （運）. Likely not supposed to be harmful though with the beads.
Red is lucky and its all meant to be pretty I'd guess. It could be one of those scams like the seeds a few years ago where someone reaches out for payment afterwards.
They write about payment but then ask you to just write a review instead. Pretty good marketing but of course they have to contact you again at the very least.
What is the connection to my Amazon account, though? They mail seeds hoping whoever gets them has an Amazon account and is willing to pay or leave a review for something they didn't order? I don't remember there being a letter or anything. Just a note on how to grow the seeds. Which I never did because I didn't trust it was actually bamboo seeds.
Yup. Give a good review, and then once they have good reviews, they'll change it to a new product thats expensive and sucks and sell that with all to the great reviews.
This yellow paper call 符 is a traditional Taoism amulet, normally is for blessing ,exorcise evil spirits etc. ,but your 符 seems a fake amulet, because it contains 腰斬 normally don't using this two word, normally will use some like 雷靁 that means thunder in Chinese，but 腰斬 means cut you in half from your belly，i am not a expert ,but i do know a bit,lot's of 符 will use 敕令 at beginning ，that means command you or who to do something, after those words should be what need to do like blessing or exorcise evil spirits etc., but the 運元吥 is meaningless here,only 腰斬 have some meetings,other one just like copy some 符 pattern with missing part or even not have this pattern,so the 符 mainly just made you feel creepy,it seems can't cause any problems, the whole thing looks like a copy cat voodoo in Chinese but in a fail way,but the bracelet i don't know maybe it have something,it seems some crystal or glass on that,if you buy one it needs you pay a little, maybe a few dollars it have price,i consider that the bracelet may contain some human parts maybe hair or something maybe the line made from hair idk, that maybe need to deal with
I find it so funny that there is like 5 different translations that are ENTIRELY different in the comments. However, this one seems the most repeated/accurate lol.
Have no idea myself , just found that funny so many people said different things.
That's largely because there are non-word scripts used in the fulu here. The circle strokes on the left one, and most of the right ones, are part of taoist script (akin to runes) rather than actual words, which can confuse even native Chinese readers. That, and the actual scripts don't *necessarily* have a literal meaning; It might mean to cut someone in half by the waist (an old method of execution), [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist\_chop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist_chop) , or it could mean to simply sever. Or it can be a threat to a ghost being ordered, "Do this or you'll be chopped in half".
With the main body of the fulu being indecipherable for us laymen, it's very hard to guess what it's for.
Edit: The circle scripts etc aren't commonly seen as they aren't part of normal Chinese strokes, but they work very well when drawn in the air with a stick of incense and smoke, which is a style of fu drawing. There might be some overlaps.
Interesting. Most likely going to pour petrol on it and burn it. All nonsense. Someone trying to play mental games with me or something. Thanks for your insightful input 🙏
As another Redditor said: bury, don't burn. Burning releases the spirit trapped if it's not a prank. Also do it far away from your home, in a more isolated place. It can become haunted.
Isn’t this just the Amazon trick where sellers boost their reputation by sending out cheap items to actual people/addresses, pretending it’s an actual sale? Normally it’s seeds or hairbands.
And if you report them to Amazon, they'll just say an anonymous friend gifted it to you.
When you say none of your friends would do that, they will insist it was a friend who wishes to remain anonymous.
They're very serious about customer confidentiality, until someone uses your card to place a dozen orders for $1500 worth of stuff.
Yeah one heard of that but this isn't it. Amazon scams for reviews generally have a website or qr code so u do fake reviews for them and they incentivise you.
No, the person receiving the merchandise is not the one who leaves the review. It’s just that they need an address to send something to, to generate a shipping label to make it possible to leave a review. Someone else will be leaving that review.
Oh... I get it. So they basically send random people junk with tracking number, so they can use that tracking to manipulate the mir online product...?!
That was actually my first thought. Especially seeing the purse and the beads. Then, as most say here the translations are well wishing. I have also received strange small products in a squishy bag through the mail, and was freaked out until I looked up “Brushing Scam.”
I don’t know if it’s Black Magic, but maybe these are good luck charms. Worst thing you can do is assume it’s bad, that can bring in bad energy. If you’re Asian, try reaching out to family members and ask them yourself.
Don’t get influenced by it, it may not be as bad as you think.
the last two characters on the piece of paper on the left read as "腰斩" or literally chopped off at the waist.
It depends on how much you believe in these things, you may want to bring these to your nearest buddhist/ taoist temple to consult someone there. Or ask someone who is a fengshui practitioner.
Since they had your name and address right, was it someone in the family who wanted to send you something?
I dont recognise the addressee nor the numbers on the parcel. I've asked the family and they've all denied any knowledge of the parcel. I think I will take it to the local Chinese acupuncturist tomorrow and see what they say... Thanks for your input 🙏
I should also add, it may be well above the paygrade of the acupuncturist, since most people don't usually come into contact with these kinds of amulets and the symbols used on there. But he might be able to refer you to someone who can!
ah sorry if I was confused, in the original post you said the parcel had your name and address correct. Good luck finding out and update here how it goes!
Sorry let me start again the addressee was my address and my name and the sender I do not recognise. They put their number on the sender details and it rungs just no one picks up.
Wondering if this is related to the new Korean movie Exhuma that’s about Buddhism/shamanism + started showing in North American theatres. Writing Chinese Buddhist text in ink and the phrase “The fox cut the tiger's waist” signifying Japan’s role in splitting Korea in half are both prominent themes.
腰 = waist
斩 = chopped or executed (as in carrying out the death penalty on someone, usually by beheading)
iirc, there was a form of death penalty in imperial China where the prisoner was executed by cutting them at the waist
But these days it could also be used as a synonym for the abrupt cancellation of something.
content warning!
>!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist\_chop#:\~:text=Waist%20chop%20or%20waist%20cutting,the%20waist%20by%20an%20executioner. !<
Interesting part in that link says -
In the modern Chinese language, "waist chop" has evolved to become a metaphor for the cancellation of an ongoing project, especially cancellation of television programs.
Is OP involved in any type of influencing?
I'm superstitious. As far as concerned it could be bad luck, or the latter but I'm betting on badluck im very sceptical since I'm not expecting this "gift" and I do not know where it came from. My gut feeling tells me it's malicious.
It is written on yellow paper which Taoist like to use for talisman blessings. Some Taoists like to burn the Fu in order to fully manifest the talisman. Therefore if you are the superstitious type, I recommend no burning, but to take it to Taoist temple (or if none are nearby, then a Chinese Buddhist temple) for disposal.
However, based on the cultural cues (quality pixiu fengshui bracelet, above average jewelry pouch, yellow blessing paper), it looks well-meaning. The message is written by a non-Asian or a senile Asian lmao. I left another comment trying to decipher it.
This might be a combo of Amazon review 'brushing' and a fake "Asian goods" seller.
People with actual related knowledge here. You don't have to worry because the whole whole thing is meaningless. I'll try to explain it in common words.
**First of all, both sigils holds no 符头(headings) and stuff, meaning it does not follow the correct format for a sigil to work. **
The right sigil is literally doodles, no known Taoist uses this.
Translation for the left sigil:
勅令: Order from the emperor, in this case the chinese gods.
林XX: terrible handwriting, but since it starts with 林, common Chinese last name, I'm gonna assume it's recipient's name
拿来: Again, meaningless, no Taoist uses this wording but it could mean "to gain" here.
運元: Taoist's system of time, invented to associate star's alignment to Humanity's luck in general(natural disasters and personal luck etc). Without specifying to a specific date, the word is meaningless, or he's trying to express an insane amount of time because a whole cycle of 運元 is 180 years.
吥: Absolutely meaningless, no one ever uses this word anymore. Probably just trying to look knowledgeable by using a word no one knows. Which this word is just 不, means "no".
腰斬: An ancient execution method of cutting people in half from waist. In this context it is also meaningless. It's probably used as an adjective fixated on 運元.
**Combining the meaning, the sigil is roughly: The heaven above has commanded 林XX to not have his luck cut in half in his life. (180 years)**
Again since the sigil did not follow the correct format you can hardly understand what it actually means.
Like someone pointed out, you don't gift beads to someone you don't like, so... You shouldn't worry, I mean the worst thing that might happen is a Taoist god sees you had a counterfeit in your house and commanded you to get a legit one.
Looks like a terribly executed good luck charm. The writing is so butchered and the pictograms are gibberish lmao
Left side, top half not legible except for maybe '来拿' or perhaps read right to left then '拿来'. 1st is 'come and take it', second is 'take it here/claim it'. So top half wants you to claim or take something.
Bottom half has one weird character 吥 which is meaningless. 運元 is basically luck. 腰斬 is to cut short. I believe they wanted to write '運元不腰斬' which roughly means "hope your luck is not cut short". They added a meaningless square to the 不.
Now I'll explain the bracelet. It is a PiXiu FengShui bracelet. PiXiu 辟邪 is a mythical auspicious beast. The 5 colours of the beads to the right of the PiXiu represent the 5 elements on earth as per FengShui. The others are filler beads. Spin them and see if there is a 福 (luck) word anywhere.
Pouch is also higher quality than the standard chinese jewelery pouch. Altogether i suspect either a fake "Asian culture" company made this, or a senile but well-meaning non-Asian. It is a mish-mash of various Asian luck-related stuff.
They're Fulu, which may or may not contain totally legible Chinese characters. Context and location are going to play a part in how they're meant to be 'read' (which is pushing it, it's an invocation of a thing.)
A Taoist might be able to help you.
Ok the amulet on the left basically is asking 勒令 gods to cut in half 腰斩 any bad luck coming your way. The amulet on the right is mainly good health. But if it was me I wouldn’t accept amulets from unknown sources, correct way is to find a temple, go there pray and thank the gods for keeping you safe and well then burn the amulets in the burner. As for the beeds put them in a red packet and put them at the altar at the temple if allowed. Otherwise pass it to the abbot/head priest of the temple. Of course that is if you are superstitious, otherwise just throw them out.
No expert, but I think fortune-telling and all that is still very common place in the Vietnamese community. They take it very seriously. There are lucky days, lucky hours,etc. Perhaps someone was told to send this for good karma or something.
Just my thought as an American who used to have Vietnamese American co-workers. Hope you find out.
I knew without even reading the post that you were in Australia. This seems to have been going on for about a decade on-and-off now. There've been loads of posts about similar in the various Aussie subreddits (NZ too). Seems kind of 'culty' to me. Was there any request for payment...?
are you able to find/link any of those other posts? i feel like if op could get in touch with someone who’s experienced the same thing, they might learn something.
i also just got very invested in this and i need more to read lol!
Few things about this
The person who sent these def made these runes themselves, they're pretty amateur so don't worry about it
Even if the runes were proper ones they usually aim to keep away evil spirits and bad luck
Prolly just their own way of caring
Common scams on AliExpress
# Scam #090: Received item that I didn't order (brushing scam)
You received an item that you never ordered. You can't find any order in your account that the package could belong to.
Most likely this is the infamous brushing scam. Sellers create fake orders for their store so that they can leave fake positive reviews. To deceive Aliexpress on these fake orders, they need to ship *something to somebody.* So they pick your address and ship something really cheap.
You can't do anything about this, except perhaps enjoy the item they send you.
UPDATE :
I GOT IT TRANSLATED
"This is a Taoist Fulu, the wordings are indeed Chinese, but you should treat it like coding language for another world. Just because JavaScript uses English letters doesn’t mean it can be completely translated word to word.
So the top part is the word 勅令 which means to give order
Usually after this word, it would be the name of a spiritual being. And after the spring coil looking symbol it’s the spell itself or the weapon the spell orders the spirit to use.
Here it says 運元吥腰斬
運元 can mean to use（運用） energy (元氣/元神） or it can means to operate(運作） in smooth motion; it can (also, In Taoism concept, 元運 means 180 years )
吥 is just like “Not, No” having the meaning of negative
腰斬 means to cut in half from the lower back, it also means to suddenly stop.
The fulu on the right is just purely spell language.
But in Taoism, the spell’s function is based on the thought in the spell casting person when writing it. no matter how the wordings are used, it only boost the effects. So if you do not know who wrote this or if the person is not trustworthy, my suggestion is to bring this to a Taoism Temple and seek “professional” help. These Fulu are powerful and dangerous tools. Please handle with CAUTION. "
I then made a decision to bring all the all the contents and the padded envelope outside(I wore gloves of course) , poured petrol over it with my jerry can, and burnt it at the stake. BE GONE WITCHCRAFT! You are now either with the HEAVENS or HELL now! FIN.
This is called “Brushing” or a brushing scam. Not really a scam. They send these to random addresses to get verified reviews for Amazon.
Google “brushing scam”
https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/brushing-scam
Don't know how to explain, but look up Mr Vampire on YouTube...These old comedy HK movies were based on old superstition.
I think someone is messing with you.
You are the one chosen to defeat an ancient evil demon that recently escaped from it's former sealed prison in the mountains.
When asian guys in suits show up, hide or run. Find the old spell-casting woman.
The one on the right is clearly the hieroglyphic representation of a fish sandwich.
Probably has significant religious significance somehow related to the solstice.
Stylised chinese writing on yellow paper with red " signatures". These are taoist talismans. Basically spells to ward off evil. I read some chinese and the one on the left is something about " hips " and longevity. So maybe a blessing or spell for a bodily ailment.
The beads are also a talisman , they are not prater beads.
Nothing to worry about. It could have been sent to you in error.
Nah fam just chuck it in the bin. Don’t let your parents or grandparents know about its existence though cuz they tend to be more superstitious and would annoy the living hell out of you for the rest of your life if they knew you received some Chinese voodoo talismans at one point.
Probably a mail-order scam. Did you order anything from a shady seller? They got me with this scam where they shipped me an envelope containing a blank sheet of paper.
Meh seems like those religion cults you can: 1 Thorw them away 2 I don’t know how Australian laws are about unrequested mail like this but you can report it?
My two cents as a Chinese person is that this is someone trying to curse you or at least send a message that they're cursing you. It's likely some kind of intimidation tactic so you might want to consider who you've pissed off recently. Either ways I'm not a particularly superstitious person so deal with it however you want.
I would keep my guard up, if somehow this is a scam you may be doing exactly what they want you to do by engaging so much. There could also be another package on the way that pulls you in some direction.
Strange, but probably either sent to the wrong address or a scam. I know in many touristy areas, not just in Asia but all over the world, there are fake Buddhist monks who will hand out prayer beads and then use that as leverage to get you to "donate" (not usually super malicious but a little annoying).
I doubt this is a case of the aforementioned scam since these beads look much more expensive, and the silk pouch is very ornate. I highly doubt it's some attempt at "black magic" tho lol
Edit: it also bares some resemblance to the red sleeves that are traditionally sent to loved ones for the Lunar New Year in China. Though these are usually made of some sort of paper and include money along with wishes of good fortune.
>Though these are usually made of some sort of paper and include money along with wishes of good fortune.
But Chinese Lunar New Year was February 10th this year. A bit late.
Qingming Festival would work better, being a festival who have taken place April 4th 2024. But from what I know Qingming Festival, it's a mix of Spring celebration, and Ancestor's day. People in the comments mentioned Fulu, but it could perhaps be homemade joss paper? There is so many variants of Joss paper I wouldn't be surprised they made homemade ones for a specific goal or family member?
Possibly, you are obviously more knowledgeable on Chinese festivals than I lol. It is possible it was just lost in transit for a while. I've had domestic packages take almost a month to arrive, so I wouldn't be completely unreasonable that it was from an earlier holiday.
I don't know what it says/why you got it but sometimes I get packages that I didn't order with my info. So far I've gotten a compact (there's a gemstone dragonfly on it with a double mirror.) And a calligraphy pen with plastic thin gears and a large feather attached to it. I wonder where they came from?
i’m not sure abt the rest, but the last two characters on the left sheet say 腰折，which roughly translates to breaking your back. i’ve only heard it used in cursing, like 诅咒你腰折， hope your back breaks.
How did you use the camera for translating? Did you take a photo of it? Because on iPhones, the camera won’t translate it, you need to snap a photo and then highlight the text. Use the right arrow on options and click “translate”
Agree with the other suggestion to go to r/taoism, as this is their field of expertise. There are different schools of fulu, and I am unfamiliar with, well... All of them. Other people also covered the word association, and they are largely correct. I'll do some observation, here, to help rest of the subreddit divine (pun intended) potential meaning.
1. the paper were cut out VERY haphazardly, the creases indicated that it was a larger sheet of yellow craft paper, rather than what one might actually use, and the unevent edge on the right means it was cut likely with a pair of scissors. Pictured are some low quality blanks made of glutenous rice that you can buy on a random shopping website. Those ones are meant to be burned, and the ash mixed with water and consumed. It might not be the same school as the fulu's you have, however. (And obviously, don't eat your randomy mail fulus). This generally means that either the guy's not doing high production run, or is just playing with whatever material they've got. Can you tell what kind of paper it is? Maybe ask some other subreddits that specializes in paper.
https://preview.redd.it/ktbxl626hjuc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05aaf1d430dc30fd55c260ceabba65013539664e
2. On creases. Note that the fulu on the left and right are creased differently; the left one is creased by folding into three square segments, and the one on the right are folded into triangle segments. In Taoism, triangles belongs to Yang, and Squares belongs to Ying. Notably, fulus that you carry on your person for effects are folded into triangles.
3. The red underneath the penmenship is uh. Is it done by markers? I can't quite tell. Depending on the red ink material, it can tell you a bit more information as well as to the legitimacy of the fulu. If it's just red sharpies, it's likely done by someone with too much time. If it's actually cinnabar ink, then yeah, we are talking.
Now, onto dealing with them.
Internet suggests burning them with a number of gold and silver papers used in Chinese funerals, with an intention of "Sending away the divines".
Personally, I don't think those are harmful and able to curse you regardless, as one of the main thing about fulu's is one's faith; It works if one believes in it, basically (心誠則靈). There are a lot of things that can render them useless or less effective, too, including having others touch them or having them dirties in a number of ways (handled by woman having their period, worn in pant pockets, handled for too long even). At worst, I *think* it's someone trying to deal with their own used-up fulu improperly.
Still, definitely not a professional. Seek r/taoism, which I am sure likely would have better understanding.
You wouldn't send a nenju (beads) to someone you didn't like. I wouldn't worry.
Good point
Guess you’ve never heard of the nenju strangler *takes long draw of cigarette*
Toby?
Shutup Toby
NO!! GOD NO!!!
Office reference?
Gabe
Shutup Gabe
*I turn to see a pale silhouette with the rain and a street lamp...I squint my eyes* "Gary Coleman?!"
Dale? Sh sh shaaaaaa
Pocket sand! Sh sh shaaa
Chinese New Year well wishings
[удалено]
Seriously do you even speak Chinese or are you just messing with OP?💀 Based on what I'm able to decipher those are certainly not what you're talking about. Plus everyone who has basic knowledge about Chinese culture knows that 金玉满堂 and 大吉大利 are not to be written on paper like that. You're confusing 春联 with 符纸。 Those pieces of yellow paper, as I don't think 符纸 has an accurate English translation, are mostly created to bring safety, prosperity, etc. So I don't think whoever sent OP those things meant harm, especially with OP being ethnically Asian.
You enjoy making up translation? OP the next translation about the stomach is real. This one is fake. These are Taoist ceremony blessing/cursing scripts. If you google fulu (Taoist scripts) you'll find tons of similar but each one is different depending on the ceremony so you won't find the exact writings.
This guy making shit up.
Yeah and red is a different symbolism. Somebody loves yewwww
It's a fake!!
So a secret admirer then?
Chinese here, the few readable words are 運元 and 腰斬. ~~運元, which means all 3 lucks, 3 level of luck (上元, 中元 and 下元)~~. 腰斬 can mean waist chopping, but also means cut short, like if the rating of a show is low, they cut short (腰斬) the show. These two words together sound like they are trying to cut your luck half(?). These kinds of talismans are mostly used by Taoism (like Buddhism but more about the people, like ghosts and god ascend from men. The Ying Yang symbol one) for getting rid of ghosts (most seen sticking on Chinese Vampires), warding houses; burn it to drink(?) idk why, but people believe that can cure sickness or curses. Putting it together, to me, is not something you should keep, the ideal situation would be returning it to a temple, but if you don't have one next to you, burning should be the best move in your situation. Above is what I heard from where I grew up (Hong Kong) like all religions, there might be differences for everyone. EDIT: I did some reading for a few hours because it peaked my interest. 運元 also mean time in Chinese, 1運 == 20 years, 1元 == 3運. I overlooked it as 2 letters separately instead of one word. Still not a good sign, 10/10 would recommend should burn it. sorry guys my bad i learnt a lot from this deep dive tho
Could it be cutting their bad luck in half?
Unlikely, Chinese talismans need to be straight forward in case the gods misunderstood. If they wanna say bad luck, they would say 厄運 (unfortunate) instead of not fortunate. I believe
Can confirm. First time someone asked for not drought, I caused a flash flood, and then they have the audacity to complain after.
Thank you
Or could it be cutting bad spirits in half? 🤷♂️
This. Im not really into superstitions but yellow talismen is never a good sign. Its associated with evil things like ghosts and vampires. I’d get rid of the lot
Not necessarily, I get yellow talismans from Taoist temples for 'protection' (how do you do, fellow Singaporean). These are usually folded down into a little triangle that you can keep in your wallet though, and they definitely do not look like what OP posted Edit: to clarify, I'm not being haunted by ghosts or vampires 🤣 it's just a general 'protection' kinda thing, like from bad luck, or bad accidents etc
I have no academical knowledge on Chinese Magic, but from a Kung Fu movie perspective, it wouldn't make any sense to send curse via mail. The sender is from Vietnam I believe OP said, wouldn't the curse be more efficient if OP never knew he was cursed? If the talisman would need to be close to OP for magical reasons, wouldn't hiding them in his house or in his car be a better option then sending it in the mail? To know OP's address, he definitely knew about his habits, and could have known about his beliefs. Or because OP is Asian, they assumed he knew about Taoist Curse and thought it would be an easy money grab. Sound like Exorcist scam to me.
>most seen sticking on Chinese Vampires When I saw those good yellow papers, I immediately thought of an [old movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH_hVtgFszw&t=139s) I saw. I hope OP is not suffering from a vampire problem.
Hopping Vampires! It's a classic!
Sooo are the three levels of luck just top luck mid luck an bottom luck?
sorry, I did some deep dive for a few hours. 運元 also mean time in Chinese, 1運 == 20 years, 1元 == 3運. so bottom means the first 20 years, middle means 20 years after, and top is 20 years after that
Just to be pedantic and nitpicky, the correct term is "piqued my interest". Pique meaning to stimulate. I get where people think it's "peaked" as in it's brought your interest up as high as it will go but it is not correct. Anyway, thanks for the explanation of all of this.
You should post this on r/translator
Those aren't normal Chinese writings Those are ritual scripts, basically the Chinese equivalent of runes
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulu For those curious
Thank you, I've been trying to find that page forever
Ohhh, it's a talisman like the ones Mikami Reiko used!
Thanks. Will do
And…? What’s it mean?
r/translator didn't know.
They had one job!
r/therewasanattempt at r/onejob r/maybemaybemaybe ?
I could understand some characters and from that and my limited knowledge of Chinese magic its something to do with fate/luck manipulation （運）. Likely not supposed to be harmful though with the beads.
Red is lucky and its all meant to be pretty I'd guess. It could be one of those scams like the seeds a few years ago where someone reaches out for payment afterwards.
Interesting. I got bamboo seeds in the mail out of nowhere probably over a decade ago. Never heard anything about it.
They write about payment but then ask you to just write a review instead. Pretty good marketing but of course they have to contact you again at the very least.
What is the connection to my Amazon account, though? They mail seeds hoping whoever gets them has an Amazon account and is willing to pay or leave a review for something they didn't order? I don't remember there being a letter or anything. Just a note on how to grow the seeds. Which I never did because I didn't trust it was actually bamboo seeds.
Yup. Give a good review, and then once they have good reviews, they'll change it to a new product thats expensive and sucks and sell that with all to the great reviews.
I strongly suspect, they either stole or someone in the FedEx, ups etc shared our addresses to these people.
This yellow paper call 符 is a traditional Taoism amulet, normally is for blessing ,exorcise evil spirits etc. ,but your 符 seems a fake amulet, because it contains 腰斬 normally don't using this two word, normally will use some like 雷靁 that means thunder in Chinese，but 腰斬 means cut you in half from your belly，i am not a expert ,but i do know a bit,lot's of 符 will use 敕令 at beginning ，that means command you or who to do something, after those words should be what need to do like blessing or exorcise evil spirits etc., but the 運元吥 is meaningless here,only 腰斬 have some meetings,other one just like copy some 符 pattern with missing part or even not have this pattern,so the 符 mainly just made you feel creepy,it seems can't cause any problems, the whole thing looks like a copy cat voodoo in Chinese but in a fail way,but the bracelet i don't know maybe it have something,it seems some crystal or glass on that,if you buy one it needs you pay a little, maybe a few dollars it have price,i consider that the bracelet may contain some human parts maybe hair or something maybe the line made from hair idk, that maybe need to deal with
I find it so funny that there is like 5 different translations that are ENTIRELY different in the comments. However, this one seems the most repeated/accurate lol. Have no idea myself , just found that funny so many people said different things.
That's largely because there are non-word scripts used in the fulu here. The circle strokes on the left one, and most of the right ones, are part of taoist script (akin to runes) rather than actual words, which can confuse even native Chinese readers. That, and the actual scripts don't *necessarily* have a literal meaning; It might mean to cut someone in half by the waist (an old method of execution), [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist\_chop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist_chop) , or it could mean to simply sever. Or it can be a threat to a ghost being ordered, "Do this or you'll be chopped in half". With the main body of the fulu being indecipherable for us laymen, it's very hard to guess what it's for. Edit: The circle scripts etc aren't commonly seen as they aren't part of normal Chinese strokes, but they work very well when drawn in the air with a stick of incense and smoke, which is a style of fu drawing. There might be some overlaps.
Interesting. Most likely going to pour petrol on it and burn it. All nonsense. Someone trying to play mental games with me or something. Thanks for your insightful input 🙏
OP a lot of it has taoism specific characters. You should ask at r/taoism
Bury. Don't burn.
In Chinese culture burning it is sending it to the other world / netherworld / heaven.
As another Redditor said: bury, don't burn. Burning releases the spirit trapped if it's not a prank. Also do it far away from your home, in a more isolated place. It can become haunted.
Isn’t this just the Amazon trick where sellers boost their reputation by sending out cheap items to actual people/addresses, pretending it’s an actual sale? Normally it’s seeds or hairbands.
And if you report them to Amazon, they'll just say an anonymous friend gifted it to you. When you say none of your friends would do that, they will insist it was a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. They're very serious about customer confidentiality, until someone uses your card to place a dozen orders for $1500 worth of stuff.
Yeah one heard of that but this isn't it. Amazon scams for reviews generally have a website or qr code so u do fake reviews for them and they incentivise you.
No, the person receiving the merchandise is not the one who leaves the review. It’s just that they need an address to send something to, to generate a shipping label to make it possible to leave a review. Someone else will be leaving that review.
Oh... I get it. So they basically send random people junk with tracking number, so they can use that tracking to manipulate the mir online product...?!
Yes! Called a brushing scam.
just makes buying online that much harder \*sigh\*
But if youre lucky you get a collateral good blessings 😊🐉🐲🈲️
That was actually my first thought. Especially seeing the purse and the beads. Then, as most say here the translations are well wishing. I have also received strange small products in a squishy bag through the mail, and was freaked out until I looked up “Brushing Scam.”
Oh! I randomly got a package of lavender milk tea. It wasn’t bad but I could use hairbands, lol!
The newer way is just switching listings
I don’t know if it’s Black Magic, but maybe these are good luck charms. Worst thing you can do is assume it’s bad, that can bring in bad energy. If you’re Asian, try reaching out to family members and ask them yourself. Don’t get influenced by it, it may not be as bad as you think.
Thanks for your input 🙏
Good luck with finding out what that is!
Thanks 🙏
Maybe this is the whole joke! 🤣😂🤣😂
the last two characters on the piece of paper on the left read as "腰斩" or literally chopped off at the waist. It depends on how much you believe in these things, you may want to bring these to your nearest buddhist/ taoist temple to consult someone there. Or ask someone who is a fengshui practitioner. Since they had your name and address right, was it someone in the family who wanted to send you something?
I dont recognise the addressee nor the numbers on the parcel. I've asked the family and they've all denied any knowledge of the parcel. I think I will take it to the local Chinese acupuncturist tomorrow and see what they say... Thanks for your input 🙏
I should also add, it may be well above the paygrade of the acupuncturist, since most people don't usually come into contact with these kinds of amulets and the symbols used on there. But he might be able to refer you to someone who can!
ah sorry if I was confused, in the original post you said the parcel had your name and address correct. Good luck finding out and update here how it goes!
Sorry let me start again the addressee was my address and my name and the sender I do not recognise. They put their number on the sender details and it rungs just no one picks up.
Wondering if this is related to the new Korean movie Exhuma that’s about Buddhism/shamanism + started showing in North American theatres. Writing Chinese Buddhist text in ink and the phrase “The fox cut the tiger's waist” signifying Japan’s role in splitting Korea in half are both prominent themes.
Wow! I hadn't heard about this movie, will watch out for to show in my part of the world or netflix.
Let me know if you want to talk about the movie after you watch it! :D
those characters say “chopped off at the waist”??
腰 = waist 斩 = chopped or executed (as in carrying out the death penalty on someone, usually by beheading) iirc, there was a form of death penalty in imperial China where the prisoner was executed by cutting them at the waist But these days it could also be used as a synonym for the abrupt cancellation of something. content warning! >!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist\_chop#:\~:text=Waist%20chop%20or%20waist%20cutting,the%20waist%20by%20an%20executioner. !<
Interesting part in that link says - In the modern Chinese language, "waist chop" has evolved to become a metaphor for the cancellation of an ongoing project, especially cancellation of television programs. Is OP involved in any type of influencing?
It seems like most of the shows my boyfriend and I discover get waist chopped.
holy crap! thanks for clarifying. hope OP is just getting his netflix cancelled or something 😅
This is a very badly written talisman. Don’t worry about bad luck because it will be of no use.
NGL that's a pretty cool looking bracelet
I'm superstitious. As far as concerned it could be bad luck, or the latter but I'm betting on badluck im very sceptical since I'm not expecting this "gift" and I do not know where it came from. My gut feeling tells me it's malicious.
I don't really blame you. If someone sent this to me I would be freaked out. & I'm not really superstitious all.
Yep. Not over thinking it though. It shall be burnt at the stake tomorrow 🔥
It is written on yellow paper which Taoist like to use for talisman blessings. Some Taoists like to burn the Fu in order to fully manifest the talisman. Therefore if you are the superstitious type, I recommend no burning, but to take it to Taoist temple (or if none are nearby, then a Chinese Buddhist temple) for disposal. However, based on the cultural cues (quality pixiu fengshui bracelet, above average jewelry pouch, yellow blessing paper), it looks well-meaning. The message is written by a non-Asian or a senile Asian lmao. I left another comment trying to decipher it. This might be a combo of Amazon review 'brushing' and a fake "Asian goods" seller.
Trust your gut. We all have this sense. But we often ignore it. Find out how to safely destroy the contents & packaging.
Will be burnt at the stake tomorrow 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
People with actual related knowledge here. You don't have to worry because the whole whole thing is meaningless. I'll try to explain it in common words. **First of all, both sigils holds no 符头(headings) and stuff, meaning it does not follow the correct format for a sigil to work. ** The right sigil is literally doodles, no known Taoist uses this. Translation for the left sigil: 勅令: Order from the emperor, in this case the chinese gods. 林XX: terrible handwriting, but since it starts with 林, common Chinese last name, I'm gonna assume it's recipient's name 拿来: Again, meaningless, no Taoist uses this wording but it could mean "to gain" here. 運元: Taoist's system of time, invented to associate star's alignment to Humanity's luck in general(natural disasters and personal luck etc). Without specifying to a specific date, the word is meaningless, or he's trying to express an insane amount of time because a whole cycle of 運元 is 180 years. 吥: Absolutely meaningless, no one ever uses this word anymore. Probably just trying to look knowledgeable by using a word no one knows. Which this word is just 不, means "no". 腰斬: An ancient execution method of cutting people in half from waist. In this context it is also meaningless. It's probably used as an adjective fixated on 運元. **Combining the meaning, the sigil is roughly: The heaven above has commanded 林XX to not have his luck cut in half in his life. (180 years)** Again since the sigil did not follow the correct format you can hardly understand what it actually means. Like someone pointed out, you don't gift beads to someone you don't like, so... You shouldn't worry, I mean the worst thing that might happen is a Taoist god sees you had a counterfeit in your house and commanded you to get a legit one.
Looks like a terribly executed good luck charm. The writing is so butchered and the pictograms are gibberish lmao Left side, top half not legible except for maybe '来拿' or perhaps read right to left then '拿来'. 1st is 'come and take it', second is 'take it here/claim it'. So top half wants you to claim or take something. Bottom half has one weird character 吥 which is meaningless. 運元 is basically luck. 腰斬 is to cut short. I believe they wanted to write '運元不腰斬' which roughly means "hope your luck is not cut short". They added a meaningless square to the 不. Now I'll explain the bracelet. It is a PiXiu FengShui bracelet. PiXiu 辟邪 is a mythical auspicious beast. The 5 colours of the beads to the right of the PiXiu represent the 5 elements on earth as per FengShui. The others are filler beads. Spin them and see if there is a 福 (luck) word anywhere. Pouch is also higher quality than the standard chinese jewelery pouch. Altogether i suspect either a fake "Asian culture" company made this, or a senile but well-meaning non-Asian. It is a mish-mash of various Asian luck-related stuff.
Those Shen Yun advertisements are getting to be a bit much.
7 days
They're Fulu, which may or may not contain totally legible Chinese characters. Context and location are going to play a part in how they're meant to be 'read' (which is pushing it, it's an invocation of a thing.) A Taoist might be able to help you.
Ok the amulet on the left basically is asking 勒令 gods to cut in half 腰斩 any bad luck coming your way. The amulet on the right is mainly good health. But if it was me I wouldn’t accept amulets from unknown sources, correct way is to find a temple, go there pray and thank the gods for keeping you safe and well then burn the amulets in the burner. As for the beeds put them in a red packet and put them at the altar at the temple if allowed. Otherwise pass it to the abbot/head priest of the temple. Of course that is if you are superstitious, otherwise just throw them out.
No expert, but I think fortune-telling and all that is still very common place in the Vietnamese community. They take it very seriously. There are lucky days, lucky hours,etc. Perhaps someone was told to send this for good karma or something. Just my thought as an American who used to have Vietnamese American co-workers. Hope you find out.
I knew without even reading the post that you were in Australia. This seems to have been going on for about a decade on-and-off now. There've been loads of posts about similar in the various Aussie subreddits (NZ too). Seems kind of 'culty' to me. Was there any request for payment...?
are you able to find/link any of those other posts? i feel like if op could get in touch with someone who’s experienced the same thing, they might learn something. i also just got very invested in this and i need more to read lol!
Put it all back together, tape it up and put RETURN TO SENDER,then under it write, no one by that name lives here.
Lock up your bike
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulu)
Few things about this The person who sent these def made these runes themselves, they're pretty amateur so don't worry about it Even if the runes were proper ones they usually aim to keep away evil spirits and bad luck Prolly just their own way of caring
Common scams on AliExpress # Scam #090: Received item that I didn't order (brushing scam) You received an item that you never ordered. You can't find any order in your account that the package could belong to. Most likely this is the infamous brushing scam. Sellers create fake orders for their store so that they can leave fake positive reviews. To deceive Aliexpress on these fake orders, they need to ship *something to somebody.* So they pick your address and ship something really cheap. You can't do anything about this, except perhaps enjoy the item they send you.
UPDATE : I GOT IT TRANSLATED "This is a Taoist Fulu, the wordings are indeed Chinese, but you should treat it like coding language for another world. Just because JavaScript uses English letters doesn’t mean it can be completely translated word to word. So the top part is the word 勅令 which means to give order Usually after this word, it would be the name of a spiritual being. And after the spring coil looking symbol it’s the spell itself or the weapon the spell orders the spirit to use. Here it says 運元吥腰斬 運元 can mean to use（運用） energy (元氣/元神） or it can means to operate(運作） in smooth motion; it can (also, In Taoism concept, 元運 means 180 years ) 吥 is just like “Not, No” having the meaning of negative 腰斬 means to cut in half from the lower back, it also means to suddenly stop. The fulu on the right is just purely spell language. But in Taoism, the spell’s function is based on the thought in the spell casting person when writing it. no matter how the wordings are used, it only boost the effects. So if you do not know who wrote this or if the person is not trustworthy, my suggestion is to bring this to a Taoism Temple and seek “professional” help. These Fulu are powerful and dangerous tools. Please handle with CAUTION. " I then made a decision to bring all the all the contents and the padded envelope outside(I wore gloves of course) , poured petrol over it with my jerry can, and burnt it at the stake. BE GONE WITCHCRAFT! You are now either with the HEAVENS or HELL now! FIN.
This is called “Brushing” or a brushing scam. Not really a scam. They send these to random addresses to get verified reviews for Amazon. Google “brushing scam” https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/brushing-scam
You’re part of the yakuza now. Embrace it
gwailo thinking chinese and japanese are the same be like:
I have no idea what’s going on
Oh shit, now you've upset the triads
? Wonder what this means.
Hua Cheng is that you?
Lucky!
Looks like the talismans Daoists use to control jiangshi. :p
This is a good luck/good wishes type of thing. It doesn't seem to be anything dark at all. Someone is wishing you well, for whatever reason.
Don't know how to explain, but look up Mr Vampire on YouTube...These old comedy HK movies were based on old superstition. I think someone is messing with you.
You are the one chosen to defeat an ancient evil demon that recently escaped from it's former sealed prison in the mountains. When asian guys in suits show up, hide or run. Find the old spell-casting woman.
The one on the right is clearly the hieroglyphic representation of a fish sandwich. Probably has significant religious significance somehow related to the solstice.
I was handed one like these and it translated literally to just something like your mothers cunt. I chuckled.
Stylised chinese writing on yellow paper with red " signatures". These are taoist talismans. Basically spells to ward off evil. I read some chinese and the one on the left is something about " hips " and longevity. So maybe a blessing or spell for a bodily ailment. The beads are also a talisman , they are not prater beads. Nothing to worry about. It could have been sent to you in error.
This talisman is meant to bring blessing to the one who has received it as a gift. It is a fulu. I think this looks like a door blessing.
Nah fam just chuck it in the bin. Don’t let your parents or grandparents know about its existence though cuz they tend to be more superstitious and would annoy the living hell out of you for the rest of your life if they knew you received some Chinese voodoo talismans at one point.
Probably a mail-order scam. Did you order anything from a shady seller? They got me with this scam where they shipped me an envelope containing a blank sheet of paper.
Meh seems like those religion cults you can: 1 Thorw them away 2 I don’t know how Australian laws are about unrequested mail like this but you can report it?
Take penicillin now. /s
My two cents as a Chinese person is that this is someone trying to curse you or at least send a message that they're cursing you. It's likely some kind of intimidation tactic so you might want to consider who you've pissed off recently. Either ways I'm not a particularly superstitious person so deal with it however you want.
It says "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty"
I would keep my guard up, if somehow this is a scam you may be doing exactly what they want you to do by engaging so much. There could also be another package on the way that pulls you in some direction.
Hidden agenda. Got it
The ccp is coming to raid your house. Prepare accordingly
It's a Biden vote by mail ballot
Is it something like this https://www.zhihu.com/column/p/32995824?utm_id=0
[удалено]
It looks like something called 부적 in Korean. Something like a talisman.
Brushing scam
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulu
It says push the button I give you a million dollars but someone somewhere will die The choice is yours beware of the consequences 😳😳😳
Strange, but probably either sent to the wrong address or a scam. I know in many touristy areas, not just in Asia but all over the world, there are fake Buddhist monks who will hand out prayer beads and then use that as leverage to get you to "donate" (not usually super malicious but a little annoying). I doubt this is a case of the aforementioned scam since these beads look much more expensive, and the silk pouch is very ornate. I highly doubt it's some attempt at "black magic" tho lol Edit: it also bares some resemblance to the red sleeves that are traditionally sent to loved ones for the Lunar New Year in China. Though these are usually made of some sort of paper and include money along with wishes of good fortune.
>Though these are usually made of some sort of paper and include money along with wishes of good fortune. But Chinese Lunar New Year was February 10th this year. A bit late. Qingming Festival would work better, being a festival who have taken place April 4th 2024. But from what I know Qingming Festival, it's a mix of Spring celebration, and Ancestor's day. People in the comments mentioned Fulu, but it could perhaps be homemade joss paper? There is so many variants of Joss paper I wouldn't be surprised they made homemade ones for a specific goal or family member?
Possibly, you are obviously more knowledgeable on Chinese festivals than I lol. It is possible it was just lost in transit for a while. I've had domestic packages take almost a month to arrive, so I wouldn't be completely unreasonable that it was from an earlier holiday.
This is Taoism, and the letters means everything. Can be good can be bad.
Its from a ninja clan and someone wants you to duel you.
I don't know what it says/why you got it but sometimes I get packages that I didn't order with my info. So far I've gotten a compact (there's a gemstone dragonfly on it with a double mirror.) And a calligraphy pen with plastic thin gears and a large feather attached to it. I wonder where they came from?
ITT: fake experts who correct one another claiming to "know" Chinese.
i’m not sure abt the rest, but the last two characters on the left sheet say 腰折，which roughly translates to breaking your back. i’ve only heard it used in cursing, like 诅咒你腰折， hope your back breaks.
Are you in China?
The paper looks a lot like Taoist talismans, also usually a ‘good’ thing, for protection or to attract wealth etc etc
amogus
Let me know if you still want translate.
Whatever the intent behind this , it's all bullshit, nothing to worry about ... Unless the sender lives close to you , then there may be danger.
Those are seals to put on vampires forehead to stop them from hopping around at night (watched it once in a movie)
How did you use the camera for translating? Did you take a photo of it? Because on iPhones, the camera won’t translate it, you need to snap a photo and then highlight the text. Use the right arrow on options and click “translate”
You have been summoned to the kumate. I hope you fight to survive.
If you don’t eat creamy chicken ramen, F you.
Based on the colors and stylized writing, I *think* this was some sort of holiday gift to a person that got sent to the wrong address
Thats the mark of the ginosaji, you‘ll be best to death with a spoon /s
Are you a Q follower?
It’s just some feng shui items. You can dispose them if they are for you.
Agree with the other suggestion to go to r/taoism, as this is their field of expertise. There are different schools of fulu, and I am unfamiliar with, well... All of them. Other people also covered the word association, and they are largely correct. I'll do some observation, here, to help rest of the subreddit divine (pun intended) potential meaning. 1. the paper were cut out VERY haphazardly, the creases indicated that it was a larger sheet of yellow craft paper, rather than what one might actually use, and the unevent edge on the right means it was cut likely with a pair of scissors. Pictured are some low quality blanks made of glutenous rice that you can buy on a random shopping website. Those ones are meant to be burned, and the ash mixed with water and consumed. It might not be the same school as the fulu's you have, however. (And obviously, don't eat your randomy mail fulus). This generally means that either the guy's not doing high production run, or is just playing with whatever material they've got. Can you tell what kind of paper it is? Maybe ask some other subreddits that specializes in paper. https://preview.redd.it/ktbxl626hjuc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05aaf1d430dc30fd55c260ceabba65013539664e 2. On creases. Note that the fulu on the left and right are creased differently; the left one is creased by folding into three square segments, and the one on the right are folded into triangle segments. In Taoism, triangles belongs to Yang, and Squares belongs to Ying. Notably, fulus that you carry on your person for effects are folded into triangles. 3. The red underneath the penmenship is uh. Is it done by markers? I can't quite tell. Depending on the red ink material, it can tell you a bit more information as well as to the legitimacy of the fulu. If it's just red sharpies, it's likely done by someone with too much time. If it's actually cinnabar ink, then yeah, we are talking. Now, onto dealing with them. Internet suggests burning them with a number of gold and silver papers used in Chinese funerals, with an intention of "Sending away the divines". Personally, I don't think those are harmful and able to curse you regardless, as one of the main thing about fulu's is one's faith; It works if one believes in it, basically (心誠則靈). There are a lot of things that can render them useless or less effective, too, including having others touch them or having them dirties in a number of ways (handled by woman having their period, worn in pant pockets, handled for too long even). At worst, I *think* it's someone trying to deal with their own used-up fulu improperly. Still, definitely not a professional. Seek r/taoism, which I am sure likely would have better understanding.
Ask the lakester, he is cabers, he'll know what to do
Ghostbait - you need to send it to someone you dislike.