There are “Bless you!” equivalents for sneezing in some parts of China. For example, in the Canton area, people say “大吉利” (roughly “good luck”) in response to sneezing. In Northern parts of China, people say “一百岁” (roughly “long live” for a hundred years) with each sneeze warranting the addition of another hundred years [ie. 一百岁 (one hundred years), 两百岁 (two hundred years), 三百岁 (three hundred years), etc.]. There is also a modified version of 千岁 (thousand years), 万岁 (ten thousand years), and 万万岁 (one hundred million years). That being said, the Chinese also have a different relationship with the sneeze.
Although many variants exist, one of the most common sayings associated with the sneeze in China is “一想二骂三念叨.” This saying roughly translates to: “One sneeze means someone is thinking about you; Two sneezes mean someone is talking smack behind your back; Three sneezes mean that you are constantly on someone’s mind.”
If you watch 动漫 (dòng màn, Chinese anime) or Chinese web novels, chances are you’ve stumbled across a scene where the person in question sneezes after being mentioned, despite being miles away from the talker. So, what is the origin of the association between sneezing and thinking about someone? The answer lies in a poetry collection from the Zhou Dynasty (1050–221 BCE).
In “The Book of Songs” (诗经), written more than two thousand five hundred years ago, there was a line in one of the poems that go like this: “寤言不寐，愿言则嚏.” This line roughly translates to “I have trouble falling asleep because I keep thinking about you. If you think about me as much as I think about you, I am going to sneeze.” The author used sneezing as a symbol of endearment and love. And after centuries of cultural influences, many Eastern cultures also picked up on this association.
So, the next time you sneeze, remember, it might just be someone out there thinking about you. 🤧
