WEBVTT - The Artifact Redux: The Piñata

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Artifact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time.

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<v Speaker 2>Chances are you've probably swung a broom handle at a

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<v Speaker 2>pinata before you know how this works. A brightly colored

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<v Speaker 2>paper mache, pottery, paper, cardboard, or cloth container is stuffed

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<v Speaker 2>full of candy or other treats and raised and lowered

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<v Speaker 2>by a rope as a blindfolded contestant takes wax at it.

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<v Speaker 2>After a few hysterical misses and punishing hits, the container

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<v Speaker 2>bursts and spills these treats on the ground to be

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<v Speaker 2>snatched up by eager hands. It's an activity in craft

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<v Speaker 2>strongly linked with Mexican customs, and all so so widely

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<v Speaker 2>spread that it's easy to just take for granted. I know,

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<v Speaker 2>I did till I visited the Pinata's exhibit at the

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<v Speaker 2>Mengey International Museum in San Diego, California, running through April

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<v Speaker 2>thirty of twenty twenty three. The exhibit celebrates pinatas as

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<v Speaker 2>both a traditional craft and a form of contemporary art.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes aimed at social and political commentary. It was really

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<v Speaker 2>an eye opening exhibit for me into both the material

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<v Speaker 2>culture and the cutting humor of pinatas, and artists are

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<v Speaker 2>continuing to do a lot with this medium today. Another

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<v Speaker 2>area I'd never personally explored is the origin of the pinata,

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<v Speaker 2>a topic that the exhibit acknowledges is somewhat understudied. It

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<v Speaker 2>cites a twenty eighteen paper by Young Chin published in

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<v Speaker 2>the Fudain Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences titled From

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<v Speaker 2>the Datchenu to the Pinata, Tracing the alleged Chinese origin

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<v Speaker 2>of a Mexican tradition. In the paper, Chin explores the

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<v Speaker 2>possible connections between the Chinese traditions surrounding the docunu, or

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<v Speaker 2>beating or lashing of the spring cattle, and the Mexican

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<v Speaker 2>pinata tradition. The datchunu is an old springtime ritual in

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<v Speaker 2>which a large clay statue of an ox is filled

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<v Speaker 2>with seeds and then shattered by the emperor or an

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<v Speaker 2>imperial representative, scattering its contents on the ground. The ritual

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<v Speaker 2>performance is still practiced in China today. The hypothesis then,

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<v Speaker 2>is that this practice may have spread from China to

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<v Speaker 2>Italy via the Silk Road and or the travels of

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<v Speaker 2>Marco Polo during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The name

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<v Speaker 2>pinata may be derived from pigna, a clay pot in

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<v Speaker 2>the shape of a pine cone in Italian traditions. Around

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<v Speaker 2>this time, Italian Linten customs sometimes entailed the shattering of small,

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<v Speaker 2>simple clay vessels filled with fruits or sweets. So it

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<v Speaker 2>is then proposed that this practice spread to the Americas

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<v Speaker 2>in the sixteenth century via Catholic Spanish missionaries who use

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<v Speaker 2>the practice as both a Catholic religious celebration and an

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<v Speaker 2>indoctrination tool for indigenous peoples. Now, obviously this is the

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<v Speaker 2>sort of practice that would just be inherently fun, as

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<v Speaker 2>this sort of ritual transcends language and beliefs, at least

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<v Speaker 2>in just the basic practice of shattering something, breaking something,

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<v Speaker 2>and finding a reward within. But it may also have

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<v Speaker 2>found a foothold in indigenous practices due to pre contact

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<v Speaker 2>rituals of shattering clay pots in devotion to the Aztec

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<v Speaker 2>solar deity with Cilo Potli. Now that's a long journey

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<v Speaker 2>across multiple continents and cultures, so the question remains, is

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<v Speaker 2>it possibly true? Well Chin contends that we might tentatively

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<v Speaker 2>attribute the origins of the pinata to Chinese customs, but

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<v Speaker 2>that there's insignificant evidence to make any definitive conclusions. So

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<v Speaker 2>whatever the pinnata's origins Chinese, Italian, Spanish, az Tech, or

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<v Speaker 2>some mixture of them, the pinata has become cemented as

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<v Speaker 2>a distinctly Mexican and Latin American tradition with broad international appeal.

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<v Speaker 2>Tune in for additional episodes of The Artifact or The

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 2>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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