What We See in Our Sleep: Dream Practices Across Asian Cultures
by Starlyn Terry
Dreams are rarely neutral experiences. Anthropologists focused on dreaming patterns from various cultures have emphasized the prominence of dreaming in understanding mind-body connections and cultural identity. Across many Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, dreams are more than just subconscious musings or fun experiences during the sleep cycle. Dreams can be interpreted as diagnostic tools, spiritual communications, and even inherited cultural responsibilities. Rather than viewing dreams merely as products of the individual mind, many Asian cultures see them as extensions of family, community, and ancestral histories. Many of these cultures and ethnic groups practice lucid dreaming and dream journaling to explore and consult with others on what their dreams may symbolize.
At EMPI DREAM, we believe that dreams can be shaped not only by individual memory and psychology, but also by one’s history, language, and inheritance. For those of us raised within families of many traditions, what enters our dreams is often not new. It can be familiar.
Dream Symbolism in China
Robert Campany, a historian studying Medieval and Ancient China, published several books on the idea that dreams were understood within older cultures as placements and messages by external forces such as gods, ancestors, and spirits. He explains that in early Chinese literature and beliefs, dreams were actively placed into a sleeper’s mind, with the "personal" merely serving as "signal interference." This perspective persists today in many Asian households, where dreams are often discussed openly and interpreted communally rather than individually. In Chinese culture, meeting a dead ancestor symbolizes that your family is blessed and protected. However, dreaming about picking up money does not mean that you will have good fortune; It can mean that your ancestors need more money and that it is a sign to burn paper money for them.
One of the oldest and most authoritative texts on dream interpretation is "The Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams," a manual dating back thousands of years and still consulted today. In comparison to modern, Western dreamology that views dreams through a psychological lens, it interprets dreams as indicators of fortune, misfortune, or guidance from the divine. Examples of common imagery and their messages include:
Dreaming of a tiger or snake is considered auspicious, signaling forthcoming good fortune.
A dream featuring a coiled snake typically warns of impending unrest within the family.
Seeing oneself with blind eyes symbolizes a breakdown of trust, suggesting betrayal or deception among close relations.
In their culture, dreams can symbolize things that are going on within your body. Traditional Chinese medicine further connects dreaming to physical health, understanding dreams as bodily signals. According to literature about traditional Chinese dream medicine, dreams occur when Yin and Yang, the balancing forces of rest and action, coolness and heat, become unbalanced. Motifs within dreams include:
Dreams of intense heat or being burned signal an excess of internal heat, typically associated with emotional agitation, irritability, or even liver dysfunction.
Nightmares involving distress, fear, or sorrow are symptomatic of lung dryness, often linked to unresolved grief.
Dreams reflecting intense anger or violent emotions indicate liver-fire, a condition requiring bodily and emotional rebalancing.
Dream Symbolism in Japan
Japan offers its own cultural approach and traditional beliefs about dreams through "hatsuyume," the first dream experienced at the start of the new year. Japanese tradition holds hatsuyume as predictive of the person’s fortune, for the year, guided by the proverb: "ichi-Fuji, ni-taka, san-nasubi" ("first, Mount Fuji; second, hawk; third, eggplant"). Each symbol, used as the highest prediction of fortune, has important meanings:
Mount Fuji symbolizes stability, grandeur, and lasting good fortune.
The hawk signifies ambition, determination, and cleverness.
The eggplant (nasu), through linguistic association with the verb "nasu" meaning "to accomplish," represents achievement and success.
Due to the emphasis on dreams as being rather culturally meaningful indicators, practices such as dream journaling and consulting elders for interpretation remain common within Japan. There is also a tapir-like creature, the baku, within Japanese mythology that eats nightmares. Ever since the 1300s, people have prayed, given offerings, and slept with a picture of a baku under their pillows to calm their dreams and help with their nightmares.
Dreams in Southeast Asia
Outside of East Asia, indigenous groups within Southeast Asia have their own views on dream interpretation and why we dream. Anthropologist Doug Hollan notes in his book, “The Anthropology of Dreaming: Selfscape Dreams,” that there are significant differences in dream practices between Americans and ethnic groups like the Toraja indigenous group in Indonesia. Through his research, he found that while Americans are less likely to recall or openly discuss dreams, the Toraja people see dreaming as essential, continuous communication with spirits and ancestors.
In the Philippines, similar to Chinese literature, dreaming is connected directly to health and survival. The Filipino word"bangungot" refers to folklore in which one can fall into a sleep state where you feel suffocated or oppressed by an old hag, the batibat. According to legend, this can potentially result in death if they fail to wake. This condition is culturally understood as a moment when the spirit does not return to the body from the dream state. While a study by researchers has connected these deaths to conditions like acute pancreatitis or sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS), within Filipino cultural frameworks, this dream-death boundary is common mythology. Dreams are not only symbolic but can represent spiritual vulnerability and the ties between spiritual wellness and body health.
Lucid dreaming in Southeast Asia has also had a long history. Another anthropologist, Kilton Stewart, researched the Senoi communities in Malaysia in a paper called “Dream Theory in Malaya.” He found that these communities actively encourage their members to discuss dreams of fear and anxiety openly. A child’s nightmare encounter with an animal prompts guidance from elders to control the dream and to reshape the fear into courage and action. Similarly, dreams about interpersonal conflicts encourage resolution in waking life from elders. Within these communities, dream interpretation and lucid dreaming are used as tools for social harmony and mental health. Stewart wrote: “A child’s fearful dream of falling was praised as a gift to learn to fly the next night and where a dream-song or dance was taught to a neighboring tribe to create a common bond beyond differences of custom.”
Ending Thoughts
Dreaming, particularly in AAPI cultures, acts as diagnostic, cultural, communal, and ancestral messages. They are not merely personal experiences reserved for the individual. When viewed through this lens, talking about dreams becomes a powerful way of preserving and honoring cultural traditions.
If you're curious about tapping into this deeper layer, lucid dreaming might be worth exploring. Inspired by global dream traditions, EMPI DREAM is a science-backed platform for modern dream exploration and better sleep. Available now on the App Store.
