second hand origin stories

Second hand origin stories are tales or accounts of the origin of something that are passed on from others. For example, in a community, the story about how the local library was founded might be a second hand origin story if it's told by someone who heard it from an older generation or someone else.

Not really. Since they are second hand, there's a chance of misinformation. People might misremember or exaggerate details.

One origin story of hand games could be from ancient tribal communities. These games might have been used as a form of entertainment during festivals or gatherings. They were simple ways to pass the time and also served as a means of friendly competition among tribe members.

In African cultures, some hand games have their roots in traditional folklore. They were used to tell stories or pass on cultural values. For instance, certain hand movements could represent different animals in a story.

The allusion to the hand pointing to the moon came from the Six Ancestors Altar Scripture. In the records of the Six Ancestors Altar Sutra, Wuqiong Zangni told the sixth ancestor Hui Neng that she had studied the Nirvana Sutra for many years and still had many questions and hoped to get some advice. Hui Neng said that he was illiterate and asked Wuqiong Zangni to read the sutra to him so that he might be able to help solve the problem. Wuqiong Zangni mocked Hui Neng for being illiterate and how he could explain the sutra. Hui Neng replied that the truth had nothing to do with words. The truth was like the bright moon in the sky, and the words were just fingers pointing at the moon. The fingers could point to the location of the bright moon. However, the finger was not the moon, and the moon did not necessarily have to be seen through the finger. The novel " Watching the Moon on Fish Island " is equally exciting. Everyone is welcome to click and read it!