Er Guizi

''Guizi'' () is a pejorative Chinese slang term for foreigners. It has had a history of containing xenophobic connotations.

History

Starting with the arrival of European sailors in the sixteenth century, foreigners were often perceived in China as "uncivilized tribes given to mayhem and destruction". Within the southern parts of China, the term '' gweilo'' (鬼佬) was used and remains popular today, especially in the Cantonese speaking region of Hong Kong. In northern parts, the term "Occidental devil" (西洋鬼子 ''xiyáng guǐzi'') was used, with Europe being West of China.

Usage

The term ''gui'' (鬼) in ''guizi'' (鬼子) is an adjective that can be used to express hate and deprecation, an example being the local's expression of their hatred towards the Japanese during their occupation of China in World War II with the same ''gui'' (鬼). It conveys a general bad and negative feeling and is a somewhat obsolete and archaic/old-fashioned term nowadays; other more modern terms have largely replaced ''gui'' (鬼) for similarly negative meanings.

The character ''gui'' (鬼) itself can have negative connotations, even without the word ''zi'' (子). For example, when it was attached to the Westerners in the term ''yang guizi'' (洋鬼子; lit. "overseas devils") during the Boxer Rebellion, to the Japanese military in the term ''guizi bing'' (鬼子兵; lit. "devil soldiers") during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and to the Korean collaborators with the term ''er guizi'' (二鬼子; lit. "second-rank devil"). However, the same term can also be applied derogatorily to any foreign military which was an enemy to China. In Taiwan, anti-Japanese demonstrators from the New Party hoisted signs with "Guizi! Get out" (鬼子! 快滾) during the 2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations.

Related terms

* '' Riben guizi'' () or ''dongyang guizi'' () — used to refer to Japanese. In 2010 Japanese internet users on 2channel created the fictional moe character which refers to the ethnic term, with ''Hinomoto Oniko'' being the Japanese kun'yomi reading of the Han characters "日本鬼子".
* '' Er guizi'' () — used to refer to ethnic Korean conscripts and parapoliceman who contributed to the Japanese occupation and war effort during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War.第一滴血──從日方史料還原平型關之戰日軍損失 (6)
News of the Communist Party of China December 16, 2011 It was later extended to refer to all collaborators with the Japanese, including ''hanjian''s and Taiwanese conscripts. In modern times, however, the terms become somewhat synonymous with race traitor, referring to any Chinese nationals and foreign-born ethnic Chinese who act as appeasers or promoters of foreign interests at the expense of Chinese national interests.
* '' Yang guizi'' () or ''xiyang guizi'' () — used to refer to Westerners.
* '' Jia yang guizi'' () — used to refer to "sellout" Chinese who adopt and worship Western values and are shameful/discriminatory to his own ethnic identity and cultural heritage. Initially used to describe compradors and foreign-educated scholars during the late 19th century, who often dressed and talked like Westerners, the term is now synonymous to race traitors. A similar word in English is "Uncle Chan", which is derived from Uncle Tom and used to describe a xenophilic Hongkonger (and by further extension any westernized Chinese, regardless of mainland or overseas origin) who are perceived as loathing Chinese identity, supporting Hong Kong independence and pandering to sinophobia in order to gain favor from Westerners.

See also

* Ang mo
* Gaijin, a Japanese word for foreigners
*Jap
*''The Sword March'', the National Revolutionary Army marching cadence which popularized its use against the Japanese
* Xiao Riben

References

{{Ethnic slurs

Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
Anti-Korean sentiment in China
Anti-Western sentiment
China–Japan relations
China–Korea relations
Boxer Rebellion
Chinese words and phrases
Pejorative terms for in-group non-members
Xenophobia in Asia