''Guizi'' () is a pejorative

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

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 ''Gweilo'' or (, pronounced ) is a common Cantonese slang term for Westerners. In the absence of modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use. Cantonese speakers frequently use to refer to ...

'' (鬼佬) was used and remains popular today, especially in the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

speaking region of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

, to the Japanese military in the term ''guizi bing'' (鬼子兵; lit. "devil soldiers") during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, 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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, anti-Japanese demonstrators from the New Party hoisted signs with "Guizi! Get out" (鬼子! 快滾) during the

2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations The China anti-Japanese demonstrations of 2012 or () were a series of demonstrations held across more than 100 cities in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan during August and September 2012. The main cause of the demonstrations was the escalat ...

Related terms

* '' Riben guizi'' () or ''dongyang guizi'' () — used to refer to

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. In 2010 Japanese internet users on

2channel , also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influe ...

created the fictional

moe Moe, MOE, MoE or m.o.e. may refer to: In arts and entertainment Characters * Moe Szyslak, from the animated television show ''The Simpsons'' * Moe, leader of The Three Stooges, played by Moe Howard * Moe Higurashi, supporting character in ''Yash ...

character which refers to the ethnic term, with ''Hinomoto Oniko'' being the Japanese

kun'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...

reading of the

Han characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

"日本鬼子". * '' Er guizi'' () — used to refer to

ethnic Korean Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refer ...

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

s and

parapolice Parapolice are law enforcement officers considered "beyond", "ancillary" or "subsidiary" to the regular police force (as in "Paramilitary", "Paramedic", or "Paralegal"). The term has been used in criminology to refer to private security with an exp ...

man who contributed to the Japanese occupation and war effort during the

and the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

.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 In Chinese culture, the word ''hanjian'' () is a pejorative term for a traitor to the Han Chinese state and, to a lesser extent, Han ethnicity. The word ''hanjian'' is distinct from the general word for traitor, which could be used for any cou ...

''s and Taiwanese conscripts. In modern times, however, the terms become somewhat synonymous with

race traitor Race traitor is a pejorative reference to a person who is perceived as supporting attitudes or positions thought to be against the supposed interests or well-being of that person's own race. The term is the source of the name of a quarterly magazi ...

, 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 The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

. * '' Jia yang guizi'' () — used to refer to "

sellout "Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal ga ...

" Chinese who adopt and worship Western values and are shameful/discriminatory to his own ethnic identity and cultural heritage. Initially used to describe

comprador A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a Indigenous peoples, native manager for a European business house in East ...

s and foreign-educated scholars during the late 19th century, who often dressed and talked like Westerners, the term is now synonymous to

s. A similar word in English is "Uncle Chan", which is derived from

Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to protect ...

and used to describe a xenophilic

Hongkonger Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

(and by further extension any

westernized Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...

Chinese, regardless of

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

or overseas origin) who are perceived as loathing Chinese identity, supporting

Hong Kong independence Hong Kong independence is a political movement that advocates the establishment of Hong Kong as an independent sovereign state. Hong Kong is one of two Special administrative regions of China (SAR) which enjoys a certain degree of autonomy ...

and pandering to

sinophobia Anti-Chinese sentiment, also known as Sinophobia, is a fear or dislike of China, Chinese people or Chinese culture. It often targets Chinese minorities living outside of China and involves immigration, development of national identity in ...

in order to gain favor from Westerners.

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

History

Usage

Related terms

See also

References