Guizi

''Guizi'' ( zh, c=鬼子, p=guǐzi, l=devil) is a pejorative Chinese slang term referring to foreigners, with a history of 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". In the southern parts of China, the term '' gweilo'' () was used; this term remains popular today in the Cantonese-speaking regions of China. In northern parts, the term 'western devil' ( ) was used.

Use

The character ''gui'' () can have negative connotations itself without the ''zi'' () suffix. For example, when it was attached to the Westerners in the term ''yang guizi'' ( 'overseas devils') during the Boxer Rebellion, to the Japanese military in the term ''guizi bing'' ( 'devil soldiers') during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and to the Korean collaborators with the term ''er guizi'' ( 'second-rank devil'). It can also be used as an adjective to express hatred and deprecation. 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" () during the 2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations. Local expressions towards the Japanese during their occupation of China during World War II also used ''gui''. The term conveys a generalized negative feeling; it is somewhat archaic in contemporary use, and other comparatively negative terms have largely replaced it.

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 Chinese characters .
* ''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)
. ''People's Daily''. December 16, 2011 It was later extended to refer to all collaborators with the Japanese, including ''hanjians'' and Taiwanese conscripts. In modern times, however, the terms became synonymous with race traitor, referring to any Chinese nationals and overseas Chinese who act as appeasers or promoters of foreign interests at the expense of Chinese national interests.
* ''Yang guizi'' () or ''xiyang guizi'' ( zh, c=西洋鬼子, p=xiyáng guǐzi, l=west ocean devil) — used to refer to Westerners.
* ''Jia yang guizi'' () — used to refer to "sellout" Chinese who adopt Western values and are discriminatory to their 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 self-hating, supporting Hong Kong independence and pandering to sinophobia in order to gain favor from Westerners.

See also

* Ang mo
* Gaijin — 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 strangers and foreigners
Xenophobia in Asia