Pejorative Chinese language slang term for foreigners
Guizi (
Chinese: 鬼子;
pinyin: guǐzi;
lit. 'devil') is a pejorative
Chinese slang term referring to foreigners, with a history of xenophobic connotations.[2]
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".[3][4] In the southern parts of China, the term gweilo (鬼佬) was used; this term remains popular today in the
Cantonese-speaking regions of China. In northern parts, the term 'western devil' (西洋鬼子xiyáng guǐzi) was used.[4]
Use
The character gui (鬼) can have negative connotations itself without the zi (子) suffix. For example, when it was attached to the Westerners in the term yang guizi (洋鬼子 'overseas devils') during the
Boxer Rebellion, to the Japanese military in the term guizi bing (鬼子兵 'devil soldiers') during the
Second Sino-Japanese War, and to the Korean collaborators with the term er guizi (二鬼子 '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" (鬼子!快滾) during the
2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations.[1] 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 (日本鬼子; 'Japanese devil') or dongyang guizi (東洋鬼子; dōngyáng guǐzi; 'east ocean devil') — used to refer to
Japanese. In 2010 Japanese internet users on
2channel created the fictional
moe character
Hinomoto Oniko (日本鬼子) which refers to the ethnic term, with Hinomoto Oniko being the Japanese kun'yomi reading of the
Chinese characters日本鬼子.[5]
Er guizi (二鬼子; 'second-rank devil') — 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.[6] 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 (洋鬼子; 'overseas devil') or xiyang guizi (
Chinese: 西洋鬼子;
pinyin: xiyáng guǐzi;
lit. 'west ocean devil') — used to refer to Westerners.
Jia yang guizi (假洋鬼子; 'fake overseas devil') — 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 traitor]s. 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.
^Chee, Harold; West, Chris (2007), Chee, Harold; West, Chris (eds.), "The Chinese are irrationally xenophobic", Myths about doing business in China, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 75–84,
doi:
10.1057/9780230286771_7,
ISBN9780230286771