Killer Fact 洋鬼子 yáng guǐzi

Killer Fact  洋鬼子 yáng guǐzi

Here is something interesting a pejorative term for foreigners 洋鬼子 yáng guǐzi  literal translation is a 'Foreign Devil'. 

Now where does this all come from?  I am glad you asked. Historically (not now of course) the Chinese viewed people beyond their borders as barbarians.

Two derogatory terms were used;

In the southern parts of China, the term Gweilo or Gwai Lo 鬼佬; Cantonese gwai2 lou2 was used.

In Northern parts of China, the term Western ocean ghost 西洋 鬼子 Xi Yang Guizi was used, Europe West of China.

Breaking it down;

The term gui 鬼 ghost in guizi devils 鬼子 is an adjective that can be used to express hate and deprecation. The character gui 鬼 alone can have negative connotations.

More information;

Westerners were called Yang Guizi 洋鬼子 during Boxer Rebellion 1898 - 1901.

Japanese military in the term devil soldiers Guizi Bing 鬼子兵 during the Second Sino-Japanese War 1937 - 1945.  The Korean military with the term Second Devil Er Guizi 二鬼子.

Guizi can be used to refer to either Japanese 日本鬼子; pinyin: rìběn guǐzi; literally "Japanese devil", or  東洋鬼子; pinyin: dōngyáng guǐzi; literally "east ocean devil".

Westerners  洋鬼子 yáng guǐzi; literally "Westernern devil, west ocean devil" or 西洋鬼子; pinyin: xiyáng guǐzi; literally "west ocean devil".

Now another word for foreigners in Mandarin Chinese is Laowai   老外 lǎowài literally "Old Outsider" (Alien is actually the best translation) is also a little bit controversial with some folk. Especially the expatriate community in China. Similarities in other lands include gringo  how some Americans view the Spanish/Brazilian Portuguese in their lands, the Japanese word gaijin,  Thailand has farang and Germans have Ausländer. By the way I have been a  gaijin, a farang and an  Ausländer and it didn't bother me.

你好。我是样鬼子。

Guest post by Principal Kevin Lewis of Mandarin World

Mandarin World is a newly opened Chinese language school in Shanghai - Pudong. We are offering group classes, online classes and also one on one tutoring. We can also aide people in getting student visas if they wish to study for a longer period of time in our school.

Our brand new school has five classrooms, two language clinics, a lecture room and an activity room, that also doubles as a TV room. We also have a beautiful lounge for students to chat in, a computer room for students to do self study, as well as a quiet study room. We have an English language DVD and Book swap service for our students and also a growing library of books on learning Chinese, as well as about China in general. Follow the link for some complimentary Chinese Language Learning Resources.

 
The whole idea of Mandarin World is that we don’t only provide students with a chance to study in the classroom, but also plenty of resources to learn outside of the classroom. I hope that students who come to our school will want to stay after their classes to make use of our facilities and to ‘hang out’ with fellow students and staff.

 
I have been told that there are approximately 200 schools in Shanghai offering Chinese language however I believe we have a few strengths that help us stand out from the crowd.  

• Firstly thanks to our contacts with many local universities we can supply student visas.

• Secondly we are foreign run so that we can try to offer foreigner friendly classes for our students.

Also when you are new like us, quality is the main focus - we care about every student - we’d be foolish not to! After hearing about many students’ complaints in relation to unhappy language learning experiences in other schools and colleges, I’ve taken those complaints to heart and we have tried to do our best to provide the best Chinese language service that we believe our students will be happy with.

However more importantly if you are not happy with our school, work with us to make the learning experience work for you.

To learn more about our school visit our website at Mandarin World

Want to know more contact Mandarin World