00:00In the previous video, we looked at the term Hei Gui.
00:05The term Gui, ghost or devil, is used in other racist insults too,
00:10such as Rheben Gui, generally translated as jab or nib,
00:15and Yang Gui, generally translated as foreign devil.
00:20Although what is in mind here are Western devils, particularly whites.
00:25In Taiwan, Yang Gui or Yang Gui-ze has fallen into disuse.
00:29The last time I can remember being called a Yang Gui was in about 1994,
00:35and the only people who ever did use that name to refer to me
00:39were first-generation mainland Chinese immigrants.
00:43It seems that this particular name was never carried over to the second generation.
00:49However, a variation is still in incredibly widespread use in Hong Kong,
00:54and that is Gui Lao, pronounced Gui Lo,
00:57which simply means ghost fellow or devil fellow.
01:01Most Chinese, and even many non-Chinese in the territory,
01:05assert that this term is not insulting.
01:08I believe this is because, for Chinese, they're not at the receiving end.
01:13When I asked a number of local people I knew when I lived there
01:17if they would consider Hong Kong devil to be harmless or to be derogatory,
01:22every single one of them told me they felt the term was derogatory.
01:27I also found that some of the local expat population in Hong Kong
01:32actually believed they were being called Gui Lo
01:36because to Chinese they seemed white as a ghost.
01:40This is way off the mark.
01:43The concept of a ghost being white, as if covered by a shroud,
01:46is entirely Western in origin.
01:52The real reason Caucasians came to be called Yang Gui
01:56is because Chinese people felt they looked like evil spirits.
02:02Here's an artist's impression of a Yang Gui, drawn in 1840.
02:07Notice the fur and the beak.
02:09As for the beak, we'll come back to that later.
02:11Most terms that use the character Gui are essentially negative.
02:17For example, Gui Hua means lies.
02:21Gui Guai are monsters.
02:23A Zhou Gui is an alcoholic.
02:26And a Si Gui is a sex fiend.
02:28And of course, Gui Lian is a grimace, an ugly face.
02:32Literally a face like a ghost or devil.
02:35And that's what people in China had in mind
02:38when the first Yang Gui appeared on the China coast.
02:41The colonising Portuguese and later British.
02:45Nothing at all to do with white shrouds and the like.
02:49In Chinese folk belief, there are basically two kinds of spirit.
02:54Good and bad.
02:56Shen, which are good spirits.
02:58Sometimes translated simply as spirits.
03:01But usually translated as gods, on the one hand.
03:05And Gui, on the other.
03:07Which are evil, malevolent and usually hideous looking.
03:10Here's an example of a god.
03:12The god of wealth.
03:14And you've already seen an example of a Gui.
03:17The furry, three-fingered creature or being with the beak.
03:22In ancient times, a part of modern China was once known as Shenzhou or Divine Province.
03:28And this later came to be another term for China.
03:32Can you imagine that there could be any confusion between Shen and Gui to the Chinese mind?
03:40It's a ridiculous idea.
03:43So, generally speaking, any name which includes the character Gui, like Hei Gui, Yang Gui, Rebem Gui or Gui Lao, is by its very nature an insult.
03:55Now let's move on to another term, often used in conjunction with Gui, and that is Fan or Barbarian.
04:06This term basically applies to all people who are not Chinese.
04:10And during Qing Dynasty rule, including in Taiwan, it was an official term, including for the Taiwan Aboriginals, who later came to be known as Mountain Compatriots.
04:22And finally, only in 1994, as Indigenous Taiwanese.
04:30Today, this term has fallen into disuse in most Chinese societies, with the notable exception of Hong Kong, where the term Fan Lo, Barbarian Fellow, is still in very widespread use, and often used along with Gui Lo to make Fan Gui Lo, a Barbarian Devil Fellow.
04:49When I lived in Hong Kong in the 1990s, I was called Fan Lo by my neighbours on a daily basis.
04:59Okay, back to Taiwan, where the most common term by far for a Caucasian is the Taiwanese Adowa, which can be roughly translated as Old Beaky.
05:10The meaning of Beaky may not seem obvious in English, unless written.
05:16So, alternatively, Old Beak Nose, or just Old Hook Nose, Old Big Nose, Old Nosey.
05:22See what you feel comfortable with.
05:24I prefer to stay close to the actual meaning of the character used, which is beak.
05:29So, that's the term I'll use for the rest of this video, and any further videos I use this name in.
05:35To be fair, many people, including many native Taiwanese, do not realise exactly what character is used in this term, and how offensive it is.
05:45This is because a variety of different characters, including Mandarin transliterations, are typically used in writing the same sound.
05:54But the correct character is the one which means beak.
05:59But even if Adowa is translated simply as Nosey or Big Nose, it's difficult to see how it could be anything but negative.
06:08Some Taiwanese will claim that a protruding nose is admired.
06:16But, by the same token, English speakers could claim that slanted eyes are beautiful, mysterious, and enchanting.
06:24But the terms slant and slant eye are regarded as racial slurs in English.
06:29At the end of the day, even if a name has no racial connotation, like fatso or skinny, it can only be regarded as not insulting by the target of the insult or compliment.
06:44The person doing the name-calling can't decide on other people's behalf whether or not it's insulting.
06:52So, who uses this name, Adowa, or Old Biki, then?
06:56I would say, on average, about three-quarters of the native Minnan or Taiwanese-speaking population use this term.
07:05And, in fact, they are unlikely to use any other, when referring to Caucasians in Taiwanese.
07:13That would be just over half the total population of Taiwan.
07:17But this is one of those terms like Oji-san or Oba-san, which were originally Japanese,
07:24that have come to be used so much by all native Taiwanese speakers,
07:29that it can be safely said that all people in Taiwan are familiar with it.
07:34In the neighbourhood where I live, for example, many of my neighbours, and other people I know,
07:41who know my name and use my name when speaking to me,
07:44will still prefer to call me Adowa when referring to me among themselves.
07:50Anyway, whether regarded as a compliment, an insult, or anything between,
07:55this is a term which is in such widespread use that it's very unlikely to disappear anytime soon,
08:02probably not within the next two or three decades.
08:05So, if you're planning on staying in Taiwan long-term, I would just get used to it.
08:09Finally, I'd like to finish off this second video in the series
08:16with something I often experience in my first ten years or so in Taiwan,
08:22which I think is now uncommon.
08:24And that's a kind of indirect insult.
08:28Or indirect for me at least, very direct for my girlfriend.
08:31So it's an insult in which the Chinese partner in a mixed couple is insulted,
08:36especially if the Chinese partner is female.
08:41Why mention it if it doesn't happen much anymore?
08:45Well, I heard from various sources that this is still very common in some parts of the PRC.
08:52And many foreign nationals who come to Taiwan to study Mandarin,
08:57or to work here for a year or two,
08:59end up spending some time travelling around mainland China.
09:03So, in this approach, somebody, usually a complete stranger, will ask,
09:11Why are you with a foreigner?
09:13Chinese not good enough for you.
09:16The more severe version is to simply throw an insult,
09:20like xia liu, at the Chinese female.
09:25Xia liu means low life,
09:27but if there's a sexual connotation, it's usually translated as slut.
09:32If you get the impression that things are much better in Taiwan in this respect,
09:39now than they were a few decades ago,
09:41you're absolutely right.
09:44Or at least that's my impression too.
09:46Well, that just about wraps up this second video,
09:50and I think just one more is needed to finish with this subject.
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