Gweilo
Encyclopedia
Gweilo or Gwailo is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use. If there is some racially deprecatory meaning or it is expressive of hate, it is shown by the addition of the adjective, sei (死, jyutping
: sei2, meaning dead or damned) or as a prefix: seigwailo (死鬼佬). The female equivalent is seigweipor (死鬼婆). Furthermore, it can be used as an adjective
for western ways or style.
" refers to the paler complexions of stereotypical Caucasians
). The term is sometimes translated into English as foreign devil. The term arose in the 16th century when Europe
an sailors appeared in southern China
as they were associated with barbarians. Historically, Chinese people had the image of its borders continuously breached by "uncivilized tribes" given to mayhem and destruction. The term was popularised during the First
and Second Opium War
s in response to the Unequal Treaties. In Southern parts of China, the term gwai lo was used. In Northern parts of China, the term (Western) ocean ghost ((西)洋鬼子 (Xi) Yangguizi) was used, Europe being West of China.
The term gwei (鬼) in gweilo (鬼佬) 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 Hong Kong in WWII with the same gwei (鬼). It conveys a general bad and negative feeling and is a somewhat obsolete and archaic/old-fashioned term nowadays and other more modern terms have largely replaced gwei (鬼) for similarly negative meanings.
The pejorative sense of gweilo (鬼佬) can be specified when the term is prefaced by the adjective sei (死, jyutping
: sei2, meaning dead or damned); sei gweilo (死鬼佬), literally means "dead ghost man," thus means a bad "gweilo," or a bad Caucasian. "Sei" (死) is also commonly added to other terms in order to describe the person or people being referred to as "bad", such as "sei lo" (死佬), meaning literally "dead man" or "bad guy" and "sei chai lo" (死差佬), literally "dead policeman" or "bad policeman". Chinese people also can call each other "Sei gwei" (死鬼), literally meaning "dead ghost", but refers to a bad person also, though more often than not it is applied affectionately, similar to "Hey bitch!" in English when used affectionately. The character gwei (鬼) itself can have negative connotations, even without the word sei (死), for example when it was attached to the Japanese military in the term "Guizi Bing" (鬼子兵) during their invasion of China which lasted from 1931 to 1945. However, the same term can also be applied derogatorily to any foreign military which was an enemy to China.
While "gwailo" is commonly used by some Cantonese speakers in informal speech, the more polite alternative sai yan ' onMouseout='HidePop("23453")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutping
: sai1 jan4, literally: "western person") is now used.
The term is often considered racist by non-Cantonese people. Many Cantonese speakers, however, frequently use the term "gweilo" to refer to foreigners in general and they consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the foreign community resent. On the other hand, some members of the Hong Kong community with foreign ancestry, particularly the younger generation, embrace the term. The term "lo" (佬) when used in other situations is generally quaint as it is a term that has mostly fallen out of use and the intentional use of it carries a certain comical sense.
Due to its widespread use, the term gwei, which means ghost, has taken on the general meaning of "foreigner", although still derogatory, and can refer to white people although other racial terms for Africans can be used for these people perceived to be non-white. Indians and other middle east people is called Ar-cha (阿差) or Mor-law-chai(摩羅差). For further information, see Chinese wikipedia link :zh:摩羅差.
in Toronto
had a cooking show named Gwai Lo Cooking. It featured a Cantonese-speaking European chef as the host, who was also the show's producer and the person who named the show. In response to some complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
ruled that
According to CFMT-TV, "Gwei Lo" was used as "a self-deprecating term of endearment". Others, however, particularly foreigners living in Hong Kong, and non-Chinese subjected to the term in Vancouver and Toronto, find it to be demeaning and/or racist. However, it is also used by some non-Chinese (sometimes jocularly) to address themselves in the context of experiencing discrimination by Chinese towards them.
Use of the term "gwei" to refer to Westerners is frequently referenced in Maxine Hong Kingston
's The Woman Warrior
.
In the film Balls of Fury
Randy Daytona is often referred to as a gweilo as he is the only Caucasian player in the school.
In the film Out for a Kill
Steven Seagal
's character is frequently referred to as the "gweilo professor".
In the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Bruce Lee (played by Jason Scott Lee) is told to not teach his moves any more to the 'Gweilo'. Or face a battle. Lee wants to teach to whoever wants to learn.
Lily Wong comic stories by Larry Feign
about the build up to the handover of Hong Kong
to China
have frequent references to the term, often in a derogatory sense used by Lily's father.
In the 2000 computer game Deus Ex
, when the player embarks on the Hong Kong mission he is often disparagingly referred to as "gweilo" by locals when attempting to talk to them. The phrase is also commonly used by harvesters in the 2011 prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
In the 2010 video game Mafia 2 the protagonist Vito is derogatively referred to as "gweilo" by Chinese characters
In the HBO drama Deadwood
, Chinese settler Mr. Wu frequently applies the term "gwai lo" to various white men. It is translated as "cocksucker" by Wu himself.
In the 1986 Movie "Big Trouble in Little China
", James Hong
refers to Kurt Russell
as a "gwai lo".
In the 1974 book Henry Golightly by Geoffry Morgan Pike
the main character is referred to as a "gwai lo" as he works on his boat in Macau
and other parts of Asia.
In the 2009 book The Windup Girl
by Paolo Bacigalupi
the main character is referred to as a "yang guizi" by a Chinese employee as he manages a factory in futuristic Bangkok
.
In Mandarin, guizi is a similar term to gweilo. Guizi, however, can be used to refer to either the Japanese
(specifically, rìběn guǐzi "Japanese devil" or dōngyáng guǐzi "east ocean devil") or Europeans ( yáng guǐzi "foreign devil, (west) ocean devil"). Laowai ( lǎowài "old foreigner" or "old outsider") is a word usually used for Europeans, and is a less pejorative term in Mandarin than guizi. Also, cf. Ang Mo
meaning 'red hair' (Hokkien) .
Jyutping
Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: sei2, meaning dead or damned) or as a prefix: seigwailo (死鬼佬). The female equivalent is seigweipor (死鬼婆). Furthermore, it can be used as an adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
for western ways or style.
Etymology and history
Gwai Lo literally means "ghost man" (the word "ghostGhosts in Chinese culture
There are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius said, "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."The ghosts take many forms depending on the way in which the person died, and are often harmful....
" refers to the paler complexions of stereotypical Caucasians
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
). The term is sometimes translated into English as foreign devil. The term arose in the 16th century when Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an sailors appeared in southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
as they were associated with barbarians. Historically, Chinese people had the image of its borders continuously breached by "uncivilized tribes" given to mayhem and destruction. The term was popularised during the First
First Opium War
The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...
and Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
s in response to the Unequal Treaties. In Southern parts of China, the term gwai lo was used. In Northern parts of China, the term (Western) ocean ghost ((西)洋鬼子 (Xi) Yangguizi) was used, Europe being West of China.
Usage
Nowadays, some Hong Kong residents and other Cantonese speakers often refer to Caucasians and other people by their biology. This is in sharp contrast to the remainder of the People's Republic of China, including the Cantonese-speaking south, where foreigners are most commonly referred to as "old foreigner" (laowai 老外).The term gwei (鬼) in gweilo (鬼佬) 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 Hong Kong in WWII with the same gwei (鬼). It conveys a general bad and negative feeling and is a somewhat obsolete and archaic/old-fashioned term nowadays and other more modern terms have largely replaced gwei (鬼) for similarly negative meanings.
The pejorative sense of gweilo (鬼佬) can be specified when the term is prefaced by the adjective sei (死, jyutping
Jyutping
Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: sei2, meaning dead or damned); sei gweilo (死鬼佬), literally means "dead ghost man," thus means a bad "gweilo," or a bad Caucasian. "Sei" (死) is also commonly added to other terms in order to describe the person or people being referred to as "bad", such as "sei lo" (死佬), meaning literally "dead man" or "bad guy" and "sei chai lo" (死差佬), literally "dead policeman" or "bad policeman". Chinese people also can call each other "Sei gwei" (死鬼), literally meaning "dead ghost", but refers to a bad person also, though more often than not it is applied affectionately, similar to "Hey bitch!" in English when used affectionately. The character gwei (鬼) itself can have negative connotations, even without the word sei (死), for example when it was attached to the Japanese military in the term "Guizi Bing" (鬼子兵) during their invasion of China which lasted from 1931 to 1945. However, the same term can also be applied derogatorily to any foreign military which was an enemy to China.
While "gwailo" is commonly used by some Cantonese speakers in informal speech, the more polite alternative sai yan ' onMouseout='HidePop("23453")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutping
Jyutping
Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: sai1 jan4, literally: "western person") is now used.
The term is often considered racist by non-Cantonese people. Many Cantonese speakers, however, frequently use the term "gweilo" to refer to foreigners in general and they consider the term non-derogatory, which some members of the foreign community resent. On the other hand, some members of the Hong Kong community with foreign ancestry, particularly the younger generation, embrace the term. The term "lo" (佬) when used in other situations is generally quaint as it is a term that has mostly fallen out of use and the intentional use of it carries a certain comical sense.
Variations
Gweilo is the most generic term, but variations include:- To refer specifically to non-Chinese women: gweipor ' onMouseout='HidePop("98138")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutpingJyutpingJyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: gwai2 po4, literally: "ghost woman") which is also often spelt "gwai-poh" ("poh" implies the person is old) - To refer specifically to non-Chinese boys: gweizai ' onMouseout='HidePop("72824")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutpingJyutpingJyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: gwai2 zai2, literally: "ghost boy") - To refer specifically to non-Chinese girls: gweimui ' onMouseout='HidePop("47510")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutpingJyutpingJyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: gwai2 mui1, literally: "ghost girl") - To refer to a white foreigner: bakgwei ' onMouseout='HidePop("71567")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutpingJyutpingJyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: baak6 gwai2, literally: "white ghost") - To refer to a blackBlack peopleThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
foreigner: hakgwei ' onMouseout='HidePop("95625")' href="/topics/Jyutping">jyutpingJyutpingJyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: hak1 gwai2, literally: "black ghost")
Due to its widespread use, the term gwei, which means ghost, has taken on the general meaning of "foreigner", although still derogatory, and can refer to white people although other racial terms for Africans can be used for these people perceived to be non-white. Indians and other middle east people is called Ar-cha (阿差) or Mor-law-chai(摩羅差). For further information, see Chinese wikipedia link :zh:摩羅差.
Cultural reference
In 1999, CFMT-TVCFMT-TV
CFMT-DT, channel 47, is a television station based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with rebroadcasters in Ottawa and London. The station broadcasts multicultural programming targeting European and Latin American communities throughout Southern Ontario. Part of the Omni Television group of stations...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
had a cooking show named Gwai Lo Cooking. It featured a Cantonese-speaking European chef as the host, who was also the show's producer and the person who named the show. In response to some complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its members, Canada's private broadcasters....
ruled that
According to CFMT-TV, "Gwei Lo" was used as "a self-deprecating term of endearment". Others, however, particularly foreigners living in Hong Kong, and non-Chinese subjected to the term in Vancouver and Toronto, find it to be demeaning and/or racist. However, it is also used by some non-Chinese (sometimes jocularly) to address themselves in the context of experiencing discrimination by Chinese towards them.
Use of the term "gwei" to refer to Westerners is frequently referenced in Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United...
's The Woman Warrior
The Woman Warrior
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is a memoir by Maxine Hong Kingston, published by Vintage Books in 1975. Although there are many scholarly debates surrounding the official genre classification of the book, it can best be described as a work of creative non-fiction.Throughout...
.
In the film Balls of Fury
Balls of Fury
Balls of Fury is a 2007 American sports comedy film starring Dan Fogler and Christopher Walken. It was directed by Ben Garant and was released on August 29, 2007.-Plot:...
Randy Daytona is often referred to as a gweilo as he is the only Caucasian player in the school.
In the film Out for a Kill
Out for a Kill
Out for a Kill is a 2003 straight-to-video action film directed by Michael Oblowitz. It stars Steven Seagal- Plot :This Steven Seagal thriller sees Wong Dai , the world's most powerful Chinese drug kingpin, is sitting at a long table in an old building in Paris, France, going through the motions of...
Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
's character is frequently referred to as the "gweilo professor".
In the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a 1993 American semi fictionalized biographical martial arts action film telling the story of actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee, starring Jason Scott Lee as Bruce Lee, Lauren Holly and Robert Wagner...
Bruce Lee (played by Jason Scott Lee) is told to not teach his moves any more to the 'Gweilo'. Or face a battle. Lee wants to teach to whoever wants to learn.
Lily Wong comic stories by Larry Feign
Larry Feign
Larry Feign , an American-born cartoonist, is best known for his comic strip The World of Lily Wong. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, graduating with a B.A. in 1979...
about the build up to the handover of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
have frequent references to the term, often in a derogatory sense used by Lily's father.
In the 2000 computer game Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
, when the player embarks on the Hong Kong mission he is often disparagingly referred to as "gweilo" by locals when attempting to talk to them. The phrase is also commonly used by harvesters in the 2011 prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
In the 2010 video game Mafia 2 the protagonist Vito is derogatively referred to as "gweilo" by Chinese characters
In the HBO drama Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
, Chinese settler Mr. Wu frequently applies the term "gwai lo" to various white men. It is translated as "cocksucker" by Wu himself.
In the 1986 Movie "Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown...
", James Hong
James Hong
James Hong is an American actor and former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists . A prolific acting veteran, Hong's career spans over 50 years and includes more than 350 roles in film, television, and video games.-Early life:Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His...
refers to Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
as a "gwai lo".
In the 1974 book Henry Golightly by Geoffry Morgan Pike
Geoffry Morgan Pike
-Background and early years:Geoffrey Morgan Pike is a British-born, naturalized Australian writer and cartoonist. He was born in in Tottenham Middlesex, England on 17 October 1929. His parents are Mildred and Robert Pike. He has two siblings, Anthony J...
the main character is referred to as a "gwai lo" as he works on his boat in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
and other parts of Asia.
In the 2009 book The Windup Girl
The Windup Girl
The Windup Girl is a biopunk science fiction novel written by Paolo Bacigalupi and published in September 2009. It was named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by TIME magazine, and as the best science fiction book of the year in the Reference and User Services Association's 2010 Reading List...
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Paolo Bacigalupi
Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer.He has won the Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and was nominated for the National Book Award...
the main character is referred to as a "yang guizi" by a Chinese employee as he manages a factory in futuristic Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
.
Related terms
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
(specifically, rìběn guǐzi "Japanese devil" or dōngyáng guǐzi "east ocean devil") or Europeans ( yáng guǐzi "foreign devil, (west) ocean devil"). Laowai ( lǎowài "old foreigner" or "old outsider") is a word usually used for Europeans, and is a less pejorative term in Mandarin than guizi. Also, cf. Ang Mo
Ang Mo
Ang mo or Ang moh is a racial epithet describing Caucasian , mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. It literally means "red-haired" and originates from Hokkien...
meaning 'red hair' (Hokkien) .
See also
- List of slang terms for white people in non-Western countries
- Ang moAng MoAng mo or Ang moh is a racial epithet describing Caucasian , mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. It literally means "red-haired" and originates from Hokkien...
- BuleBuleBule is a commonly used word in Indonesia to describe a foreigner, especially Caucasians.Many dictionaries point out that the strict definition of the word is albino. However, this definition have lost usage in both spoken and written form over the English loanword, albino...
- ChinamanChinamanChinaman is a contentious term referring to a Chinese person* whether of Han Chinese ethnicity* or a citizen of China, Chinese people.Or the term may also refer to:* A colloquial term for a square hay baler overhead feeding plunger...
- FarangFarangFarang , also spelled falang, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is khon tang prathet . There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on...
- GaijinGaijinis a Japanese word meaning "non-Japanese", or "alien". This word is a short form of gaikokujin , which literally means "person from outside of the country". The word is composed of two kanji: , meaning "outside"; and , meaning "person". Thus, the word technically means "outsider"...
- Guizi lai le by Jiang WenJiang WenJiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...
- Round Eyes in the Middle KingdomRound Eyes in the Middle KingdomRound Eyes in the Middle Kingdom is a 1995 documentary directed by Ronald Levaco, an American filmmaker who journeyed back to China, the nation of his boyhood days, to discover what became of an old friend of his family, Israel Epstein.-Summary:...
(documentary) - Gweilo: Memoirs of a Hong Kong childhoodGweilo: Memoirs of a Hong Kong childhoodGweilo: Memoirs of a Hong Kong Childhood is an autobiography by author Martin Booth published in 2004 shortly before he died. The book discusses the author's childhood in Hong Kong. The term "gweilo" is Cantonese for ghost, but has been applied as a racial epithet for Caucasians...