Traditional Chinese 危機 Hanyu Pinyin Wade–Giles wei-chi | Simplified Chinese 危机 Hanyu Pinyin | |
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The Chinese word for "crisis" (simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī) is frequently invoked in Western motivational speaking as being composed of two Chinese characters respectively signifying "danger" and "opportunity". This is, however, an etymological fallacy, as the primary meaning of the character pronounced jī (simplified Chinese: 机; traditional Chinese: 機) is not "opportunity".
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Usage
American linguist Benjamin Zimmer has traced mentions in English of the Chinese term for "crisis" as far as an anonymous editorial in a 1938 journal for missionaries in China. But its use probably gained momentum in the United States after John F. Kennedy employed this trope in speeches in 1959 and 1960:
In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters,
one representing danger and the other, opportunity.
Referencing the word has since become a staple meme for American business consultants and motivational speakers, as well as gaining popularity in educational institutions, politics and in the popular press. For example, in 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice applied it during Middle East peace talks. Former Vice President Al Gore did so both in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, in the introduction of An Inconvenient Truth, and in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance lecture.
Benjamin Zimmer attributes the appeal of this anecdote to its "handiness" as a rhetorical device and optimistic "call to action", as well as to "wishful thinking".
Public mistranslation
Chinese philologist Victor H. Mair of the University of Pennsylvania states the popular interpretation of wēijī as "danger" plus "opportunity" is a "widespread public misperception" in the English-speaking world. While wēi (危) does mean "dangerous" or "precarious", the element jī (机) is highly polysemous. The basic theme common to its meaning is something like "critical point". "Opportunity" in Chinese is instead a compound noun that contains jī, jīhuì (机会, literally "meeting a critical point"). Popular television show The Simpsons may have contributed to this widespread misunderstanding by scripting the most well-read and intellectual member of the family (Lisa) to make the claim that "the Chinese have the same word for crisis as opportunity."