Chinese word for crisis
A widely repeated but incorrect etymology of the Chinese word for crisis.
A popular Western myth claims the Chinese word for crisis combines the characters for "danger" and "opportunity." In reality, the second character means something like "change point." This error spread widely after John F. Kennedy used it in his campaign speeches.
Quick Facts
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- ㄨㄟ ㄐㄧ (Mainland), ㄨㄟˊ ㄐㄧ (Taiwan)
Facts from the source article.
Origins
The common English belief that the Chinese word weiji combines “danger” and “opportunity” is mistaken. The first character does mean “dangerous,” but the second character has many meanings and here indicates a “change point,” not “opportunity.” The error likely stems from the fact that this second character also appears within the Chinese term for “opportunity.”
History
The familiar idea that the Chinese word for crisis combines danger and opportunity first appeared in English in a 1938 missionary journal, in an unsigned editorial. Public intellectual Lewis Mumford helped popularize it in 1944 by writing that the Chinese symbol for crisis contains one element meaning danger and another meaning opportunity. The phrase likely took off in the United States after John F. Kennedy used it in his 1959 and 1960 campaign speeches, possibly borrowing from Mumford. Since then, it has become a standard saying among American business consultants and motivational speakers, and has spread into schools, politics, and the media. For instance, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice invoked it during 2007 Middle East peace talks, and Al Gore used it repeatedly—in House testimony, in the introduction to An Inconvenient Truth, and in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Linguist Benjamin Zimmer explains the anecdote’s lasting appeal as a handy rhetorical tool and an optimistic call to action, but also as a form of wishful thinking.
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