You have much to learn, Grasshopper

The observation that the Chinese word for crisis is made up of characters meaning "danger" and "opportunity" has always struck me as an especially irritating example of Low-Cal Asian Wisdom. "A whole industry of pundits and therapists has grown up around this . . . formulation," as Victor Mair, a professor of Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania, observes. "A casual search of the Web turns up more than a million references . . .  It appears, often complete with Chinese characters, on the covers of books, on advertisements for seminars, on expensive courses for "thinking outside of the box," and practically everywhere one turns in the world of quick-buck business, pop psychology, and orientalist hocus-pocus. This catchy expression (Crisis = Danger + Opportunity) has rapidly become nearly as ubiquitous as The Tao of Pooh and Sun Zi's Art of War for the Board / Bed / Bath / Whichever Room."

Hilarious, then, to discover that it is simply not true. The Chinese word for crisis - wēijī - actually means . . . crisis.

It is all explained in patient detail by Professor Mair. In isolation, the first character of the word, wēi, does indeed mean danger, but jī is not even close to opportunity.

The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like "incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes)." Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary. It is not a juncture when one goes looking for advantages and benefits. In a crisis, one wants above all to save one's skin and neck! Any would-be guru who advocates opportunism in the face of crisis should be run out of town on a rail, for his / her advice will only compound the danger of the crisis.

A million business seminars bite the dust. You can read Professor Mair's full essay here.

Thanks to the ever alert Shisaku for this link.

Comments

[Chen]

hi,Mr.Parry, Professor Mair's explanation is exactly correct. Yet I’d like to tell you that ‘Ji’ is by itself a very complicated character, even has some Buddhism meaning. But in all, the issue of this Chinese spelling is basically a false one, for Weiji is not an original Chinese word, it’s a word reimported from Japan, just as Shinbun, Shakai, Buturi, etc. ‘A million business seminars bite the dust’ before they start.

[Declan]

This post reminds me of one of my favorite "Simpsons" lines;

Lisa; "Dad, did you know the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' and 'opportunity'"?

Homer; "Yes, Crisatunity!"

[Minivet]

Spot-on. Should inform you, though, that that image you included in your post is not weiji (危機/危机), but rather corresponds to pinyin (拼音), the name of the romanization system and the quoted author's website.

[Chen]

Dear Declan, would you be kind to explain what "Simpsons" lines are? Thank you in advance.

[Chen]

apology to Mr. Parry and Professor Mair.
My conclusion is wrong. Weiji is really a Chinese word. I'm sorry very much.

[Declan]

Hi Chen,

Not sure if you are joking or not; "The Simpsons" is a satirical (animated) tv show - if you have never seen it, I highly recommend it.

Apologies for lowering the academic tone of this blog with continued "Simpsons" references, but it's interesting that "crisatunity" appears to be entering the lexicon; over 500 google references, it's on urbandictionary.com, numerous blogs, and I've heard it in conversation too; "That's one hell of a crisatunity", and so on . . .

This will create a crisatunity for etymologists/linguists of the future, in my opinion. A word invented on a tv show, in sarcastic reference to an (apparently incorrect) urban legend, which has now entered the lexicon. Someone will write a PhD about this someday . . .

[Chen]

Dear Declan, of course I'm not joking, for I really enjoy the humorous wit in the compound word, and thank you very much for your information.

[Firozali A.Mulla MBA PhD]

Richard Lloyd Parry
I think we are concluding like LOVE IS BLIND JIM IS IN LOVE THERFORE JIM IS BLIND.
Writing may differ, but if you understand. what is all the fuss. You make this sound...… If you sleeping in bed and you die, we do not sleep in bed. It is regretted but then you do not go round tearing everyone’s writing. It is not logic, tragic yes, but insane too

Letthe grasshoppers hop. You like you hop. Why lose your sirt on the hopper>

[Frank]

Lovely, I am hugely amused.