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| Jook-sing | |||||||||||
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| Chinese | 竹升 | ||||||||||
| Jyutping | zuk1 sing1 | ||||||||||
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Jook-sing (竹升) is a Cantonese term for an overseas Chinese person who has grown up in a Western environment and/or a Chinese person who more readily or strongly identifies with Western culture than traditional Chinese culture. Jook-sings, in contradistinction to westernized Chinese, generally do not know how to speak, read, or write Chinese languages or dialects.
Etymology
"Jook-sing" means a grain-measuring container made of bamboo (compare the term 升斗 (jyutping: sing1 dau2), being a kind of rice measurer). Bamboo is hollow and compartmentalized, thus water poured in one end does not flow out of the other end. The metaphor is that jook-sings are not part of either culture: water within the jook-sing does not flow and connect to either end. It may or may not be derogatory. Use of the term predates World War II.
Modern term
North American usage
In the United States and Canada, the term is pejorative and refers to fully Westernized American-born or Canadian-born Chinese. The term originates from Cantonese slang in the United States. Jook-sing are categorised as having Western-centric identities, values and culture. This term also refers to similar Chinese individuals in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand.
Related colloquialisms
- Banana (Chinese: 香蕉人/香蕉仔; pinyin: xiāngjiāo rén / xiāngjiāo zi; Jyutping: hoeng1 ziu1 jan4/hoeng1 ziu1 zi2) (referencing the yellow skin and white innings of the fruit when fully matured) and Twinkie (based on the snack produced by American company Hostess): often pejorative.
- FOB (Fresh Off the Boat): antonym of Jook-sing
See also
- Overseas Chinese: British Chinese, Chinese American, Chinese Canadian, Chinese Australians, Chinese New Zealander
Bibliography
- Emma Woo Louie, Chinese American Names, McFarland & Company, 1998, ISBN 0-7864-0418-3
- Douglas W Lee, Chinese American history and historiography: The musings of a Jook-Sing, 1980.
References
- Woo Louie, Emma. (2008.) Chinese American Names: Tradition and Transition, McFarland, p. 66.
- "Echoes of the Jook Sing generation". Banana Blog.
- Hugh, Greg (4 November 2008). "American-born Chinese". China Insight.
- Sung, Victoria (28 June 2011). "Caught Between Worlds: In Defense of the Jook-Sing".
External links
- Pilgrimage to China by Beth Boswell Jacks
- Strained Relations by Julie D. Soo