Happy New Year China In A Culturally Sensitive Way. Please Don't Gung Hey Fat Choy It!
Regular readers know that we seldom write about Chinese etiquette/cultural mores, figuring the real key is treating people with respect and just doing business. For examples of this view, check out our posts, entitled, China Cultural Awareness: Going Beyond Not Being An Asshole and Chinese Cultural Awareness Simplified: Don't Be An Asshole. And we also have not made this a forum where we highlight great cultural gaffes or Chinese tattoos gone wrong, figuring we will leave those things to others.
But I got a great email from co-blogger Steve Dickinson today on a cultural gaffe so common as to warrant a post.
Steve sent me a couple of New Year "Gung Hey Fat Choy" emails he had received from American companies doing business in Mainland China-- not even in Guangdong. And with those emails, Steve pointed out the following:
Here is one of those odd cultural things. Western folks want to be culturally sensitive. So they send out a Lunar New Year message. But they really mess it up. "Gung Hey Fat Choy" is Hong Kong Chinese, not Putonghua [Mandarin]. So, for the vast majority of Chinese who understand the message, this message could be seen as a brutal and nasty insult, not a positive message. It is a reminder of a former imperialist world where China was ruled from Hong Kong. In fact, to tell you the truth, most modern Chinese would not even know what "Gong Hey Fat Choy" means. They would just treat it as a series of meaningless symbols, insulting in its own way. "Gung Hey Fat Choy" is Cantonese for "gong xi fa cai." NO ONE in modern China says "Gung Hey Fat Choy." The phrase is purely from the old era, which was destroyed by the new regime. So as I say, for the small group of people who even know what this term means, it is an insult, not a positive message.
Brought to you as a public service from the good folks at China Law Blog, who wish you all a Happy New Year.
Comments (19)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endTait - February 12, 2010 7:26 AM
People in China do say "gongxi facai" actually. (Or did he mean that people don't use the Cantonese version?) Anyways, I know lots of people in Nanjing that say "gongxi facai." Do a search on Google news for "恭喜发财" and you'll find hundreds of results from the last 24 hours.
In my estimation, I don't think they would find "Gung Hey Fat Choy" insulting. In general I find that Chinese people appreciate any effort to understand their culture.
melanie gao - February 12, 2010 7:28 AM
That is a great reminder! It's amazing how many Chinese phrases people know and they don't realize they're Cantonese instead of Mandarin. "Wok" and "bok choy" are a couple of other examples that come to mind.
chinawatcher - February 12, 2010 7:36 AM
Not my intention to nitpick, but you're guilty of geographical inexactitude when you refer to "... American companies doing business in Mainland China -- not even in Guangdong." After all Guangdong is in "mainland China".
Dan - February 12, 2010 11:11 AM
Tait,
We were unclear. I fixed it.
You are also probably right that few would be insulted, but certainly many would wonder.
Dan - February 12, 2010 11:13 AM
chinawatcher,
You are kidding, right? Do you really think I do not know Guangdong is a PRC province? If I am guilty of anything, it is not being clear. I was saying that the companies that sent out these cards do not even do business in Guangdong, where these wishes would be most likely to be best understood.
theAdmiral - February 12, 2010 11:50 AM
Chinawatcher - I thought Dan's statement was very clear, that in Guangdong there is a large population of Cantonese and Cantonese dialects and this phrase is the most common.
Having an ex from, and spending more than one CNY in Guangdong I heard "Gung Hey Fat Choy" 90% of the time when having dinner with local colleagues.
Dan - Wishing you, your colleagues, and families a happy healthy Chinese New Year!
Andy Chuang - February 12, 2010 11:57 AM
We put together a website to help people learn and pronounce new year's greetings correctly, including "Gong Xi Fa Cai" and "Xin Nian Kuai Le". Warning: Don't say "Hong Bao Na Lai" to anyone except your personal friends!
http://goodcharacters.com/newyear/
I think mistakes are more forgiven when you do it face-to-face/in person than via greeting cards or messages because people can see your facial expression and know that you're just trying to be friendly.
Jody - February 12, 2010 7:00 PM
One of my close Chinese friends - young, lives in Beijing - just sent out a mass new year email to everyone in both English and Chinese. In English she chose to use the term Kung Hei Fat Choy, even though most of her English speaking friends here would be more familiar with 恭喜发财.
Glen - February 12, 2010 8:36 PM
An informal poll of my Chinese-speaking friends on Facebook reveals that 恭喜发财 still finds significant circulation during the Lunar New Year. Hmmm...
Perhaps saying "gong hey fat choy" to a Mandarin-only business associate from Harbin would be like them wishing me "feliz navidad" at Christmas time here in California. I would find it humorous, not offensive, and I'd know exactly what he or she meant. Furthermore, most urban Mandarin speakers have at least a passing familiarity with Cantonese due to pop culture influences from the south, so for them to know what "gong hey fat choy" means and, more importantly, that the intent is not offensive, requires no stretch of the imagination.
Clued In - February 12, 2010 9:09 PM
Though I do not think many people in the PRC would be offended by someone sending them a card that says "Gung Hey Fat Choy" (I agree with Steve that most will not understand the significance), I definitely agree that most will be at least non-plussed by it. Since Western companies send out Chinese New Year greetings to show their close connection to China, sending out cards that say "Gung Hey Fat Choy" is the exact wrong message they want to convey. I think it conveys that they are clueless.
Tony - February 13, 2010 6:23 AM
Why is this even an issue? If you are sending out a Chinese New Year Card to a Chinese audience, wouldn't you just write 恭喜发财 in Chinese characters? Then it works out perfectly for everyone in China (Guangdong or not).
In my informal and unscientific survey, I said "Gung Hey Fat Choy" to my wife from Zhejiang and she said "of course I understand." Then she told me that most people would understand this (at least city people).
Of course, it is still stupid (though is somewhat common for non-spanish speaking americans to say "feliz navidad" to each other).
klumsyBird - February 14, 2010 2:20 AM
If you cannot distinguish Mandarin from Cantonese then it doesn't matter what you say because Chinese (Mandarin) speaking people won't understand you.
One out of a million Chance a mainlander understands your sentence it won't be taken as an insult but they will be flabbergasted that you speak Chinese.
On the other hand, Hong-Kong-nese might take offense if you spoke Mandarin to them because their ears are probably able to understand what your getting at and furthermore don't want to be associated as mainlanders.
MIngyu - February 14, 2010 6:21 AM
Most Chinese won't be offended by foreigners using the wrong Chinese words. In fact, if you say Gung Hey Fat Choy to someone not from Guangdong or Hong Kong, 99% of them will probably laugh and appreciate your attempt to understand Chinese culture. However, although I can't speak for the others, I indeed feel sort of uncomfortable or slightly offended when seeing someone not using 'pin yin' when typing Chinese in English letters. It probably has to do with how frequently Americans make fun of Chinese with Chung Ching etc.
Yao - February 15, 2010 10:47 AM
I can't say I agree with this at all. Both Canto and putonghua speakers use this phrase for New Years. I don't see and have never seen anyone really offended by this. I have to agree that most Chinese who hear this from foreigners are simply amused. And saying that Hong Kongers and Mainlanders don't want anything to do with each other is such a gross generalization. The New Years represents a time of celebration for Chinese people, if you're really walking around being offended by all this, then you need to learn to relax because people actually in China don't even care.
Adam Daniel Mezei - February 16, 2010 5:36 AM
"The New Years represents a time of celebration for Chinese people, if you're really walking around being offended by all this, then you need to learn to relax because people actually in China don't even care."
Beautiful way to cap off the debate, @Yao!
David Levy - February 16, 2010 6:54 AM
Dan,
While I agree with the general gist of the post, I feel the need to point out one inaccuracy.
Your post assumes that NO ONE in modern China (outside of Hong Kong) uses Cantonese for the New Years greeting. This is simply not the case. In the industial "villages" here in Dongguan, many of the locals speak very poor mandarin, and are much more comfortable speaking in Cantonese. They will naturally use the language of their community in extending their CNY greetings. I doubt they would consider "gonghey fatchoy" a throwback to imperialist times.
Once again, I agree that using Cantonese dialect when addressing a pan-China audience is a type of cultural insensitivity.
David
eh - July 29, 2010 1:59 AM
Fascinating post and fascinating comments. I'm a regular but I don't usually read you for cultural how tos, but I stumbled on this one while trying to figure out what to say on our cards this next year.
Caroline - November 21, 2010 11:42 PM
There are very few people who would be offended at someone saying "gùng héi faat chōi" during New Years, especially if non-natives are saying it. We appreciate all efforts of others to get to know our traditions, and it shows that they, while misinformed, are trying. Actually, most of the time people laugh, thinking that it's a joke. If you are a cultural specialist or interpreter of a large and prominent company then people might look at you strangely for not knowing that "gōngxǐ fācái" is the Mandarin way of saying it, but in most cases people won't read into it as deeply as to take insult from it.
Dave - January 19, 2012 6:41 AM
Great debate going on here, but I for one would appreciate advice on what us westerners can say on email to Chinese colleagues? Typically, we don't want to ignore the event, can't type in pinyin, and don't want to make a gaff. Suggestions please.....