Jook-sing
{{short description|Term for person of Chinese descent who adopts Western cultural norms}}
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Jook-sing or zuk-sing (竹升) is a Cantonese term for an overseas Chinese person who was born in the West, or a Chinese person who more readily or strongly identifies with Western culture than traditional Chinese culture.
Etymology
The term jook-sing evolved from zuk-gong (竹槓/竹杠; zhúgàng in Mandarin) which means a "bamboo pole" or "rod". Since gong (杠) is a Cantonese homophone of the inauspicious word 降 which means "descend" or "downward", it is replaced with sing (升), which means "ascend" or "upward".
The stem of the bamboo plant 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. The term may or may not be derogatory. Use of the term predates World War II.{{cite web | url=https://setohj.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/bamboo-pole-or-earth-born/ | title=Bamboo Pole or Earth Born | date=29 April 2016 }}
Modern term
=North American usage=
In the United States and Canada, the term refers to fully Westernized American-born or Canadian-born Chinese. The term originates from Cantonese slang in the United States. Jook-sing persons are categorized as having Western-centric identities, values and culture. The term also refers to similar Chinese individuals in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand.
=Related colloquialisms=
- Banana ({{zh|c=香蕉人/香蕉仔|j=hoeng1 ziu1 jan4/hoeng1 ziu1 zi2|p=xiāngjiāo rén / xiāngjiāo zi}}) (referencing the yellow skin and white insides of the fruit when fully matured) and Twinkie (based on the snack produced by American company Hostess - again, it denotes something that is "yellow" on the outside and "white" on the inside); may be used as a pejorative term or as a non-pejorative term.
- FOB (Fresh Off the Boat): antonym of jook-sing. Typically meant to indicate a Chinese-born person who propagates excessively Chinese stereotypes while living in the West.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book|last=Louie|first=Emma Woo|title=Chinese American Names; Tradition and Transition|publisher=McFarland and Company|others=Foreword by Him Mark Lai|year=1998|isbn=978-0-7864-0418-6|location=Jefferson|oclc=37705342}}
- {{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Douglas W.|title=Chinese American History and Historiography: The Musings of a Jook-Sing|year=1980|oclc=80582576}}
External links
{{Wiktionary|jook-sing|竹升}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060202055906/http://www.usadeepsouth.com/article1082.html Pilgrimage to China] by Beth Boswell Jacks
- [http://www.lostyears.ca Lost Years]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050305041122/http://www.asianweek.com/011499/coverstory.html Strained Relations] by Julie D. Soo
{{Chinese American|state=collapsed}}
{{ethnic slurs}}
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