wonton font
{{Short description|Typeface mimicking Chinese brush strokes}}
{{Globalize|1=article|2=United States|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
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| image1 = Korean War memorial Auburn.jpg
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| caption1 = The Korean War Memorial in Veterans Memorial Park, Auburn, New York, uses wonton font to imitate brush strokes.
| image2 = Japanese Ho-o-den wooded island 18.jpg
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| caption2 = An early use of a wonton font ("Japanese Tea Gardens") in signage for the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893.
| image3 = Golden Buddha Restaurant, Sarasota, Florida LCCN2017709287.tif
| caption3 = Chinese restaurant in Florida with wonton font signage
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| caption4 = Factory building in Hong Kong with wonton font signage
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A wonton font (also known as Chinese, chopstick, chop suey,{{Cite web |last=Quito |first=Anne |date=April 8, 2021 |title=Karate, Wonton, Chow Fun: The end of 'chop suey' fonts |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/chop-suey-fonts-hyphenated/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411163615/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/chop-suey-fonts-hyphenated/index.html |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |access-date=April 14, 2023 |website=CNN Style}} or kung-fu) is a mimicry typeface with a visual style intended to express an East Asian, or more specifically, Chinese typographic sense of aestheticism.
Styled to mimic the brush strokes used in Chinese characters, wonton fonts often convey a sense of Orientalism. In modern times, they are sometimes viewed by those in the East Asian diaspora as culturally insensitive or offensive.
History
The first commercial typeface of this style was patented in 1883 by the Cleveland Type Foundry, under the name "Chinese",{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1076409412 |title=NERD, new experimental research in design : positions and perspectives |date=2018 |others=Michael Erlhoff, Wolfgang Jonas, Board of International Research in Design |isbn=978-3-0356-1742-9 |location=Basel, Switzerland |oclc=1076409412}} which became "Mandarin" in the 1950s. Many variations of this style of font have been created by typeface designers since its inception.
Controversy
Some Asian Americans find wonton fonts amusing or humorous, while others find them offensive, insulting, or racist.{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Paul |date=June 17, 2009 |title=Stereo Types |work=Print Magazine |url=https://www.printmag.com/article/stereo_types/ |access-date=October 5, 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Fernández |first=Nichole |date=November 19, 2015 |title=StereoTYPES |work=It Ain't Necessarily So |url=https://itaint-necessarilyso.squarespace.com/articles/2015/11/17/stereotypes |access-date=October 5, 2019}} The font's usage is often criticized when paired with caricatures that recall the Yellow Peril images of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2002, the American clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch faced controversy when it produced a series of T-shirts with buck-toothed images and wonton font slogans.{{Cite news |last=Strasburg |first=Jenny |date=April 19, 2002 |title=Abercrombie recalls T-shirts many found offensive |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/04/19/MN102999.DTL |access-date=June 15, 2013}} The Chicago Cubs experienced backlash from the Asian American community after a similarly offensive T-shirt was produced by an independent clothing vendor in 2008.{{Cite news |last=Wittenmyer |first=Gordon |date=April 18, 2008 |title=Fukudome doesn't find racist T-shirts in Wrigleyville funny |work=Chicago Sun-Times |url=http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/901817,CST-SPT-gordo18.article |url-status=dead |access-date=August 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514064503/http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/901817,CST-SPT-gordo18.article |archive-date=May 14, 2008}} The questionable use of such fonts was the subject of a 2012 article in the Wall Street Journal by cultural commentator and journalist Jeff Yang.{{Cite web |last=Yang |first=Jeff |date=June 20, 2012 |title=Is Your Font Racist? - Speakeasy |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/06/20/is-your-business-font-racist |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=June 15, 2013}} In 2018, the New Jersey Republican State Committee was criticized for sending out a political mailer describing Korean-American candidate Andy Kim as "real fishy" and printing his name in a wonton font.{{cite web |first=Dan |last=Alexander |work=NJ 101.5 |url=https://nj1015.com/racist-font-nj-republican-leader-defends-anti-kim-mailer/ |title=Racist font? NJ Republican leader defends anti-Kim mailer |date=September 19, 2018 |access-date=October 17, 2024 }}{{cite web |first=Anne |last=Quito |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/chop-suey-fonts-hyphenated/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=October 17, 2024 |title=Karate, Wonton, Chow Fun: The end of 'chop suey' fonts |date=April 7, 2021 }}{{cite web |work=GQ |first=Jay |last=Willis |url=https://www.gq.com/story/republican-mailers |title=Republican Candidates Sure do Love Sending Gross, Bigoted Mailers to Prospective Voters |date=October 31, 2018 |access-date=October 17, 2024 }}
See also
References
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External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP9gEeVQZ2U History of the "chop suey" font] (2022)
Category:East Asian calligraphy
Category:East Asian typography
Category:Stereotypes of East Asian people
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