Ching Chong

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For the Hong Kong journalist for the Straits Times jailed in the People's Republic of China for espionage, see Ching Cheong.

Ching Chong is an ethnic slur directed at people of Chinese nationality or ancestry. It is most frequently encountered in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The origin of the phrase is not known with certainty. However, since syllables sounding like what an English speaker would pronounce as "ching" or "chong" are relatively common in Cantonese, the expression is likely an attempt to mock Chinese speech patterns.

One possible origin of the word is that of a bastardization of the Chinese Noun Ching Chao, (清朝) which literally translates as "Ching Dynasty." The prevalant usage of this insult began during the gold-rush eras of 18th Century in Ballarat, Australia, when the Chinese gold-prospectors were of Ching Dynasty origin.

Sometimes "ching chong" is combined with "Chinaman;" the combination is often used in nursery-style rhymes, such as:

Ching Chong Chinaman sitting on a fence
Trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.
Along came a choo-choo train,
Knocked him in the cuckoo-brain,
And that was the end of the fifteen cents.

However, while usually intended for ethnic Chinese, it has also been directed at other East Asians. Assumptions that all East Asians are Chinese add to this non-Chinese usage.^{[citation needed]} A parallel in Latin American Spanish is the tendency for all East Asians to be called "chino", presumably because of a lack of exposure to and understanding of Asian diversity. Mary Paik Lee, a Korean immigrant who arrived with her family in San Francisco in 1906, writes in her autobiography that on her first day of school, girls circled and hit her, chanting:

Ching Chong, Chinaman,
Sitting on a wall.
Along came a white man,
And chopped his head off. ^[1]

1 Historical usage
2 Contemporary usage
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Historical usage

In 1917, a ragtime piano song entitled "Ching Chong" was co-written by Ted Baxter and Max Kortlander. Its lyrics are as follows:

Way out in old San Fran, there is a Chinaman
Who's known for miles around;
Wonderful place he keeps, down where he eats and sleeps,
Way underneath the ground!
Each night the festive chinks come there to wink and blink,
And dream away the hours.
They sing this funny song while they are borne along
On beds of poppy flow'rs:

"Ching, Chong, Oh Mister Ching Chong,
You are the king of Chinatown.
Ching Chong, I love your sing-song,
When you have turned the lights all down;
Ching Chong, just let me swing long,
Through the realms of Drowsy Land;
Dreaming while stars are beaming,
Oh Mister Ching Chong, sing-song man."

When you're in Frisco Town don't fail to drop around
And see this Ching Chong man.
Wonderful things you'll learn down where the torches burn,
He'll show you all he can.
Then when the time is ripe he'll fill your little pipe
And then a light he'll bring.
Gently you'll float away far out on Slumber Bay,
And softly you will sing:

"Ching Chong, Oh Mister Ching Chong,
You are the king of Chinatown.
Ching Chong, I love your sing-song,
When you have turned the lights all down;
Ching Chong, just let me swing long,
Through the realms of Drowsy Land;
Dreaming while stars are beaming,
Oh Mister Ching Chong, sing-song man."

[edit] Contemporary usage

In December 2002, the term gained international notoriety when National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal directed it, apparently in jest, at fellow NBA star and Chinese immigrant Yao Ming, during an interview on Fox Sports Radio. O'Neal was quoted as saying, "You tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'" Yao Ming responded with: "Chinese is a hard language to learn." After a public outcry, O'Neal apologized for making the comment, insisting that no prejudice or malice had been intended.

On January 24, 2006, comedian Adam Carolla referred to the Asian Excellence Awards as a joke on his radio morning show and repeatedly used the sounds "ching-chong" to recreate a segment of the awards. The awards honor Asian Americans in media who have made a difference in the United States and were conducted in English. Branding the segment as demeaning and racist, several Asian American organizations have threatened to ask advertisers to withdraw their support from the show if the station does not issue an apology. [1] [2] On February 22, 2006, Carolla without fanfare read a brief apology for the segment. On April 26, 2006, Carolla invited the head of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, Guy Aoki, to further explain that when he aired the bit, he had no idea that "ching chong" was a racial slur.[3]

The phrase ching chong is also Thai slang for urinate, equivalent to the American English phrase "take a piss".

On December 5, 2006, comedian and co-host of The View, Rosie O'Donnell, used a series of ching chongs to imitate newscasters in China. She later apologized on The View after learning that it was an offensive word, on the same level as nigger, to the Asian community. [4]