Sick man of Asia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term sick man of Asia (Traditional Chinese: 東亞病夫 or 亞洲病夫) is used by some Chinese to refer to the period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the Chinese Empire was defeated by the Western and Japanese military and was forced to make territorial concessions. This phrase corresponds to 'sick man of Europe', referring to the weakening Ottoman Empire during the same period.

It was also used as a derogatory term for the Chinese by Japanese invaders during the Second World War and the years immediately preceding it, in which Japan occupied sections of China.

The phrase features in the Bruce Lee film Fist of Fury and the Jet Li film Fearless.