Are the Chinese words for crisis and opportunity the same?
Are the Chinese words for crisis and opportunity the same?
The Chinese word for “crisis” (simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī, wéijī) is, in Western popular culture, frequently but incorrectly said to be composed of two Chinese characters signifying “danger” (wēi, 危) and “opportunity” (jī, 机; 機).
What does written in Chinese word crisis mean?
Wēijī
The Chinese phrase for “crisis” is “Wēijī:” 危机. Wēi, 危, does in fact mean danger. However, Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, writes that, in this context, Ji (机), represents an “’incipient moment; [a] crucial point (when something begins or changes).
Is the Japanese word for crisis the same as opportunity?
The word crisis in Japanese (危機=kiki) has the kanjis 危=”danger” and 機=”opportunity” (This kanji has also other meanings).
When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters one represents danger and the other represents opportunity?
When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters – one represents danger and one represents opportunity. The danger signs are all around us. With less than half our productive capacity the Soviet Union has at least equaled us in several crucial areas of military science and technology.
Does crisis mean opportunity in Chinese?
Crisis = 危机 (wēi jī) where 危(wēi) indeed translates to “danger, to endanger.” However, 机 (jī) by itself doesn’t really translate to “opportunity”. 机会 (ji hui) means “opportunity”, but an accurate translation of 机(jī) by itself is more like “a crucial point, when something begins to change.”
Why do analysts keep talking nonsense about Chinese words?
The sheer novelty and exoticism of a character-based Eastern language to most English readers mean these spurious dissections of Chinese words can easily be passed off as impressive sociolinguistic insight. The nature of characters themselves, and the common but wrong idea that they’re pictographs, makes this tempting.
Is every crisis an opportunity?
The word crisis comes from the Greek “to separate, to sift” which means to pass judgement, to keep only what is worth while. There is an opportunity in every crisis and the deeper the crisis, the better the opportunity can be. But some people are not capable of seeing it.
Who said there is opportunity in every crisis?
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein said, “in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” There is no question that we are in the midst of a climate crisis.
Why is the Chinese word for crisis danger and opportunity?
The explication of the Chinese word for crisis as made up of two components signifying danger and opportunity is due partly to wishful thinking, but mainly to a fundamental misunderstanding about how terms are formed in Mandarin and other Sinitic languages.
Which is the correct symbol for crisis in Chinese?
For example, one of the most popular websites centered on this mistaken notion about the Chinese word for crisis explains: “The top part of the Chinese Ideogram for ‘Crisis’ is the symbol for ‘Danger’: The bottom symbol represents ‘Opportunity’.”
What does the word opportunity mean in Chinese?
To be specific in the matter under investigation, jī added to huì (“occasion”) creates the Mandarin word for “opportunity” ( jīhuì ), but by itself jī does not mean “opportunity.” A wēijī in Chinese is every bit as fearsome as a crisis in English.
What does the word crisis mean in Mandarin?
Like most Mandarin words, that for “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi (危) and jī (機/机). While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.”