Ching chong

This article is about the pejorative term. For the Hong Kong journalist, see Ching Cheong.

Ching chong is a pejorative term sometimes employed by speakers of the English language to mock people of Chinese ancestry, or other Asians who may look Chinese.

Several public commentators have characterized the term as derogatory while noting that assaults or physical intimidation of Asians are often accompanied by racial slurs or imitation Chinese.^[1][2]

Historical usage

The prevalent usage of this phrase began as an insult during the gold-rush eras of the 19th century in Ballarat, Australia, when the Chinese gold prospectors were of Ch'ing (which is in Wade-Giles romanization, Chinese character: 清, also spelled "Qing" in Pinyin romanization) Dynasty origin.^{[3][not in citation given (See discussion.)]}

While usually intended for ethnic Chinese, the slur has also been directed at other East Asians. 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 tail off.^[4]

A variation of this rhyme is repeated by a young boy in John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row in mockery of a Chinese man. In this version, "wall" is replaced with "rail", and the phrase "chopped his tail off" is changed to "chopped off his tail".

In 1917, a ragtime piano song entitled "Ching Chong" was co-written by Lee S. Roberts and J. Will Callahan.^[5] Its lyrics contained the following words:

"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."

Alternates

Chinky is a modern British slang term for a Chinese restaurant or take-away, and the actual food.^[6]

Modern usage

In December 2002, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal received media flak for saying "Tell [NBA center] Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh" during an interview on Fox Sports Net.^[7] O'Neal later said it was locker-room humor and he meant no offense. Yao believed that O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians would not see the humor.^[8] Yao joked, "Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little."^[9] O'Neal added, "I mean, if I was the first one to do it, and the only one to do it, I could see what they're talking about. But if I offended anybody, I apologize."^[9]

On January 24, 2006, comedian Dave Dameshek created an audio parody of the Asian Excellence Awards for The Adam Carolla Show. The premise of the parody was using the words "ching" and "chong" to mimic the awards show.^[10] Branding the segment as demeaning and racist, several Asian American organizations threatened to ask advertisers to withdraw their support from the show if the station did not issue an apology.^[11][12] On February 22, 2006, Carolla read a brief apology for the segment.^[13] On April 26, 2006, Carolla had the head of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, Guy Aoki on his show. Aoki opined that "ching chong" is the equivalent to the "N-word".^[14][15]

In November 2006, Bryn Mawr College canceled a performance by the independent band Ching Chong Song, both of whose members are white, after protests from various campus groups, including the Asian Students Association.^[16] After further protests at New York University the band agreed to change its name to Church of Lurch. They have since decided to retain the name Ching Chong Song and the band performs regularly without incident.^[17][18]

On December 5, 2006, comedian on The View, co-host Rosie O'Donnell used a series of ching chongs to imitate newscasters in China.^[2] O'Donnell made a comment in reference to people in China talking about Danny DeVito's drunken appearance on the show, "You know, you can imagine in China it's like, 'Ching-chong, ching-chong. Danny DeVito. Ching-chong, ching-chong-chong. Drunk. The View. Ching-chong.'"^[19] The Asian American Journalists Association said her comments were "a mockery of the Chinese language and, in effect, a perpetuation of stereotypes of Asian Americans as foreigners or second-class citizens ... and gives the impression that they are a group that is substandard to English-speaking people"^[20] On December 14 on The View, O'Donnell said she was unaware that ching chong was an offensive way to make fun of Asian accents, and she was told it was on par with the "N-word". She apologized to "those people who felt hurt".^[21][22]

In 2010, the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre was forced to release a statement explaining their decision to produce a play by Lauren Yee titled Ching Chong Chinaman. Artistic Producing Director Tisa Chang explained the controversy as follows:

It has come to my attention that some in the community do not understand why Pan Asian is producing a play with the controversial title CHING CHONG CHINAMAN and how much emotional upset and consternation it is creating. This is my open letter to try to clarify this miscommunication.

CHING CHONG CHINAMAN takes its controversial title from the late 19th century pejorative jingle and uses irony and satire to reverse prejudicial attitudes towards Asians and other outsiders. This is a funny and surprising new perspective from a young writer tackling assumptions of stereotype which are not relegated to any one race and can be evidenced within our own.^[23]

On January 19, 2011, conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh mocked Chinese president Hu Jintao during his visit to the White House on his radio show. "Hu Jintao -- He was speaking and they weren’t translating. They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going ching chong, ching chong cha," said Limbaugh, who imitated Hu's speech for seventeen seconds. Representative Judy Chu of California said that Limbaugh's words were the same ones that Chinese Americans have heard in the past 150 years as they faced racial discrimination while "they were called racial slurs, were spat upon in the streets, derided in the halls of Congress and even brutally murdered."^[24] New York Assemblywoman Grace Meng and California State Senator Leland Yee also criticized Limbaugh for his remarks.^[24][25]

See also

	China portal
	Asian Americans portal

• Sinophobia
• List of ethnic slurs
• Asian riff

References

1. ^ Tang, Irwin (3 January 2003). "APA Community Should Tell Shaquille O’Neal to ‘Come down to Chinatown.’". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on 2010-11-08. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6P9hdWO. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "Also in June, Shaq announced that he would test Yao’s toughness by taking an elbow to Yao’s face. This comment, combined with Shaq’s racist taunts are particularly disturbing, as Asian Pacific Americans often suffer racial taunts while being assaulted or physically intimidated." 
2. ^ ^{a b} Chung, L.A. (16 December 2006). "'Ching-chong' joke spreads ignorance". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6kwJxTz. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "Those words once accompanied violence and lynchings. "Ching-Chong Chinaman" rhymes dating to the 19th century weren't just schoolyard taunts. To be ignorant of that, as O'Donnell was, doesn't eliminate the history. Americans also mock Chinese Americans such as calling them by their Chinese name, Such as "Hon Man" or any other name" 
3. ^ Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation Project - Conference paper abstracts
4. ^ Paik Lee, Mary (1990). Sucheng Chan. ed. Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 16–17. 
5. ^ 'Ching Chong,' words by J. Will Callahan, music by Lee S. Roberts
6. ^ Ray Puxley (2004). Britslang: An Uncensored A-Z of the People's Language, Including Rhyming Slang. Robson. p. 98. ISBN 1861057288. 
7. ^ Guillermo, Emil (14 January 2003). "Shaq's Apology Not Good Enough". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6k8lCrT. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "Perhaps we should put it in terms Shaq might understand: If a white comedian imitated Shaq by making monkey sounds while eating fried chicken and watermelon, would the point be clearer?" 
8. ^ Vecsey, George (12 January 2003). "Sports of The Times; Fans in Shanghai Are Voting in the Mainstream". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/sports/sports-of-the-times-fans-in-shanghai-are-voting-in-the-mainstream.html. Retrieved 26 August 2010. "Yao quickly said: "The world is getting smaller, and I think it's important to have a greater understanding of other cultures. I believe Shaquille O'Neal was joking, but I think that a lot of Asian people don't understand that kind of joke."" 
9. ^ ^{a b} Brown, Tim (10 January 2003). "Tall tale? Shaq says Yao comments were said in jest". SI.com. Associated Press (CNN). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/01/10/shaq_yao_ap/. Retrieved 26 August 2010. ""Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little," Yao joked." 
10. ^ http://www.angryasianman.com/other/adamcarolla2006-01-24.mp3 Adam Carolla on January 24, 2006 (mp3)
11. ^ Wu, Esther (2006-01-27). "Radio Show Mocks Asian Awards Ceremony". Asian American Journalists Association. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6lCKKPR. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
12. ^ http://asianamericanmedia.org/rf_cms/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.11.2.4.5
13. ^ Adam Carolla on February 22, 2006 (mp3)
14. ^ Braxton, Greg (27 April 2006). "An exchange of opinions?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6kL7DeP. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "Though Carolla said he should have checked the routine before it aired, Aoki and Teddy Zee, the producer of the awards show who accompanied Aoki to the program, said that Carolla seemed to be dodging responsibility for the routine." 
15. ^ The Adam Corolla Show. CBS Radio. KLSX-FM (97.1), Los Angeles. 26 April 2006. "I had no idea. "Ching chong" to most "round eyes", as we call ourselves, are just a simple nursery school, whatever, make-fun-of ryhme. It means nothing to us. We don't know certain things and I'm glad you have enlightened us."
16. ^ LaMendola, Julie (February 6, 2007). "Letter to the Editor". The Bi-College News. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uM1gHeXa. Retrieved November 19, 2010. 
17. ^ Chingchongsong
18. ^ Protests meet V-Day band - News
19. ^ Bonisteel, Sara (11 December 2006). "Asian Leaders Angered by Rosie O'Donnell's 'Ching Chong' Comments". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235842,00.html. Retrieved 27 August 2010. ""The View" co-host is in hot water for using the expression "ching chong" to describe Chinese people talking about Danny DeVito's drunken appearance on her show." 
20. ^ Astudillo, Rene M. (8 December 2006). "AAJA Responds to Rosie O'Donnell's Offensive Mimic". Asian American Journalists Association. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6kVn3If. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "We feel strongly that it is our responsibility to call attention to what we consider a mockery of the Chinese language and, in effect, a perpetuation of stereotypes of Asian Americans as foreigners or second-class citizens." 
21. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (14 December 2006). "Rosie Apologizes for Asian Joke on The View". People. Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. http://www.webcitation.org/5u6kdlxbD. Retrieved 2010-11-09. "So apparently 'ching-chong,' unbeknownst to me, is a very offensive way to make fun, quote-unquote, or mock, Asian accents. Some people have told me it's as bad as the n-word. I was like, really? I didn't know that." 
22. ^ Ono, Kent A.; Pham, Vincent (2008). Asian Americans and the Media. Polity. pp. 104–107. ISBN 9780745642734. http://books.google.com/books?id=1NQ7PZhiO0sC&lpg=PA104&dq=rosie%20o'donnell%20ching%20chong&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved March 23, 2011. 
23. ^ Chang, Tisa (2010). "Ching Chong Chinaman". Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. http://www.panasianrep.org/ching_chong_chinaman.shtml. Retrieved 19 June 2011. 
24. ^ ^{a b} "Rush Limbaugh Mocks Chinese President Hu Jintao". ABC News. 20 January 2011. http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/rush-limbaugh-mocks-chinese-president-hu-jintao.html. Retrieved 2011-01-21. 
25. ^ "Asian-American officials seek Limbaugh apology". USA Today. Associated Press. January 28, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-28-asian-americans-limbaugh_N.htm. Retrieved January 28, 2011. "She added: "He was, in his own way, trying to attack the leader of another country, and that's his prerogative as well, but at the same time he offended 13% of New York City's population.""