Pointing at a deer and calling it a horse
« previous post | next post »
The following graphics reflect the disgust of Hong Kong protesters over the police rewriting of the notorious attack on subway passengers by CCP orchestrated goons at the Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019 (hence "721").
All of the illustrations have as their theme the set phrase (chéngyǔ 成語, often misleadingly referred to as "idioms") zhǐlùwéimǎ 指鹿為馬 ("point at a deer as a horse", i.e., "point at a deer and call it a horse"), i.e., "deliberate misrepresentation for ulterior purposes".
The Records of the Grand Historian records that [the powerful eunuch] Zhao Gao [d. 207 BC], in an attempt to control the Qin [221-206 BC] government, devised a loyalty test for court officials using a deer and horse:
Zhao Gao was contemplating treason but was afraid the other officials would not heed his commands, so he decided to test them first. He brought a deer and presented it to the Second Emperor but called it a horse. The Second Emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" Then the emperor questioned those around him. Some remained silent, while some, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao, said it was a horse, and others said it was a deer. Zhao Gao secretly arranged for all those who said it was a deer to be brought before the law and had them executed instantly. Thereafter the officials were all terrified of Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao gained military power as a result of that. (tr. Watson 1993:70)
(Source)
The first item is the transformed logo of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Founded in 1884, it is one of the oldest and richest institutions in Hong Kong.
The transformed logo:
The original logo:
The transformed logo reminds me of the logo of The Hartford:
The first line of this one says:
Xiānggǎng huíguī mǎ zhào pǎo
香港回归马照跑
("After Hong Kong reverts [to the mainland], the horse races will continue to be held [as under capitalism]" — a formulation of Deng Xiaoping, 1904-1997)
The second line says:
Fánróng wěndìng wǔshí nián bù biàn
繁荣稳定五十年不变
("Prosperity and stability will remain unchanged for 50 years")
According to the treaty between Great Britain and the PRC, the people of Hong Kong were supposed to retain their rights, laws, and freedoms for half a century after the handover on July 1, 1997. We now know that the PRC didn't even wait for half of that time until it imposed its dreaded National Security Law on Hong Kong, depriving its people of the rights guaranteed to them by the Sino-British Joint Declaration (signed on December 19, 1984).
This is a newly created character combining lù 鹿 ("deer") and mǎ 馬 ("horse").
The character inside the bubble is mǎ 馬 ("horse").
The writing on the side of the deer is "m4 gin3 jan4 唔見人" ("don't see anyone"), i.e., the police claimed that they didn't see any of mobs of white-shirted goons and thugs savaging hundreds of passengers in and around the Yuen Long MTR station with steel rods, rattan canes, clubs, sticks, knife, etc. on July 21, 2019.
Selected readings
- "'The old man at the pass loses his horse'" (5/2/20)
- "Eighty-one Cantonese proverbs in one picture" (2/27/14)
- "Hong Kong: language, art, and resistance" (5/24/20)
- "Hong Kong protests: 'recover' or 'liberate'" (11/23/19)
- "Vocabulary of Hong Kong protest slogans and new characters" (9/1/19)
- "Hong Kong protesters messing with the characters" (7/28/19)
- "Hong Kong protesters messing with the characters, part 2" (9/1/19) — includes a lengthy list of posts on the language and writing of the Hong Kong protesters
- "Hong Kong anti-China graffiti" (7/26/19)
- "A new polysyllabic character" (4/3/16)
- "Polysyllabic characters in Chinese writing " (8/2/11)
- "Polysyllabic characters revisited " (6/18/15)
- "Vocabulary of Hong Kong protest slogans and new characters" (9/1/19)
- "The Infinite Heartbreak of Loving Hong Kong: As China moves to impose a law that would criminalize dissent, Hong Kongers are facing a dark new era". By Wilfred Chan, The Nation (5/23/20)
- "National Security Law eclipses Hong Kong" (6/2/20)
David C. said,
August 30, 2020 @ 9:56 pm
This has been years in the making, especially in law where words have been twisted beyond recognition to mean what the authorities want them to mean. But the news from the last two months are incredibly alarming.
About two weeks ago, the Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said that the requirement by the United States to have Hong Kong-made products labelled as "Made in China" was 指白為黑 ("point at white and call it black"). The characterization was quickly ridiculed – which is white and which is black?
Philip Taylor said,
August 31, 2020 @ 2:03 am
Leaving to one side real crux of the matter, I am confused by the story of Zhao Goa. It reads (in part) "some, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao, said it was a horse, and others said it was a deer. Zhao Gao secretly arranged for all those who said it was a deer to be brought before the law and had them executed instantly". So those who were "hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Ga" did indeed ingratiate themselves amd saved their lives. The outcome is exactly the opposite of what the narrative had led me to expect (I had expected that those who lied would be put to death because they could no longer be trusted to advise the Second Emperor). They were not "hoping" at all, it seems to me, but rather were "determined to ingratiate themselves" and succeeded in so doing. Is the "hoping to ingratiate themselves" merely a bad translation, or is there a key point that I am missing ?
Josh R. said,
August 31, 2020 @ 3:34 am
Philip,
I think the part you're missing is, "Zhao Gao was contemplating treason but was afraid the other officials would not heed his commands, so he decided to test them first."
The officials who called it a deer could be considered those who would tell the Emperor the truth, no matter what Zhao Gao said, so those were a threat to him. While those who called it a horse could be relied on to back Zhao Gao, even if it meant baldly lying to the Emperor.
As far as "hoping to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Gao," I read that as simply explaining why any official would call a deer a horse. Those who did so did not know that doing so would save their lives; they just wanted to get in Zhao's good graces.
Peter Taylor said,
August 31, 2020 @ 4:49 am
@Philip Taylor, perhaps you skimmed over "was contemplating treason". He killed all of the people who backed the Emperor over him and left alive his yes-men and the fence-sitters.
Hans Adler said,
August 31, 2020 @ 4:56 am
I think "hoping to ingratiate" is not supposed to foreshadow the outcome, and I am not sure it does that so strongly that it's a bad translation. The point of the story is indeed that Zhao Gao was preparing a coup against the Emperor. However, having read the story without this background context I was also misled at first. Somehow, in my mind I automatically 'corrected' the resolution — even though I considered the result surprising.
Philip Taylor said,
August 31, 2020 @ 6:08 am
No, I didn't overlook "was contemplating treason", but I suppose that I was expecting a classic Chinese moral outcome and found it very difficult to reconcile the way that the facts were presented with the outcome that eventually resulted.
Andy Stow said,
August 31, 2020 @ 1:08 pm
Are the antlers on the final deer showing July 21?
Andrew Usher said,
September 2, 2020 @ 7:04 pm
Well, I would think that if he already had enough power to have all those people executed (and not face judgement himself), then perhaps he didn't really need a coup … but I know classical Chinese anecdotes simplify things (to put it kindly) in order to make a lesson.
Andy Stow: Yes, of course. No one would draw antlers that way otherwise!
k_over_hbarc at yahoo dot com
ajay said,
September 3, 2020 @ 4:24 am
There is a similar joke in various different forms about authoritarian regimes: three different agencies are told to demonstrate their prowess by going into the woods and returning with a rabbit. The air force bombs the woods into smouldering cinders and disinters the charred corpse of a bunny. The intelligence agent disguises himself as a rabbit, spends three months gaining the trust of the warren, and then abducts one of his fellow rabbits one dark night. And the secret police go into the woods and emerge fifteen minutes later dragging a badly beaten bear who is screaming "I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
Michael Watts said,
September 3, 2020 @ 11:55 am
I don't see the problem. Only one thing is pointed at and only one label is given; the facts make it necessary that Hong Kong is the "white" in the saying and China is the "black". But so what? If mainland-manufactured products were labeled "made in Hong Kong", the colors would reverse. What's the point of the question?
David C. said,
September 3, 2020 @ 4:43 pm
I'll note that the question was made in jest, in case that didn't come across.
The point is that both 指白為黑 and 指鹿為馬 have the meaning of making an outrageous characterization that is completely at odds with the truth. Chinese expressions such as 黑白顛倒 (reversal of black and white) and 是非黑白 (right and wrong, black and white) give white a positive connotation and black a negative one.
Factually speaking, Hong Kong-made products are "Made in China". There is no mischaracterization. The requirement was not to label them as "Made in mainland China". Why then the indignation? It's inconsistent with the government's position on the status of Hong Kong.
And if Hong Kong is the "black" (negative), which as you point out, is not the intended meaning, then what is there to lose from being categorized together with Chinese products that are "white"? The colloquial expression to describe this in Hong Kong Cantonese is "升呢", with 呢 being short for the English "level" (i.e. move up a level).
Peter Pang said,
September 10, 2020 @ 5:12 am
There s actually a sequel. As the empire crumbled, the confidant of Zhao Gao attempted the life of the second emperor. At that moment, a little eunuch tipped the emperor to hide away. At first, the emperor was bewildered, later he lamented, why the eunuch not told him earlier of Zhao s evilness?
The little eunuch replied, "if I told you earlier, how could I still live to this day?"