A Selection of Late-’60s Chinese Communist Terminology

A number of years ago, I had the good fortune to acquire a rare copy of Current Chinese Communist Newspaper Terms and Sayings, itself translated and compiled by the Center for Chinese Studies at Berkley in 1971. The booklet, which provides English translations of various neologisms that had come into frequent use by Chinese state media in recent years, appears to have been used by foreign policy specialists at the federal level; my copy is stamped “US GOVT PROP” a couple of times throughout.

To follow is a list of the most amusing and telling terms found within this book, accompanied by moderately helpful analysis from myself when appropriate (and even when not; I have no sense of propriety):

well-fed and loafing around all day long

so nervous as to take every bush and tree as a soldier

people’s communes are fine

rats scurrying across the street with everyone yelling: kill them! kill them! [This particular item of terminology, which is employed to describe various enemies of Red China, is still in use; I saw a slightly more elaborate version of this in the late '90s, when it was used in a Chinese newspaper editorial to describe a pro-independence Taiwanese politician]

goody-goody old men

behaving like thieves and prostitutes

scholars and beauties

the ministry of scholars and beauties [Both of these terms of derision were occasionally employed by critics of the Ministry of Culture who were of the pretty groundless opinion that the institution was giving too much leeway to items of pre-communist art and literature as of the late '60s]

to rig up an anti-China ring

renegade clique

look upon agriculture as glory and joy

ants on the locust tree assume a great nation swagger [We'll have to take their word for it]

half-delirious music

to boast something in extravagant terms

like pathetic creatures weeping in a corner

high current water-cooled silicon-controlled rectifiers [Apparently, this used to come up quite a bit]

with their faces suntanned, red hearts and a firm class stand

to criticize profoundly and thoroughly, and to criticize until our enemies collapse and stink

everyone knows about it and is overjoyed

like two clay idols crossing the river, both are in a precarious situation

to conduct an ardent flirtation with; flirting more and more ardently [Engaging in ardent flirtation to an increased extent; to flirt in an ardent fashion relative to previous levels of ardent flirtation; to work towards the fucking of someone or something]

to create counter-revolutionary public opinion in a big way

to talk a great deal of nonsense

In conclusion, don’t read old Chinese newspapers.