OT: A German faux pas: Giving a clock to someone in China

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>This is off topic except for its possible relevance to the expression "May
>you live in interesting times." I hadn't realized it might
>actually  express a death wish. -----
>
>A recent issue of the German magazine Spiegel tells that the German
>defense minister visited China and brought along several
>gifts.  Everything went fine until he gave his last gift, a clock -- no
>doubt a lovely object but evidently a fauxpas in the context of Chinese
>culture.  The Spiegel article says: "...Upon his departure he gave a
>general a clock, which in China is considered an extremely touchy/ticklish
>thing to do.  According to traditional thinking in China, a clock
>signifies to its recipient: 'Your days [literally: hours] are numbered.'
>Clocks also symbolize the wish for 'interesting times,' which means in
>effect that one wishes the receiver of the gift a speedy death."
>    The article concludes: "Despite this the general maintained his
> composure, looked at the table clock from all sides and asked the
> minister mockingly [in English]: 'Made in China?'"
>
>    The full German item (not long) is reproduced below my signoff.
>
>Gerald Cohen
>
>Spiegel (April 23, 2007, p. 192, cols. 2-3:
>'Franz Josef Jung, 58, Verteidigungsminister (CDU), unterlief während
>seiner Asienreise vergangene Woche bei der Auswahl von Gastgeschenken ein
>diplomatischer Fauxpas.  Die meisten seiner Gesprächspartner in China
>bedachte er mit unverfänglichen Gaben aus der Produktion der Berliner
>Porzellanmanufactur KPM, so bekam sein Amtskollege Cao Gangchuan, 71, eine
>Miniatur des Brandenburger Tors.  Einem General aber überreichte er er zum
>Abschied in Peking eine Uhr -- was in China als überaus heikel gilt.  Nach
>traditionellem Verständnis der Chinesen signalisiert eine Uhr dem
>Empfänger: Deine Stunden sind gezählt.  Uhren stehen auch für den Wunsch
>nach "interessanten Zeiten," was so viel bedeutet, dass man dem
>Beschenkten den baldigen Tod wünscht.  Der General bewahrte trotzdem
>Haltung, betrachtete die Tischuhr von allen Seiten und fragte den Minister
>spöttisch: "Made in China?"'

I doubt the explanation quoted from the "Spiegel". Based on quick Google, I
find it probable that the supposedly "inauspicious" nature of a clock gift
is based on homophony, as seems to be the case in some other Far Eastern
traditions which are more familiar (e.g., Chinese auspicious "fish",
Japanese inauspicious number 4). In the current case "song4 zhong1" is the
pronunciation of two phrases, which can be glossed "give clock" and "give
end" respectively, the latter translated in Lin Yutang's on-line dictionary
as "to give proper burial ceremony to deceased parents". Many discussions
of the clock-giving taboo are found on the Web in Chinese: here is one:

http://forum.taobao.com/forum-108/show_thread----6739930-.htm

... the expressions in question are just to the right of the
singing-penguin/orange-shirted-model ("give clock" followed by "give end"
in parentheses).

It is explicitly asserted on this page and on others that to give a watch
is OK (a watch isn't called "zhong"); this distinction speaks against the
above German magazine interpretation.

Of course I defer to any expert (e.g., on Chinese clock taboos, or on
German editorial tendencies).

-- Doug Wilson


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