Trope: Chinese word for crisis is composed of elements danger and opportunity (maybe 1937) or 1934

[Ben Zimmer]

Thanks, Stephen and Garson, for the antedates. Clearly this was an
active trope among missionaries to China throughout the '30s.

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/


On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 4:45 AM, Stephen Goranson wrote:
>
> Thanks. Here is text from the paper, Michigan Christian Advocate [Detroit] v.61 n.1 Jan. 4, 1934, p. 20 col. 2-3.
>
> [headline] "Wei-Chi"--Danger Plus Opportunity
> The annual report of one of our Boards [of Foreign Missions?] this year [1933?] headed its
> final paragraph with the above strange compound word. As the Chinese word for "crisis,"
>  it is rightly declared to be more expressive than our English word. It is composed of two
> words, "wei" (danger), and "chi" (opportunity).
> Does not this imported word suggest our missionary situation? We are no alarmists when
> we say the world is beset with danger....
> But the opportunity is at hand....
> ....
> [col. 3] ....Will Methodism arise to the challenge of this Chinese word--"WEI-CHI"?
> [six signatures]
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Garson O'Toole
> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 11:04 AM
>
> Wonderful! Thanks Stephen. There is a match in the Google Books
> archive to a promising document with a GB date of 1932, but I have not
> been able to extract even an image snippet from the recalcitrant
> database. Here is the short text description and a link to the
> database item:
>
> Women and missions: Volumes 9-10
> 1932 - Snippet view
> Let us also share in the full realization that this momentous period
> is one of peculiar crisis for which Chinese Christians use the term
> "Wei Chi" (way jee), the two ideograms meaning "Danger — Opportunity."
> May we avoid the danger of ...
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=sfXOAAAAMAAJ&
>
>
> HathiTrust has this volume and gives a date range of 1932-1934 for
> Volumes 9 and 10. Access is limited and only search is allowed.
>
> Title Women and missions. v.9-10 1932-1934
> Published New York.
> Description v.ill.25 cm.
> Copyright In-copyright
> Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89077049724
> Limited (search-only) v.9-10 1932-1934 (original from University of Wisconsin)
>
> On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> >
> > According to Google Books:
> > Michigan Christian advocate: Volume 61, Issue 1, 1934
> >
> > United Methodist Church (U.S.). Detroit Conference, United Methodist Church (U.S.). West Michigan Conference - 1934 - Snippet view
> > "Wei-Chi"— Danger Plus Opportunity THE annual report of one of our Boards this ..
> > As the Chinese word for "crisis," it is rightly declared to be more expressive than our English word. It is composed of two words, "wei" (danger), and "chi" (opportunity). Does not this imported word suggest our missionary situation ? ...
> >
> > (I have sent for a paper copy from storage--the volume and year match-- to check)
> >
> > [ this seems rather similar in tone as well as date (zeitgeist?) to the "may you live in interesting times" story]
> >
> > Stephen Goranson
> > http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 2:50 PM
> >
> > FWIW, the important passage cited by Garson finishes with the words, "a
> > discovery which makes China and every mission land seem nearer."
> >
> > The tiny picture of the cover/title page shown by GB includes a tiny date
> > which is nearly illegible but almost certainly ends with the numeral "7."
> >
> > JL
> > On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Garson O'Toole
> > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Ben was able to find a great 1938 cite when he searched for this trope
> >> a few years ago, and1938 still appears to be the earliest date.
> >>
> >> Here is a link into Google Books that shows a snippet of a work that
> >> is probably properly dated 1937.
> >>
> >> http://books.google.com/books?id=nUrPAAAAMAAJ&q=meaningful#search_anchor
> >>
> >> (Snippet text)
> >>
> >> The inscribing was generously done by Pastor Y. C. Ching of the First
> >> Baptist Church of Shanghai. Doubly meaningful are these characters:
> >> one is the Chinese way of describing danger; the other pictures
> >> opportunity. Synonyms of the English word crisis have been discovered
> >> likewise to be danger, opportunity—a discovery which makes ...
> >>
> >> The cover displayed by Google Books says the volume is the "Report of
> >> the Forty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union,
> >> Auxiliary to Southern Baptist Convention". The Duke catalog says the
> >> 37th meeting was held in 1925 and the 38th was held in 1926.
> >> Extrapolating suggests the 49th was held in 1937 which is consistent
> >> with the date assigned by Google Books.
> >>
> >> HathiTrust has the work and also gives it a date of 1937. It is
> >> "Limited (search only)".
> >>
> >> http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89096037247
> >>
> >> Checking this on paper is a hassle since it is not available in many
> >> libraries – none near me. The date could be inaccurate if several
> >> convention reports are combined in one volume, or for other reasons.

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