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| Jook-sing | |||||||||||
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| Chinese | 竹升 | ||||||||||
| Jyutping | zuk1 sing1 | ||||||||||
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Jook-sing orzuk-sing (竹升) is aCantonese term for anoverseas Chinese person who was born in theWest, or aChinese person who more readily or strongly identifies withWestern culture than traditionalChinese culture.
The termjook-sing evolved fromzuk-gong (竹槓/竹杠;zhúgàng in Mandarin) which means a "bamboo pole" or "rod". Sincegong (杠) is a Cantonesehomophone of the inauspicious word 降 which means "descend" or "downward", it is replaced withsing (升), which means "ascend" or "upward".
The stem of thebamboo plant is hollow and compartmentalized; thus water poured in one end does not flow out of the other end. Themetaphor is thatjook-sings are not part of either culture; water within thejook-sing does not flow and connect to either end. In Cantonese, as 通 can means both "flow-through" and "understanding", while 頭 can means both "head"/"end" and side, the follow-up context phrase is "兩頭都不通" - lit "cannot get through both end" and "do not have understanding on both sides".
The term may or may not be derogatory. Use of the term predates World War II.[1]
In the United States and Canada, the term refers to fullyWesternized American-born or Canadian-born Chinese. The term originates from Cantonese slang in the United States.Jook-sing persons are categorized as having Western-centric identities, values and culture. The term also refers to similar Chinese individuals in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand.
