View source for Ang mo

{{Short description|Hokkien word for white people}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Infobox Hokkien name
| title      =Ang mo
| hanji      =紅毛
| poj        =Âng-mô͘	
| tl         =Âng-môo
| lm         =red-haired
| hokkienipa =[aŋ˧ mɔ̃˧˥]
}}
[[File:Shiba_Kokan_A_meeting_of_Japan_China_and_the_West_late_18th_century.jpg|thumb|''A Meeting of Japan, China and the West'' ([[Shiba Kōkan]], late 18th century); the "Westerner" is depicted with [[red hair]].]]
'''''Ang mo''''' or '''''ang moh''''' ({{zh|poj=âng-mô͘ / âng-mn̂g|t={{linktext|紅毛}}|first=poj}}) is a descriptor used to refer to [[white people]]. It is used mainly in [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]], and sometimes in [[Thailand]] and [[Taiwan]]. It literally means "[[red-haired]]" and originates from [[Hokkien]], a variety of [[Southern Min]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Medhurst |first=W. H. |author-link=Walter Henry Medhurst |title=A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language: According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms: Containing about 12,000 Characters |year=1832 |publisher=East India Press |location=Macau |oclc=5314739 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhokk00medhrich |ol=14003967M |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhokk00medhrich/page/481 481] |quote={{lang|zh|紅毛}} ''âng mô'', red haired, generally applied to the English people. |access-date=January 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529192817/https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofhokk00medhrich |archive-date=May 29, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other similar terms include '''''ang mo kow''''' ({{zh|t=紅毛猴|l=red-haired monkey|labels=no}}), '''''ang mo kui''''' ({{zh|t=紅毛鬼|l=red-haired devil|labels=no}}), '''''ang mo lang''''' ({{zh|t=紅毛儂 / 紅毛人|l=red-haired people|labels=no}}). Although the term has historically had some derogatory connotations, it has entered common parlance as a neutral term  in Singapore and Malaysia, where it refers to a white person or, when used as an adjective, Western culture in general.

==Etymology and history==

The earliest origin for the term ''ang mo'' could be traced to the contact between [[Hokkien]] (Southern Min) speakers in southern [[Fujian]] with the [[Portuguese Empire]] and [[Dutch East India Company]] during the [[Haijin]] ("Sea Ban") period in the 16th and 17th centuries.  One of the earliest known uses of the term in writing is found in the early 1600s [[Selden Map]], which labels the [[Maluku Islands]] of Indonesia with ''ang mo'', likely referring to the Dutch presence there.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zaccheus |first=Melody |date=3 December 2019 |title=Term 'ang moh' in use as early as 1600s in Ming Dynasty map |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/term-ang-moh-in-use-as-early-as-1600s-in-ming-dynasty-map |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240519013026/https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/term-ang-moh-in-use-as-early-as-1600s-in-ming-dynasty-map |archive-date=2024-05-19 |access-date=2024-12-28 |work=The Straits Times |language=en}}</ref> In the late 1500s, Ming Ministry of Justice official Wang Linheng submitted a memorial reporting on the arrival of "red-haired devils" on China's southern coast,  while in 1755 Zhejiang provincial authorities reported on the arrival of "red hair" seafarers under British merchant James Flint.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lai |first=John T. P. |title=Literary Representations of Christianity in Late Qing and Republican China |publisher=BRILL |year=2019 |isbn=9789004394483 |pages=23}}</ref>

During the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company failed in its attempt to force their way into Fujian to trade in the 1620s during the [[Sino-Dutch conflicts]] and were called ''ang mo'' by the locals. The Dutch East India Company and then the [[Spanish Empire]] had colonized [[Taiwan]], and the Spanish built [[Fort Santo Domingo]] in [[Tamsui]], [[Taiwan]]. The Dutch later drove the Spanish out and seized the fort, which also became known as the "City of the Red-Haired" ({{zh|t=紅毛城|p=hóng máo chéng|poj=Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ|links=no}}) in [[Taiwanese Hokkien]]. [[Dutch people]] were known in Taiwan as ''ang mo lang'' ("red-haired people") in Taiwanese Hokkien. This is most likely because red hair is a relatively common trait among the Dutch. This historical term ''ang mo lang'' continues to be used in the context of Taiwanese history to refer to Dutch people.

The Chinese characters for ''ang mo'' are the same as those in the historical Japanese term {{nihongo||紅毛|kōmō}}, which was used during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868) as an epithet for (Northwestern Europeans) white people. It primarily referred to Dutch traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan during the [[Sakoku]], its 200-year period of isolation.<ref>See, for example, {{citation| last =Otori  | first =Ranzaburo  | title =The Acceptance of Western Medicine in Japan   | journal = [[Monumenta Nipponica]] | volume =19  | year =1964  | issue =3/4  | pages =254–274  | doi =10.2307/2383172 | jstor =2383172  }}; {{citation|author=P[eng] Y[oke] Ho |author2=F. P[eter] Lisowski |chapter=A Brief History of Medicine in Japan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtxgS4TkxrUC&pg=PA73 |title=Concepts of Chinese Science and Traditional Healing Arts: A Historical Review |location=Singapore |publisher=[[World Scientific]] |year=1993 |pages=65–78 at 73 |isbn=9789810214951 |id=(hbk.), (pbk.) |quote=The culture which entered Japan through the Dutch language was called Kōmō culture – Kōmō means red hair. }}; {{citation|author=Margarita Winkel |chapter=Academic Traditions, Urban Dynamics and Colonial Threat: The Rise of Ethnography in Early Modern Japan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mezulNhciCgC&pg=PA53 |editor=Jan van Bremen |editor2=Akitoshi Shimizu |title=Anthropology and Colonialism in Asia and Oceania |location=Richmond, Surrey |publisher=Curzon |year=1999 |pages=40–64 at 53 |isbn=978-0-7007-0604-4 |quote=His &#91;[[Morishima Chūryō]]'s&#93; book on the Dutch, 'Red-hair miscellany' (''Kōmō zatsuwa''), also appeared in 1787. ... 'Red-hair miscellany' is the first book which contains a relatively extensive description of the daily life of the Dutch residents in the confinements of Deshima, the man made island allotted to them in the Bay of Nagasaki. }}; {{citation|author=Jan E. Veldman|title=A Historical Vignette: Red-Hair Medicine|journal=ORL|year=2002|volume=64|issue=2|pages=157–165|doi=10.1159/000057797|pmid=12021510|s2cid=7541789}}; {{citation|author=Thomas M. van Gulik|author2=Yuji Nimura|title=Dutch Surgery in Japan|journal=World Journal of Surgery|date=January 2005|volume=29|issue=1|pages=10–17 at 10|doi=10.1007/s00268-004-7549-3|quote=Several Dutch surgical schools were founded through which Dutch surgery, known in Japan as 'surgery of the red-haired' was propagated.|pmid=15599736|s2cid=25659653}}; {{citation|author=Michael Dunn |title=Japanning for southern barbarians: Some of the first items traded with the West were decorated with maki-e lacquer |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20081120a1.html |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5qjK1lxHM?url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20081120a1.html |archive-date=24 June 2010 |newspaper=[[Japan Times]] |date=20 November 2008 |quote=Dutch taste dictated a new style of export lacquer known as 'komo shikki' ('red hair' – a common term for Northern Europeans), in which elaborate gold-lacquer decoration replaced the complex inlays of Nanban ware. |url-status=live }}</ref> Portuguese and Spanish traders were in contrast referred to as {{nihongo4||南蛮|[[nanban trade|nanban]]}}, which is in turn cognate to the Chinese ''[[nanman]]'' and means "southern barbarians".<ref>Dunn, "Japanning for southern barbarians": "During the early years of European contact, Japanese craftsmen began to produce new items to order, now known as 'Nanban' lacquerware from the term 'Nanban-''jin''{{'}} used for the 'southern barbarians.'"</ref>

During the 19th century, [[Walter Henry Medhurst]] made a reference in his academic work ''A Dictionary of the Hok-Këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language'' that ''âng mô'' ("red haired") generally applied to the [[English people]]. With the large migration of [[Hoklo people|the Hoklo]] to [[Southeast Asia]], predominantly [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]], the term ''ang moh'' became more widespread and was used to refer to white people in general.

==Racial controversy==
The term ''ang mo'' is usually viewed as racist and derogatory by white people.<ref>{{cite news|title=none|author=Ong Soh Chin|publisher=[[The Straits Times]]|date=30 October 2004|page=4|quote=[M]any of my Singaporean friends felt the term ''ang moh'' was definitely racist. Said one, with surprising finality: "The original term was ''ang moh gui'' which means "red hair devil" in Hokkien. That's definitely racist". However, the ''gui'' bit has long been dropped from the term, defanging it considerably. ... Both ''ang moh gui'' and ''gwailo'' – Cantonese for "devil person" –  originated from the initial Chinese suspicion of foreigners way back in those days when the country saw itself as the Middle Kingdom.}}; {{citation|author=Sean Ashley|title=Stop calling me ang moh [letter]|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=5 November 2004|page=5|quote=As an 'ang moh' who has lived here for over six years, I hope more people will realise just how offensive the term is.}}</ref> Others, however, maintain it is acceptable,<ref>{{cite news|title=none|author=Garry Hubble|journal=The Straits Times |date=5 November 2004|page=5|quote=To have my Chinese Singaporean friends call me ''ang moh'' is more humorous than anything else. As no insult is intended, none is taken.}}</ref> making it in some contexts a [[reclaimed word]]. Despite this, it is a widely used term, at least among non-Westerners. It appears, for instance, in Singaporean newspapers such as ''[[The Straits Times]]'',<ref>{{citation|author=Michael D. Sargent|title=Lessons for this gweilo and ang moh|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_168999.html|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=21 October 2007|access-date=May 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619174723/http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_168999.html|archive-date=June 19, 2009|url-status=live}}; {{citation|author=Jamie Ee Wen Wei|title=Meet Bukit Panjang's "''ang moh'' leader": Englishman is one of 900 permanent residents who volunteer at grassroots groups, and the number could rise with more Westerners becoming PRs|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_175635.html|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=11 November 2007|access-date=May 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515111426/http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_175635.html|archive-date=May 15, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> and in television programs and films.

==Derogatory context==
In [[Singapore]] and [[Malaysia]], the term ''ang mo sai'' ({{zh|t=紅毛屎|l=red-haired shit}}) is a derogatory term used within the Chinese community for mocking other Chinese who are not able to read Chinese.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Urban Dictionary: Ang Moh Sai |url=https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ang%20Moh%20Sai |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Urban Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ang Mo Kio]]
*[[Barang (Khmer word)|Barang]]
*[[Bule (term)|Bule]]
*[[Farang]]
*[[Gweilo]]
*[[Mat Salleh]]
*[[Totok]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|ang moh}}

*[http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexView&lexicon=lexicon&alpha=A&page=1 Definition from the ''Coxford Singlish Dictionary'']
*[http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_A.htm#ang_moh Definition from the ''Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English'']

{{Ethnic slurs}}
{{White people terms}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ang Mo}}
[[Category:Pejorative terms for white people]]
[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]
[[Category:Hokkien-language phrases]]
[[Category:Culture of Singapore]]
[[Category:Singlish]]
[[Category:Discrimination in Taiwan]]