My Last Name That May Be A Racial Slur That May Be A Noble Name

Sometimes, people may wonder, “is there a character that is a racial slur in Chinese?” The answer is, “maybe.” That character is 胡 which happens to be the last names of so many people around the world — from the actress Kelly Hu to a former president of China, Hu Jintao — is probably a racial slur at some point in history. Here’s also another twist to this last name: it’s also a name of noble family with a legendary, mythical and fantastic origin. A racial slur that is also a noble name? What on earth is this? Read on to find out more.

To make things simpler, I’ve decided this post into 3 parts: 胡 as a Racial Slur, 胡 as a Noble Name and What Does 胡 Have to Say about All of Us? You should also be aware that what I have here may not be 100% correct. The story is very convoluted and very old (more than a couple of thousand years old.)

胡 as a Racial Slur

Nowadays, if you want to be racist in Chinese, you probably can’t just go around and call people a bunch of 胡 though since it’s now an outdated slur since 胡 is referring to a vague and diverse group of people that are no longer around. This character is also probably used to refer to anything non-Chinese. So if you are not a Chinese and if you decide to take a time machine to ancient China, the Chinese would probably call you a 胡. (Even if you are a Chinese, you might still be called a 胡 … Read on to find out why.)

The origin of this character is somewhat offensive. Many Chinese characters are actually combinations of other Chinese characters — 胡 is one of them. It’s composed of 古 and 月 which means “ancient” and “moon” respectively. Now, you may think, “Wow! Ancient Moon! That’s quite a nice name! How can that be offensive?” Well, those two characters aren’t really what 胡 is originally made out of. Instead, the actual original characters are 咕 and 肉. These two characters aren’t as pleasant as “Ancient Moon.” 咕 is a character without a meaning and it actually refers to nonsensical babbling. 肉 is, in the ancient time, the word for “throat.” So yep, 胡 means a bunch of people who makes nonsensical sounds.

The word “barbarian” in English also has a similar origin. The ancient Greek see foreigners speaking in nonsensical “bar bar bar” sounds and call them with “barbaros” which becomes “barbarian.” Basically, 胡 means “barbarians!”

Well, if you say to yourself, “If I’m Chinese, then it must mean that I’m not a 胡,” you may be wrong. You see, a bunch of 胡 tribes have conquered China for several times and they have been assimilated into Chinese culture. So even you may not be safe from us!

Although the word 胡 can no longer be considered a racial slur, it still lingers in Chinese as adverb with negative connotation. For instance, 胡闹 means “throwing a tantrum”, 胡说 means “speaking nonsense.” In simplified Chinese, 胡 also means “bread.” (Ironically, my facial hair grows so slowly I don’t need a daily shave!)

胡 as a Noble Name

Because life isn’t complex enough, 胡 also has to be a last name as well. Well, some barbarians who find themselves in ancient China may have adopted 胡 as their Chinese last name. However, 胡 is also a last name of people who descended from an ancient noble man. This noble man’s name is Gui Man. He is supposedly a descendant of Emperor Shun, one of the mythical emperors of China. When Shang dynasty has been conquered by King Zhou, he decides to track down a descendant of earlier and righteous rulers. He found Gui Man who is supposedly a descendant of Emperor Shun* and gave him a piece of land called Chen (This is where people with last name Chen comes from). After Gui Man has passed away, he is given a posthumous name — Hu Gong Man or 胡公满. Some of his descendants call themselves 胡 in order to honour the noble man.

What Does 胡 Have to Say about All of Us?

There are also a couple more stories on how 胡 has begun, but we will stop for now. It’s getting late for me to type.

Here’s a question that I’ve been asking myself: which of these are my ancestor — the barbarians or Emperor Shun? All clues would have long disappeared, and so it’s extremely difficult to answer this question. Perhaps, this answer is never meant to be answered. Perhaps, my family name is meant to represent all aspects of humanity: from the lowliest and the needy immigrants who find themselves found themselves away from home to the nobles and the president whose lives are far more privileged than the others.

Here is the real lesson that everyone should get out of: The mighty can fall. If I am truly the descendant of Emperor Shun and Hu Gong Man, then they may be sad to see how far their descendants have fallen. My ancestor who moved to Taiwan about 400 years ago did not live a fabulous life. He was a simple farmer who tried to escape starvation. Unlike the mighty ancestors who were rulers, my Taiwan ancestor merely wanted a land to toil his own farm — a very thankless and peasant task. My grandfather was also a poor penniless farmer and I could only imagine that his precursors were also farmers. My more immediate precursors’ lives were a far cry from those of the mighty noblemen.

Thinking of my own origin makes me think about everything around the world. Even today, people are still forced to make the choices that my Taiwan ancestor has to make. It has already been 400 years already, and yet people fail to develop a solution. Many people are also mocking the immigrants and treating them as subhumans. What these people should remember is that their sons and daughters could also be reduced to desperately scurrying around for a stable life. If the descendants of Emperor Shun can be reduced to farming, then no one’s descendants are immune.

• *Please never confuse Emperor Shun with Emperor Qin (the person who built the Great Wall of China). Before Emperor Qin, all Chinese rulers called themselves Kings rather than Emperors, because they don’t feel that they are awesome as the primordial rulers. The primordial rulers may be called “Emperors”, they may not be that all powerful. They may only control a much smaller lands that the Kings themselves. Emperor Qin thought he was awesome, so he called himself an Emperor.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Shun