Danger + Opportunity = Crisis? Not!
I enjoy a good yarn as much as anyone. But when these are told and re-told and taken seriously as if they are true, it’s time to point out that the emperor has no clothes. That’s the intent of my Debunking series.
People have often said that in Chinese the word for “crisis” is a combination of “danger” and “opportunity”. This is only half-true. The “opportunity” part is a stretch, and taking apart words like this isn’t good linguistics. When people share this nugget of wisdom it usually serves as an encouragement to seize on opportunity in uncertain times. Seizing an opportunity amid uncertainty may be wise or foolhardy given many variables, but it has little to do with what the words mean in the Chinese language.
“Crisis” in Chinese (wēijī) is a two syllable word written with two separate characters, wēi (危) and jī (机). A crisis is a moment of peril, a time to duck or be extremely alert! It’s hardly an entrepreneurial moment, except for the unscrupulous or what in English we would call “an ambulance chaser.” When Chinese today speak of a wēijī (“crisis”), they aren’t thinking of opportunity or optimistic outcomes; the main goal is survival!
Keep in mind that you’ll continue to hear people repeat this linguistic “urban legend”, but now you know better. This is not a piece of Chinese wisdom, but a stretching (really a misunderstanding) of the Chinese language. Crises are times of danger and high risk; the alert and wary keep their heads while the heedless and reckless are losing theirs.
For a more academic treatment of the subject, see Victor Mair’s online article.
