白左

Chinese

		white; empty; blank white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous	left
simp. and trad. (白左)		白	左
Literally: “white left”.

Etymology

Blend of 白種人／白种人 (báizhǒngrén) + 左派 (zuǒpài). Coined by 李碩. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) or

Blend of 白痴 (báichī) + 左派 (zuǒpài). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): báizuǒ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˊ ㄗㄨㄛˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak⁶ zo²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: báizuǒ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄗㄨㄛˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: báizuǒ
    • Wade–Giles: pai²-tso³
    • Yale: bái-dzwǒ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairtzuoo
    • Palladius: байцзо (bajczo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵ t͡su̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak⁶ zo²
    • Yale: baahk jó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁹ dzo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag⁶ zo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːk̚² t͡sɔː³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: baek tsaX|tsaH

Rime
Character	白	左	左
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	精 (13)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	陌 (113)	歌 (94)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	I	I
Fanqie	傍陌切	臧可切	則箇切
Baxter	baek	tsaX	tsaH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bˠæk̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Pan Wuyun	/bᵚak̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Shao Rongfen	/bak̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/baɨjk̚/	/t͡saX/	/t͡saH/
Li Rong	/bɐk̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Wang Li	/bɐk̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱɐk̚/	/t͡sɑX/	/t͡sɑH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bó	zuǒ	zuò
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bak6	zo2	zo3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*bˤrak  tsˤa[j]ʔ|tsˤarʔ-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*braːɡ  ʔsaːlʔ|ʔsaːls/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	白	左	左	左
Reading #	1/1	1/3	2/3	3/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bái	zuǒ	zuǒ	zuǒ
Middle Chinese	‹ bæk ›	‹ tsaX ›	‹ tsaX ›	‹ tsaH ›
Old Chinese	/*bˁrak/	/*tsˁa[j]ʔ/	/*tsˁa[j]ʔ/	/*tsˁarʔ-s/
English	white	left (side)	assist	assist
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	白	左	左
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
No.	207	18004	18006
Phonetic component	白	左	左
Rime group	鐸	歌	歌
Rime subdivision	0	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	白	左	佐
Old Chinese	/*braːɡ/	/*ʔsaːlʔ/	/*ʔsaːls/

Noun

白左

1. (neologism, derogatory, politics) white leftist (depending on the context, carrying various connotations including naïveté, hypocrisy, wokeness, social justice warrior or champagne socialist)

   • 塔克引用一段中國網民的描述：「他們（白左）是只關心諸如移民、少數族裔、性少數群體（LGBT）和環境話題，而感知不到現實世界裡現實問題的人。（他們）提倡和平，平權只是為了滿足自己的道德優越感，極其癡迷於政治正確。」 [MSC, trad.]
     塔克引用一段中国网民的描述：「他们（白左）是只关心诸如移民、少数族裔、性少数群体（LGBT）和环境话题，而感知不到现实世界里现实问题的人。（他们）提倡和平，平权只是为了满足自己的道德优越感，极其痴迷于政治正确。」 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2021 April 8, 陈劲松 (Chen Jingsong), 《当美国人也说“Baizuo”》, in 《Vista看天下》, issue 519, page 96

     Tǎkè yǐnyòng yī duàn Zhōngguó wǎngmín de miáoshù: “Tāmen (báizuǒ) shì zhǐ guānxīn zhūrú yímín, shàoshù zúyì, xìngshàoshù qúntǐ (LGBT) hé huánjìng huàtí, ér gǎnzhī bù dào xiànshí shìjiè lǐ xiànshí wèntí de rén. (tāmen) tíchàng hépíng, píngquán zhǐshì wèile mǎnzú zìjǐ de dàodé yōuyuègǎn, jíqí chīmí yú zhèngzhì zhèngquè.” [Pinyin]

     Tucker cites a Chinese netizen’s description: They (baizuo) only care about things such as immigration, ethnic minorities, LGBT groups, and the environment, yet are not aware of real problems in the real world. (They) advocate for peace and equal rights only to feel morally superior, and are the most obsessed with political correctness.

Usage notes

Based on Zhihu definitions reported by Chenchen Zhang (2017), the “white leftists” depicted by this word are stereotypically well-educated but naive and hypocritical Westerners who “only care about topics such as immigration, minorities, LGBT and the environment” and who advocate a welfare state which “benefits only the idle and the free riders”, motivated by the desire to “satisfy their own feeling of moral superiority”. The implication is an “ignorant and arrogant” Western-centric attitude with the unspoken assumption that only Western liberal societies are worth living in.

Related terms

• 白右 (báiyòu)

Descendants

• → English: baizuo