Conflicting traits are mark of monkey

A baby monkey snuggles in its mother's arms for warmth in Hangzhou Zoo. XU KANGPING / FOR CHINA DAILY

Monkey, hou in Chinese, has several paronyms that, contrary to conventional wisdom, are related at the root. One is denghou, meaning awaiting, the uncharacteristic tendency to resist instant gratification. The other seems more far-fetched: ancient vassals had to maneuver among shifting forces to maintain their power base. They developed sly adaptability and quick-headedness, or they would lose their domains or even their heads. They were called zhuhou, a word said to be derived from the word for primate.

The English expression monkey business contains some of the above implications, such as trickery and deceit, but mostly it refers to pranks and relatively harmless mischief, which is what comes to mind when association with the animal is queried.

Agility and mischievousness are perhaps the first impressions people the world over have of the monkey, regardless of culture. For good or for bad, monkeys display a strong tendency to throw not only monkey wrenches but all kinds of other things into the works.

The English language has the expressions grease monkey and powder monkey, among others, but Chinese have what can be translated as thin monkey, which started as an unflattering moniker for a man with low body fat. I don't know whether the word used as slang for Chinese Americans in early 20th century America was derived from that physicality. During times of food scarcity, a thin monkey was certainly not an object of envy. But the pendulum has swung the other way and we are living in an era when thin is much better than fat and fashion models look like the product of famine. So, now we have personal ads in Chinese in which the advertiser proudly touts himself as a "monkey", especially in the gay community.

On the smart monkey, Chinese and English see eye to eye. Although monkeys are known to be good imitators of human movements, the connotation of mimicry has not seeped into the Chinese lexicon. In Chinese that attribute is ascribed to the parrot, leaving the monkey and the ape out of the equation. But circus or zoo monkeys are frequently applauded for imitating human gestures.

It is perhaps a cruel twist that monkeys are also ridiculed for being foolish. The ancient Chinese saying "morning three and night four" is distilled from a tale of a pet owner scrambling to feed a bunch of macaques. "How about I feed you three chestnuts in the morning and four at night?" he asked. His pets were offended. So he said: "OK, OK, I'll give you four in the morning and three at night." And the monkeys were contented. What started as an allegory of deceit has now evolved into one of capriciousness.

Other pejorative phrases involving this year's zodiac animal include "monkeys reign in a mountain without a tiger", meaning monkeys are not born leaders, but are fit only to play second fiddle. If not for Sun Wukong, who crowned himself the Beautiful Monkey King, the primate may never have been known for self-confidence or even a tinge of braggadocio.

Human ambivalence toward the monkey lies at the root of all the contrasting qualities attributed to it. We deem it as below us, yet we project to it some of the traits that we love but we hate to admit — from an impish wit to a rebellious spirit. It does not ennoble us, but it surely makes us confront our inner self — and makes us proud of it.

Contact the writer at raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn