Power of Words

Dalai Lama is on the headlines these days. Anyone who cares to know the reason can find out easily and form an informed opinion. However, this article is not to address any political issue but a note on culture.

A few days ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend regarding the power of words. The case study is how the perception of Dalai Lama in Mainland China was reinforced, if not created, by the power of words.

Through propaganda from each side, the perceptions of Dalai Lama within and without China were the opposite. Besides above-mentioned propaganda and historical impacts, one of the reasons that Dalai Lama is viewed as demon or hooligan in Mainland China was due to the incidental choices of four Chinese characters used to represent the four syllables of Da-Lai-La-Ma – 达赖喇嘛.

Out of the four characters, only the first one has generally nice meaning and sound, while the latter three either sound harsh and grating, or are closely associated to, connected to, and imply deviousness, a pockmarked person, or leprosy. For example, 赖 means a person or behavior that is dishonest and disregards rule or niceties.

Through these historically chosen unflattering words, Chinese speakers fell under the influence of the subtle persuasion of words, which in due time reinforced the devious image of Dalai Lama broadly perceived by ethnic Chinese.

* This analysis is purely a cultural one and does not represent any political view on Dalai Lama or Tibetan issue. – MFS