Business of Life

Little Opportunity in Crisis

You've all heard the saying that the Chinese word for crisis means danger + opportunity.  Well,  it doesn't according to one sinologist and never did.    Victor Mair, professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania says

There is a widespread public misperception, particularly among  the New Age sector, that the Chinese word for "crisis" is  composed of elements that signify "danger" and "opportunity." I  first encountered this curious specimen of oriental wisdom about  ten years ago at an altitude of 35,000 feet sitting next to an  American executive. He was intently studying a bound volume that  had adopted this notorious formulation as the basic premise of  its method for making increased profits even when the market is  falling. At that moment, I didn't have the heart to disappoint my gullible neighbor who was blissfully imbibing what he assumed  were the gems of Far Eastern sagacity enshrined within the pages  of his workbook. Now, however, the damage from this kind of  pseudo-profundity has reached such gross proportions that I feel  obliged, as a responsible Sinologist, to take counteraction....

...Thus, a wēijī is  indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things  start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially  wary. It is  a juncture when one goes looking for  advantages and benefits. In a crisis, one wants above all to save  one's skin and neck! Any would-be guru who advocates opportunism  in the face of crisis should be run out of town on a rail, for  his / her advice will only compound the danger of the crisis.

Via  Asymmetrical Information