# 白左
## Chinese

* 白左 (Written Standard Chinese)
* Baizuo (English)

### 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): baak$^6$ zo$^2$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: báizuǒ
*** Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄗㄨㄛˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: báizuǒ
*** Wade–Giles: pai$^2$-tso$^3$
*** Yale: bái-dzwǒ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairtzuoo
*** Palladius: байцзо (bajczo)
*** Sinological IPA : /paɪ̯³⁵ t͡su̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: baak$^6$ zo$^2$
*** Yale: baahk jó
*** Cantonese Pinyin: baak$^9$ dzo$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: bag$^6$ zo$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /paːk̚² t͡sɔː³⁵/
* 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/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /bᵚak̚/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /bak̚/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /baɨjk̚/ | /t͡sa$^X$/ | /t͡sa$^H$/ |
| Li Rong | /bɐk̚/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Wang Li | /bɐk̚/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /bʱɐk̚/ | /t͡sɑ$^X$/ | /t͡sɑ$^H$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | bó | zuǒ | zuò |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | bak$^6$ | zo$^2$ | zo$^3$ |
* 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 › | ‹ tsa$^X$ › | ‹ tsa$^X$ › | ‹ tsa$^H$ › |
| 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
* (neologism, derogatory, politics) white leftist (depending on the context, carrying various connotations including naïveté, hypocrisy, wokeness, social justice warrior or champagne socialist)
    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

### References

* ↑ Kuo, Kaiser (2018 April 23) “Kuora: The origin of ‘baizuo’ (白左) — the Chinese libtard, or ‘white left’”, in SupChina‎, retrieved 21 April 2018