Chinese urban dictionary is a monthly series where we give you snippets of language that you might just find useful.
by Mia Li
/ huĭ sān guān / 毁三观
Definition: an exclamation to express shock or surprise upon hearing new information that disproves or runs contrary to a previously held belief. Literal translation from Chinese is ‘three belief systems destroyed’.
How to use it:
A: Finally! From charting the movements of the sun and moon, I’ve realized how far it is to the edge of the world.
B: Oh, you didn’t go to Columbus’ lecture yesterday? He just proved the earth is round.
A: Huisanguan! Just like the sun and moon, it all makes sense now.
A: I have a confession to make – I’m not really the ladies man you thought I was. You know I’ve been boasting about having three different mother-in-laws in the last year?
B: Yes…Go on...
A: Well, it’s not me who’s been seeing three different women. It’s my father-in-law.
A: Huisanguan! I didn’t even know you could get it up at that age.
Influenced heavily by the views of Karl Marx (when I say ‘influenced’ I mean being subjected to rigorous studying and examination from ages 6 to 22), modern Chinese thinking holds that a person’s entire belief system can be broken down into three parts.
Firstly, there are your views on life: What you think the purpose of life is and what kind of life to lead. Secondly, there is your world view: How you perceive the world around you and your relationship with it. And lastly, there is your set of values: The ethical standpoint and moral code by which you live your life. They make up a person’s ‘three belief systems’, known for short as your ‘life view,’ ‘world view’ and ‘value view.’ You have always believed them to be true and everyone around you holds their own, whether concurrent with, or contradictory to, your own.
And then something happens. Something so mind-blowing, that your entire personal philosophy on life is instantly flung, as it were, out of the window and flushed down the metaphorical toilet. “Huisanguan!” you proclaim. “My three views have been destroyed!”
It may be the moment when, after walking 14 miles to work every day to save two kuai on subway tickets, you read online that some guy routinely buys RMB100,000 works of art to decorate his home. It may be the moment when you discover the girl you have been buying expensive gifts for in the hope of winning her over is the mistress of your boss. It may be the moment that you realize the beautiful young girl you’ve been flirting with online is, in fact, a 50-year-old man.
Of course, huisanguan is often used as an overstatement for dramatic effect, exaggerating the impossibility of reconciling what you see with what you know to be true. Remember to use it next time you hear something so shocking that your brain goes into meltdown and can only return: “does not compute” or “cannot reconcile with existing data.”
> Mia Li is a news reporter in Beijing by day; at night, she tries to turn that news into standup comedy.
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