The Chinese term "hei jin"

Dear Editor:

The Chinese term hei jin (lit. black gold) has recently become a term used to describe "corrupt money" and "political power and influence obtained through wealth." Pick up a magazine or newspaper on any given day and you are bound to come across such phrases such as "sweeping away black gold" or "declaring war on black gold." These terms are also staples of the broadcast media. In Sinorama the term hei jin has appeared in the "Eye on the News" section two months running, and it also appeared in the interview with Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan. The sentiment of wanting to sweep away corruption is a worthy one. Yet where did this term "black gold" come from?

I have checked altogether nine authoritative sources, including Shuowen Jiezi (The Origin of Phrases), as well as separate etymological reference books put out by the Commercial Press and Yuan-Liou Publishing and dictionaries published by the Ministry of Education and publishing houses such as San Min. Without exception, each describes hei jin as referring to iron, coal or oil. Popular English and American dictionaries, on the other hand, say that "black gold" specifically refers to oil.

Politicians, academics, the media, and ordinary people are therefore all misusing the term when they employ it to describe the financial power of hei dao (which literally translates as "the black way" and means "organized crime") or jin niu (which translates literally as "gold bulls" and means "wealthy individuals who use their money for political leverage"). Moreover, this incorrect usage is only gaining prevalence the more it is used. Recently, on three separate occasions, British students in Taiwan from Oxford and the University of London asked me, "Doesn't 'black gold' mean oil? Why does it refer to 'organized crime' or 'the gold bulls' in Taiwan?" I didn't know how to answer them.

Some people are bound to say that there is nothing wrong with so extending the meaning of black gold. But by the same token, huang jin (literally "yellow gold"-i.e. the precious metal) could therefore be used in conjunction with huang niu (which translates literally as "yellow bulls" and means "ticket scalpers") or jinguang dang (which translates literally as "gold light party" and means "gang of swindlers"). Yuanzidan (atom bomb) could be taken to mean yuanlai shi erzi de danzhu ("Ah, so those are my son's marbles").

So that both citizens of Taiwan and foreigners studying Chinese here won't misunderstand and misuse the term "black gold," which has long been properly used to describe iron, oil and coal (as my research has demonstrated), I hope that instead of "sweeping away black gold" the government will "sweep away the corrupting influence in politics of money from organized crime and the wealthy."