Tim Johnson with some good advice for Hilary:

It’s probably best for Westerners not to try to out-proverb the Chinese, especially when speaking with Premier Wen Jiabao.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just passed through China, and she displayed a propensity to throw Chinese proverbs into her public statements, exclaiming at one point: “I love Chinese proverbs!”

She tossed out her first Chinese proverb before even departing on her weeklong trip, and in some ways it was apt.

In a speech on U.S.-China relations to the Asia Society on Feb. 13, Clinton used the aphorism, tongchuan gongji, which means roughly “when on a common boat, cross the river peacefully together.” The proverb was made famous in “The Art of War,” the book by the ancient philosopher and military strategist Sun Tzu. Most listeners probably got the gist of what Clinton was seeking to say: The United States and China have common problems and should work together.

Like most Chinese proverbs, this one contains four characters (and four syllables) but is loaded with historical and literal meaning.

It alludes to an episode when combatants from the warring states of Yue and Wu found themselves in the same boat on a river in a storm. Despite their hatred for each other, they agreed to lay down their weapons for the common passage.

The problem with the proverb is what historians say happened afterward: The king of Yue went on to destroy the Wu. They remained foes to the very end.

I don’t think Clinton meant to evoke the sense that the common cause between China and the United States was only temporary, and that one side would eventually vanquish the other.

I also don’t think that Hilary wanted to suggest that the U.S. and China are enemies at all and that current "good" relations are a departure from the norm.

Hmm. This has been another installment of white guys speaking Chinese to show off.

I’ve had to endure this phenomenon for ten years now, and it never fails to annoy. I would informally estimate that only about .002% of the time when white guys use Chinese proverbs is it done properly and without the ulterior motive being to show off/impress. Many times, this showing off is done not so much to impress Chinese people, but other white guys.

Here’s one example. White guy expat in China, let’s call him Johann, is a business consultant making a speech in front of the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce. Johann’s bank account is dangerously low, and he really needs to land some clients. Johann figures that, in addition to slashing his rates by 75% and scaring the attendees to death about the "labyrinth" that is FDI in China, he should throw in some Chinese sayings to make himself look sufficiently familiar with China and its culture. After 84 seconds with Google, he settles on three references to the term guanxi and something about white and black cats that he doesn’t quite understand but has heard before somewhere (must be Confucius, he muses, and notes this on his Powerpoint talking points).

Now, Johann doesn’t really understand the basics here. First, the Uzbeks won’t hire him until he slashes his rates another 15%. Second, these guys do not scare so easily. Third, they want to hire someone with a lot of high-level guanxi, not people that can just correctly use the term. Fourth, Johann didn’t know that the fat guy in the front row, an Embassy official, is a China scholar who actually met Deng Xiaoping on several occasions — he was not amused by the mangled white cat/black cat reference and will tell his associates and business contacts that Johann is full of shit.

Which leads us to a long-standing saying of my own: you can bottle up the bullshit for a while, but the stench will eventually leak out.

Not much of an aphorism, but hey, I just made it up. Not exactly very long-standing then, if you think about it.

I’m not comparing Hilary to our friend Johann. Hilary’s reference was probably a good idea. Not only did she come across as someone who thinks Chinese culture is cool (always a plus) but it then allowed Grandpa Wen to fire off another one at her, continuing the let’s-work-together-in-harmony diplo-speak quite nicely.

On the other hand, I certainly hope that Hilary’s performance in no way encourages all the knuckleheads in Beijing and Shanghai who think they’re the second coming of Da Shan (I’m not that impressed with the first one). As someone who is painfully aware of the shortcomings of his own language skills, I’ve learned that it’s best not to push one’s luck.