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''Ang mo'' () or ''ang moh'' is a racial epithet describing white people, mainly in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and sometimes in Taiwan and Thailand. It literally means "red-haired" and originates from Hokkien, a variety of Southern Min. The usage is similar to the Cantonese term ''gweilo'' (鬼佬, "ghost man"). Other similar terms include ''ang mo kow'' (), ''ang mo kui'' (), ''ang mo lang'' (). Although the term had some derogatory connotations, it has entered common usage in Singapore and Malaysia and refers to a white person or, when used as an adjective, Western culture in general. ==Etymology and history== The earliest origin for the term ''ang mo'' could be traced to the contact between Hokkien (Min Nan) speakers in Southern Fujian province of China with the Portuguese people and Dutch people during the 16th and 17th century. During the 17th century, the Spanish people and Dutch people had colonized Taiwan and built Fort Santo Domingo in Tamsui, Taiwan, also known as "City of the Red-Haired" () in Taiwanese Hokkien. This city was built by the Spanish in the 17th century. Following that, Dutch people were known in Taiwan as ''ang mo lang'' ("red-haired people") in Taiwanese Hokkien. This is most likely because red hair is a common trait among the Dutch. This historical term ''ang mo lang'' continues to be used in the context of Taiwanese history to refer to Dutch people. The Chinese characters for ''ang mo'' are the same as those in the historical Japanese term , which was used during the Edo period (1603–1868) as an epithet for (northwestern European) white people. It primarily referred to Dutch traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan during ''Sakoku'', its 200-year period of isolation.〔See, for example, ; ; ; ; ; 〕 Portuguese and Spanish traders were in contrast referred to as , which is in turn cognate to the Chinese ''nanman'' and means "southern barbarians".〔Dunn, "Japanning for southern barbarians": "During the early years of European contact, Japanese craftsmen began to produce new items to order, now known as 'Nanban' lacquerware from the term 'Nanban-''jin''' used for the 'southern barbarians.'"〕 During the 19th century, Walter Henry Medhurst made a reference in his academic work ''A Dictionary of the Hok-Këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language'' that ''âng mô'' ("red haired"), generally applied to the English people. With the large migration of Hokkien people to South-East Asia, predominantly Malaysia and Singapore, the term ''ang moh'' became more widespread and was used to refer to white people in general. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ang mo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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