Graphic pejoratives in written Chinese

Some historical Chinese characters for non-Chinese peoples were graphically pejorative ethnic slurs, where the racial insult derived not from the Chinese word but from the character used to write it. For instance, written Chinese first transcribed the name Yáo "the Yao people " with the character for yáo 猺 "jackal". Most of those terms were replaced in the early 20th-century language reforms, for example the character for the term yáo was changed, replaced this graphic pejorative meaning "jackal" with another one – a homophone meaning yáo 瑤 "precious jade".

Zhongwen Da Cidian

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Setsuyōshū

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Zilin

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Leipian

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Lu Zhuangzhang

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Zhu Faya

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Zitong (dictionary)

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The Five Thousand Dictionary

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Nihongo Daijiten

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Chaudhry Nadeem Khadim

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