"Devil" is a derogatory term in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, with the invasion of the imperial powers, China
Reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
There were more and more foreigners, and because the Qing Dynasty had been closed to the outside world, the common people had never seen any foreigners.
Seeing that these people who looked different from themselves were burning and looting on their own territory, they were very disgusted with them, so they called foreigners foreign devils.
The name "devil" originated from an allusion during the Visit of Li Hongzhang, an envoy of the Qing Dynasty, during his visit to Japan. And it's also a couplet allusion.
Before the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government sent Li Hongzhang to visit Japan, and the two sides held a joint press conference, and the Japanese were very proud.
Not only did he want to make the Qing dynasty submit by force, but even culturally he wanted the Qing government to be ashamed of itself.
At the press conference, the Japanese side raised a question that was incompatible:
"We have a league in Japan, which is very simple, but we can't figure it out, so we can only ask the Qing Dynasty, which has a deep culture, to come to the right."
Journalists were also happy to see this good play. The Japanese showed the upper link written on the white silk.
Shanglian said: "Riding a strange horse, Zhang Longbow, Qinse Pipa, eight kings, side by side on the head, single go and fight alone!" ”
The meaning of this upper league is: the Japanese soldiers are strong and strong, and they are riding strange maximal horses, and there are eight kings, and they have strategies.
Show wende, Chen in martial arts, Japan's "single-handed battle" can step on China.
This is clearly a demonstration against China!
When everyone was pinching a handful of sweat for the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang decided to reply by himself, first asking the Japanese side to polish the ink for themselves.
Then lay on the white silk, which began to write, the next link:
"Wu Ren Wei, Raid dragon clothes, 魑 (chī) charm (mèi) 魍 (wǎng) 魉 (liǎng), four little devils, kneeling on their knees, holding them together!"
The reporters present all clapped their hands in amazement.
The meaning of this alliance is that the Japanese and these Wokou dared to steal the dragon clothes of the Great Qing Dynasty.
The "Qinse Pipa" became the "Charm of the Dragon", and the Eight Kings were changed to the Four Little Ghosts.
"Shoulder to shoulder" becomes "kneeling on one's knees", and "fighting alone" becomes "holding hands together".
Word soon spread in China, and soon people no longer called Japan "Wokou", but decided to replace it with "devil".
Word soon spread across the country, and many people stopped referring to Japan as a wokou and decided to replace it with "devil" instead.
By the time of World War II, the protagonist of the invasion of China became Japan.
The "devils" became Japanese soldiers, and the war lasted for more than ten years.
"Devil" has also become a chinese term for Japanese soldiers, expressing our anger and contempt for the Japanese invaders.