Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees

"Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees" is a racist playground chant that has been used to mock children of Asian origin.

One rendering of the chant is "Chinese/Japanese/Dirty Knees/Look at these Chinese Japanese/Dirty Knees".^[1] Other renderings give the chant as "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these," with a breast-related gesture accompanying the "look at these" phrase (such as pinching the front of one's shirt into mock breasts).^[2][3] The reference to breasts alludes to promiscuity, according to Philip Nel, an English professor.^[4]

Many Asian Americans recalled hearing the chant,^[2] and in some cases being taunted or bullied with the chant, in their youth in the 20th century.^[5] Children who sang it would sometimes pull their eyes into slits.^[6] Gregory B. Lee, writing that "many a Chinese immigrant child over the past 100 years has had to endure" the chant, notes that "[t]he allusion to dirt in this ditty is not aleatory", linking it to the stereotype of unclean "Orientals".^[7]

In 2020, the film Monster Hunter caused controversy on Chinese social media because of a pun that some critics said was a reference to the chant: In a scene, MC Jin's character jokingly says: "Look at my knees!", and to the question "What kind of knees are these?" replies "Chi-knees!". Although the filmmakers and actors denied that the line had anything to do with the chant, the film was removed from circulation, and Chinese authorities censored references to it online.^[8]

References

1. Xing, Jun (1998). Asian America Through the Lens: History, Representations, and Identities. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-7619-9175-1. OCLC 39051806.
2. Zaloom, Shafia (2003). "Dirty Knees". In Kane, Pearl Rock; Orsini, Alfonso J. (eds.). The Colors of Excellence: Hiring and Keeping Teachers of Color in Independent Schools. New York: Teachers College Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-8077-4282-1. OCLC 53093570.
3. Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-7407-9307-3. OCLC 776997651.
4. Ulen, Eisa. "8 Children's Nursery Rhymes That Are Actually Racist". Reader's Digest. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
5. Pusey, Shirley Budd (2005). "Emily". Adoption Reunion Stories. Phoenix, AZ: Acacia Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 0-9762224-5-0. OCLC 61362752.
6. Rhee, Michelle (2013). "Chapter 1". Radical: Fighting to Put Students First. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-220400-4. OCLC 825116527.
7. Lee, Gregory B. (2003). Chinas Unlimited: Making the Imaginaries of China and Chineseness. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-8248-2680-9. OCLC 51722034.
8. Davis, Rebecca (December 5, 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Pulled From Chinese Cinemas Over Scene Said to Be Racial Slur". Variety. Retrieved December 5, 2020.