Ang Mo - Etymology and History

Etymology and History

The earliest origin for the term "Ang mo 紅毛" 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" (Chinese: 紅毛城; pinyin: hóng máo chéng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ) 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 紅毛人" (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 紅毛人" 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 Kōmō (紅毛), 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. Portuguese and Spanish traders were in contrast referred to as nanban (南蛮), which is in turn cognate to the Chinese nanman and means "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 紅毛 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 Caucasians in general.