Legislator wants ban on Internet 'foul' words

A national legislator called for banning vulgar terms coined by Internet users, and passing law to protect Chinese characters.

According to a report in China News Service on Saturday, Chen Zhenlian, a deputy to NPC and vice-chairman of Chinese Calligraphers Association, called words like Diaosi as trash language.[Special coverage]

A popular Internet phrase coined in early 2012, Diaosi is a collective title that some Chinese use to describe themselves in a self-deprecating manner to suggest their lack of good looks, wealth and social resources to survive in society. It may be like a Chinese version of underprivileged loser but without the derogatory tone.

These are trash words and should not be "tolerated" on Internet, he was quoted as saying.

Instead, he called for a national law to offset the impact on Chinese characters in the information age, when e-mails and keyboard inputs have replaced letters and handwriting.

Because of the popularity of computers, many Chinese have become new illiterates with character amnesia, Chen said, stressing the fact that Chinese characters are developed from hieroglyphics instead of alphabetic system. "Currently the Chinese characters are just an empty shell," he added.

Chen, who has been calling for protection of the language for three years, also spoke out against businesses for replacing some characters in Chinese idioms with words of similar sounds in their advertising.

It is quite popular in TV commercials, he said. "It should be banned, because it will mislead the children."

The fate of Chinese characters also drew the attention of Feng Xiaogang, a national political adviser and a well-known film director.

He appealed to restore part of the traditional characters from their simplified versions to enhance their cultural meaning.