Please, take the poll before reading the rest of the post.Poll #302364 May you live in interesting times
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All
Have you ever heard the proverb "May you live in interesting times"?
Do you live in interesting times?
Is it a blessing or a curse?
View Answers
blessing!
39 (29.5%)
curse! 35 (26.5%)
The paradoxical nature of the statement overwhelms my tender sensibilities. 58 (43.9%)
What culture spawned this saying?
Do you remember where you first heard it?
In a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 June, 1966, Robert F Kennedy said:
There is a Chinese curse which says, 'May he live in interesting times'. Like it or not, we live in interesting times...
I have heard the ancient chinese proverb, "May you live in interesting times," a great number of times, and I always thought it was something to aspire to. Who wants to be bored, or live in a live of mundane reality, or a neverending litany of habits? Whenever I heard this sayingg, I thought about the movies, and my favourite novels, where something happens. What is so interesting about a story in which nothing at all happens? that is.. unless it is a John Crowley novel, in which case, all is forgiven. But seriously- I always thought this was a blessing of sorts.
I was told that "interesting" in the context of this particular ancient chinese proverb meant 'dangerous' or 'turbulent'; therefore, the entire phrase is a curse. But, if one analyses the 'curse' in its original context (which I will disclose later), "The ancient Chinese curse, May you live in interesting times." is not a curse, as no harm or evil is explicitly intended for the recipient of the curse. It is, however, a proverb, a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people. The phrase was written to be ironic, when most people read this phrase, "interesting times" seem like the right times to be living in- as I said- who wants to live a boring and methodical life? By prefacing that this sort of existance is a curse only adds to the irony. It could also be understood that interesting is equal to drama, and the neverending wars, terror, fear mongering culture that we all seem to live in worldwide is fulfillment of these 'interesting' times we now 'cursed' to live in.
The most interesting thing about this proverb, however, is that it is not Chinese. According to ever source I've examined, the phrase "May you live in interesting times" does not exist in any Chinese reference. It has been determined that it was paraphrased from the Chinese proverb 'It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period,' but this has been determined by most scholars to be highly unlikely. However, it appears in powerpoint presentations, book prefaces, commonly appears in many newspapers including the New York Times, as the title of numerous books, and presidential speeches. 
It is assumed that the phrase was attributed to Chinese antiquity in order to lend a sense of mystique or authority to a modern curse. Even this lends itself to the ironic core of the phrase; Confucius, endeavoring to give his opinions and teachings greater gravity and acceptance, once stated, "I do not create; I merely pass on the wisdom of those who have gone before." The same device of attribution is at work here: the "curse of interesting times" is much more interesting itself if the Chinese created it.
The earliest found reference to this phrase was in the short story, "U-Turn" by Duncan H. Munro, a pseudonym for Eric Frank Russell. The curse can be found on page 137 of the April 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. The main character of "U-Turn", Mason, complains about the order, regulation, and control under which everyone is forced to live:For centuries the Chinese used an ancient curse: "May you live in interesting times!" It isn't a curse any more. It's a blessing. We're scientific and civilized. We've got so many rights and liberties and freedoms that one can yearn for chains for the sheer pleasure of busting them and shaking them off. Reckon life would be more livable if there were any chains left to
bust.
The author Terry Prachett also based the basic premise of his book around the proverb in his novel, Interesting Times. According to the story, this curse was accompianied by two others:1. May you live in interesting times.
2. May the authorities take an interest in you.
3. May the gods give you everything that you desire.
A researcher of this saying, Stephen E. DeLong, was contacted by someone with a spanish translation of Carl Jung's 1931 book, The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life. DeLong was told that in the foreword to that book, which is about Chinese alchemy, Mr. Jung quotes the same curse and makes some interesting reflections about it. However, there is no mention of the curse in the english translation that DeLong read. At this point, the Jung reference would be the earliest, but at this point it is unverifiable.
In the meantime, it will continue to grow as a meme in our popular culture, perhaps ironicly attributed to some long dead wise chinaman, and hopefully will continue to inspire artists, politicians, and to act as a warning to all those that would dare to live anything but a mundane life.
- Music:Idir & Cheb Mami - Au Pays des Merveilles (Azwaw) [Master Mi
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Comments
For a long time now I have understood it in more the proverbial sense—difficulties are part of what makes life interesting, so the best attitude is to accept it; if someone were to say it to me, I would receive it as a blessing. But I personally haven't seen the phrase in cultural circulation for a long time, certainly not with any Chinese attribution, except in intended-to-be-ironic quotation.
This proverb is as often misquoted as the one about the Chinese characters for crisis and opportunity.
Given that Chinese culture has tended to value stability more than progress, it's more plausible as a curse...
I'm going to add you to my friends list too.