阿Q

From the name of the main character in Lu Xun's novella The True Story of Ah Q (《阿Q正傳》/《阿Q正传》) who believes his defeats are victories.

The intended pronunciation of the character's name was "Quei", which should be written as "Guì" in modern Pinyin, but was shortened to "Q" because the protagonist did not know with which character his name should be written (possibly 貴 / 贵 or 桂 in context of given names).

阿Q

1. Ah Q; the main character in Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q

   • 阿Q想在心裏的，後來每每說出口來，所以凡是和阿Q玩笑的人們，幾乎全知道他有這一種精神上的勝利法。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     阿Q想在心里的，后来每每说出口来，所以凡是和阿Q玩笑的人们，几乎全知道他有这一种精神上的胜利法。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: 魯迅 Lu Xun, 《阿Q正傳》 The True Story of Ah Q, 1921; translation by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang.

     Āguì xiǎng zài xīnlǐ de, hòulái měiměi shuō chūkǒu lái, suǒyǐ fánshì hé Āguì wánxiào de rénmen, jǐ hū quán zhīdào tā yǒu zhè yī zhǒng jīngshénshàng de shènglìfǎ. [Pinyin]

     Whatever Ah Q thought he was sure to tell people later; thus almost all who made fun of Ah Q knew that he had this means of winning a psychological victory.

阿Q

1. a person who acts like Ah Q; a person who consoles himself/herself after a defeat by not admitting it but telling himself/herself that he/she is the true victor

• → Zhuang: Ah Giuh
• → Vietnamese: AQ

阿Q

1. chữ Hán form of AQ/A Q (“Ah Q; the main character in Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q”)