China Pictorial in 1950 Paper Tiger with a U.S. flag to describe American imperialism onin 1950

"Paper tiger" is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase zhilaohu (纸老虎／紙老虎). The term refers to something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. The expression became well known in the West as a slogan used by Mao Zedong's Chinese communist state against its opponents, particularly the U.S. government.

Origin [ edit ]

Paper tiger is an ancient phrase used in Chinese culture. It was translated into English in a work by John Francis Davis that was published before 1836.[1] In 1973, Mao Zedong claimed to have invented the English term paper tiger.[2]

Use [ edit ]

Mao Zedong first introduced his idea of paper tigers to Americans in an August 1946 interview with American Journalist Anna Louise Strong:[3]

The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the U.S. reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't. Of course, the atom bomb is a weapon of mass slaughter, but the outcome of a war is decided by the people, not by one or two new types of weapon. All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.[4]

In a 1956 interview with Strong, Mao used the phrase "paper tiger" to describe American imperialism again:

[5] In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of; it is a paper tiger. Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe that it is nothing but a paper tiger.

In 1957, Mao reminisced about the original interview with Strong:

[6] In an interview, I discussed many questions with her, including Chiang Kai-shek, Hitler, Japan, the United States and the atom bomb. I said all allegedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Wasn't Hitler a paper tiger? Wasn't he overthrown?

In this view, "paper tigers" are superficially powerful but are prone to overextension that leads to sudden collapse. When Mao criticized Soviet appeasement of the United States during the Sino-Soviet split, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly said, "the paper tiger has nuclear teeth".[7]

In The Resistance to Theory (1982), Paul de Man used the phrase to reflect upon the threat of literary theory to traditional literary scholarship in American academia. He said, "If a cat is called a tiger it can easily be dismissed as a paper tiger; the question remains however why one was so scared of the cat in the first place".[8]

References [ edit ]