May you live in interesting times

Meaning

May you experience much upheaval and trouble in your life. The clear implication being that 'uninteresting times', of peace and tranquility, are more life-enhancing.

Origin

While purporting to be a blessing, this is in fact a curse. It is widely reported as being of ancient Chinese origin, but is just as likely to be of recent and western origin, although it seems to be intended to sound Chinese, in the 'Confucious he say' mould.

The earliest citation that has yet come to light is in the opening remarks made by Frederic R. Coudert at the Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 1939,

Some years ago, in 1936, I had to write to a very dear and honored friend of mine, who has since died, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the present Prime Minister, and I concluded my letter with a rather banal remark, "that we were living in an interesting age." Evidently he read the whole letter, because by return mail he wrote to me and concluded as follows: "Many years ago, I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, 'May you live in an interesting age.'" "Surely", he said, "no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time." That was three years ago.

Chamberlain never visited China, but the mostly likely scenario for him to have been in contact with diplomats there would have been correspondence during his time as British Foreign Secretary, i.e. 1924-1929. We have the 1939 citation in print. If we are to believe Coulson's assertion then the phrase dates from at least 1936. If we trust in Chamberlain's memory, then we can push the origin back to pre-1929.

As the the currently used 'interesting times' version, rather than the apparently earlier 'interesting age', we can only date that to post WWII. Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen included the expression (with the obligatory 'Chinese curse' label) in Diplomat in Peace and War, 1949

Before I left England for China in 1936 a friend told me that there exists a Chinese curse - "May you live in interesting times". If so, our generation has certainly witnessed that curse's fulfilment.


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