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Q: Do Chinese people believe in Karma?
I lost my phone the other day but was trying to explain to a Chinese friend that it might be karma because the phone was bought at a second hand electronics market and was therefore probably stolen in the first place. My friend didn't understand however and I realised that I've never heard a Chinese person refer to 'karma' (not even sure if there's a word for it in Chinese). Any idea if this concept exists here?
I've heard the phrase "huo gai" said a lot when referring to karma-esuqe moments, for example if a friend plays a trick on someone and then falls over, they'll say 活该. Whether there's a word for the deeper meaning of the term, I'm not sure.
Mr_spoon:
Yeah, it's used exactly the same as "Bien fait" (one of my favorite expressions!), which basically means "you deserved it", but only when it's something negative. I've never figured what the English equivalent for it would be. I'm not even sure there is one.
I'm pretty sure none of them believe in the concept.
If they did, we wouldn't be getting cheated at every damn turn.
报应 or 因果报应 （cause effect relation）.
I might be wrong ，but I think it's a concept from the Buddhism.
It seems some foreigners believe all Chinese are thieves that steal phones .
but then again，I wish the foreigners who have blamed on all Chinese people for the bad behaviors that only seen on some Chinese people ，would never complain about Chinese people's xenophobia caused by some foreigners bad behaviours. why so double standard ？
Yes. The concept of 'karma' or '因果报应' is from Buddhism. However, most people
do not think about this, regardless where they live or what ethnicity they belong to.
No, they don't.
Sure, they may understand the concept, and even pay it lip-service, but for true 'belief' - no!
Many people all over the world profess to 'believe' in something, but their actions show otherwise (ie, forgiveness, tolerance, etc). Chinese are no exception.
Which basically means, like most humans on planet earth, they are hypocrits 
GuilinRaf:
Sure they do!
However, with quaint notions like making the queue, waiting their turn, etc. they feel it does not apply to them....
they do believe in a lot of shit though, and it seems to be the default state sponsored brainwashing makes the gullible gene stronger.
Karma to most Chinese means they obviously didn't cheat, lie or steal correctly therefore they where caught. For example, I was speaking to a friend of mine who deals with imports, he is Chinese, good friend but when a friend of his was caught for not paying tax for imports to customs, his only words where, he didn't hide it well enough.
