Information About The Children's Mocking Rhyme "Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look At These"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the children's mocking rhyme "Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look At These".

This post presents information from several online sources about that rhyme.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/10/comments-about-childrens-mocking-rhyme.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents some comments from several online discussion threads about the children's rhyme "Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look At These".

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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/10/two-young-black-american-women-remember.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube video of two young Black American women demonstrating several hand clap rhymes that they remember from their childhood. One of those rhymes- "I Went To The Chinese Restaurant" includes the  "Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look At These" verse.

That post includes the transcription of that version of "I Went To The Chinese Restaurant" as well as a few comments from that video's discussion thread (including three comments that I wrote.) 

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The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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WARNING- I consider this rhyme to be racist and don't recommend chanting it under any circumstances except for sociological or other educational purposes. 

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS RHYME
These quotes are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

QUOTE #1
From https://www.rd.com/list/childrens-nursery-rhymes-that-are-actually-racist  "8 Children’s Nursery Rhymes That Are Actually Racist" By Eisa Nefertari Ulen. Updated on Apr. 25, 2024
"Can a catchy little rhyme really be that problematic? Yes—and it’s one way racism was inextricably woven into American life. Get ready to cringe at these childhood favorites.

Nursery rhymes that are anything but innocent

It’s no longer enough to say, “I’m not racist.” We need to be anti-racist, and that’s harder. To be anti-racist, we must look at our everyday routines, our communities, and our own families—eliminating even some of the things that have brought us joy as children so the next generation can be healthier and stronger. One of those things is nursery rhymes, many of which are deeply embedded with racism.

According to the New York Times, by age four, children recognize basic racial stereotypes. Often, these stereotypes are so normalized, it’s easy to misidentify them and thus dismiss them as historical or eliminated when, in fact, they continue to circulate in new forms in children’s culture. As Robin Bernstein, author of Racial Innocence, puts it, racist tropes often “hide in plain sight.” In children’s nursery rhymes, an obviously racist, sexist, or anti-Semitic term might have been replaced with a word considered less offensive, but the new term can be just as triggering to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) as the original epithet.

While it’s important to build your library with excellent children’s books it’s equally important to protect your child’s developing mind from racist narratives like the eight listed below.

[...]

5/10

Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look at These

Through policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Japanese internment camps during World War II, Asian Americans have been perpetually marginalized in this country. Here, we have an expression and glorification of that subjugated status in sing-song form. Often, the young person reciting the lines would move the corners of their eyes up on the word Chinese and down on Japanese, before touching their knees and then grabbing or even exposing their own breasts. This popular rhyme, and the gestures that accompanied it, were considered benign through the early 2000s. This chant, however, is neither innocent nor fun.

“It’s racist for many reasons,” Nel says, “one of which is that its performance depends upon caricature—the performer’s fingers make upward-slanting eyes for Chinese and downward-slanting for Japanese. Another is that it associates Asians with either poor hygiene or subservience. Dirty knees could indicate a need to wash, but they also suggest that the person kneels a lot.” Plus, he adds, exposing one’s breasts in the “look at these” line also alludes to promiscuity.

History has also effectively erased the contributions of non-White people. For example, here are amazing Asian Americans you didn’t learn about in school."
-snip-
Read my comment in this pancocojams post's comment section for a list of the other seven rhymes that this article's author considers to be racist. (Full disclosure- I agree with that author.)
  
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QUOTE #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese,_Japanese,_dirty_knees
" "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees" is a racist playground chant that has been used to mock children of Asian origin.

One rendering of the chant is "Chinese/Japanese/Dirty Knees/Look at these Chinese Japanese/Dirty Knees".[1] Other renderings give the chant as "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these," with a breast-related gesture accompanying the "look at these" phrase (such as pinching the front of one's shirt into mock breasts).[2][3] The reference to breasts alludes to promiscuity, according to Philip Nel, an English professor.[4]

Many Asian Americans recalled hearing the chant,[2] and in some cases being taunted or bullied with the chant, in their youth in the 20th century.[5] Children who sang it would sometimes pull their eyes into slits.[6] Gregory B. Lee, writing that "many a Chinese immigrant child over the past 100 years has had to endure" the chant, notes that "[t]he allusion to dirt in this ditty is not aleatory", linking it to the stereotype of unclean "Orientals".[7]

In 2020, the film Monster Hunter caused controversy on Chinese social media because of a pun that some critics said was a reference to the chant: In a scene, MC Jin's character jokingly says: "Look at my knees!", and to the question "What kind of knees are these?" replies "Chi-knees!". Although the filmmakers and actors denied that the line had anything to do with the chant, the film was removed from circulation, and Chinese authorities censored references to it online.[8]"
-snip-
Here's the meaning of the word "aleatory" from AI Overview:

My question: "What does aleatory mean in English?

"AI Overview

Aleatory means dependent on chance or random, rather than on a fixed plan or outcome. The term originates from the Latin word for "dice" and is often used in formal contexts, legal agreements (aleatory contracts like insurance), and the arts (aleatory music where chance is part of the composition)"

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QUOTE #3
"AI Overview 

The phrase "dirty knees" in the rhyme "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these" is a derogatory and racist taunt with several negative connotations. The rhyme is often accompanied by offensive gestures, including pulling the corners of the eyes and making a motion toward the knees.

The "dirty knees" reference can suggest:

Poor hygiene: The allusion to "dirt" plays into a historical and racist stereotype that associates Asian people with being unclean.

Servility: It can imply that the person "kneels a lot," which has been interpreted as a reference to subservience.

Promiscuity: In the longer version of the chant, the phrase is often followed by "look at these" with an accompanying gesture toward the chest. This was used to suggest promiscuity, particularly in reference to Asian women.

The rhyme is now widely recognized as a racist chant that bullies and marginalizes people of Asian descent. While it was sometimes dismissed as a harmless children's rhyme in the past, its harmful, racist nature is now understood and acknowledged."
-snip-
I received this write-up as result of my Google Search question "What does "dirty knees" mean in the rhyme “Chinese Japanese dirty knees, look at these" - on  Oct 12, 2025 

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

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