Tummy Band, Waist Band, and 書腰

Book packaging in Asia is quite different from that in the Western world.  For one thing, most of the new books come out in paperback.  And then there's something called 書腰.

Literally translated, 書腰 means "book waist."  It's a decorative "band" wrapped around the dust jacket of a book.  I know what you're thinking: "What?  A dust jacket for a paperback?"  Yes, a paperback.  In fact, most paperbacks I've seen in the Chinese market are packaged that way.  And elaborately so.

Wikipedia has a diagram showing the anatomy of a book in the Chinese definition of Book:

書腰 is #1.  Well, in the picture it looks like the "waistband" has slid down to the book's ankles, but you get the idea.  It's just an extra piece of paper wrapped around the "waist" of a book, usually to spotlight expert endorsements or critics' reviews for marketing purposes.  (To stay on topic, however, I won't go into the debate of environmental impact on the overall impression of excessive packaging that seems so prevalent in Asian products.)

It is perhaps because this piece of paper is almost nonexistent in the English-speaking world that I've found some pretty hilarious English translations for 書腰: belly band, tummy band, book waist, etc.  And the amazing thing is quite a few Chinese blogs claim that those are its English names and that there is no special term for it in Chinese.

I'm sorry, but that is utter misinformation.  It's analogous to saying Child Shredded Meat is the English name for 儿童营养肉松 but the Chinese call it differently.

This is what I think 書腰's English translation should be : dust jacket band.  At the very least one will know it goes on a book instead of a person.


Please translate responsibly.

Image credit: Wikipedia