Chilao originally means ghost in Shanghai dialect (pronounced "ju" in Shanghai dialect), and "Chilao" means shirtless. Because in the old days, after the death of the poor, family members could not afford to buy coffins, and they were often swept away naked with grass and hastily buried. After the heavy rain, it is also common to die in the wild. People walking in the wild encounter this body, which is a "red guy". Whether it is a ghost or a corpse, it is always unlucky to meet it. So there was the emergence of the Shanghai dialect "I met a red guy". It means to meet someone or something that is unlucky and unsatisfactory.
"red guy" can also be directly used as swearing language. "Foreign devil" is called "foreign red guy", "Japanese devil" is called "Oriental red guy" and so on.
"Little Red Guy" refers to a person who is "wet behind the ears" and runs errands with a bag. In the TV program, the gang of friends with big swords behind the gang boss are also called "little red guys".
"Little Red Guy" can directly swear. In the past, when the weather was hot in Shanghai, children were shirtless in the alley of Lippi, which made them dirty, and adults were about to scold: "Little red guy, I'm dying." "Little red guy" is sometimes used in a derogatory sense. When chatting, the mothers in the alley said that "there is only a little red guy in the box of Ala House", which means that they are very fond of it.
Derived from the Chilao, Shanghainese say that some people who have ghosts and spirits and are quite eager to carve are called "Chilao models".