Although we are constantly trying to identify ourselves with our yellow identity, in fact, this has indeed achieved great results. But whenever we lower our heads to look at various parts of our body, we always regretfully find that our body does not look yellow at all, and it is even whiter often than white. So why do we, a group like ours who looks very white in the naked eye, have a strange title of "yellow" and are even given the strange title of "yellow race"?
1. The process of turning from "white" to "yellow"
"yellow people" refer to people with yellow skin. Before the 18th century, Western travelers mostly used "fairness" to describe the skin color of Chinese people. At that time, the Indians were classified as yellow by Westerners. But by the 19th century, the Chinese became "yellow people", while the Indians transformed into "white people" in the eyes of the West.
In Western tradition, white means all the beauty of purity, nobility and wisdom; yellow symbolizes evil, barbarity and lowliness; black represents horror, vulgarity and pathology. Before the 18th century, China was considered by the West to be a high-level civilization, and even , Voltaire, and others praised China very much. Therefore, at this time, Westerners believe that the Chinese are also white. However, with the rapid advancement of the Western Industrial Revolution, China's ancient agricultural civilization pales in comparison with the developed Western industrial civilization. Western centralism emerged, so the backward and ignorant Chinese people are no longer worthy of the noble color of white in the eyes of Westerners.
But in 1858, after the official establishment of British India, India began to become a part of the British Empire, and the Indian people also became the people of the British king. Therefore, under the instruction of the UK, Indians were included in the circle of "white people".
Since white cannot be used, what color should be used to describe the skin color of Chinese people? Various colors such as gray, lead, and brown are used by Westerners to describe the skin color of Chinese people, in short, they do not use white. But it is obvious that yellow is not a visible skin color on Chinese people's bodies, so no one used yellow to describe the skin color of Chinese people during this period. What kind of skin color does Chinese people still have is a constant debate.
2. Where did the "yellow race" come from
Entering the 18th century, natural disciplines such as Western animal and plant taxonomy, anthropology, , etc. developed rapidly, replacing classical science. Therefore, the original empirical observation was also replaced by logical analysis. It is on the basis of the development of natural science that the Chinese have "been" completed the transformation from "white" to "yellow".
The earliest call Chinese yellow people was Swedish zoology and botanist Linnae . In 1735, Linnae's masterpiece "Natural Systems" was published. In this book with only 13 pages, Linnae divided people into four types according to skin color: white Europeans, red Americans, brown Asians, and black Africans. At this time, the skin color of Chinese people was classified as brown. However, in the German "Natural System" published in 1740, brown turned yellow, and the Chinese became "yellow people" for the first time. The "yellow" in Linnaeus's book has hidden meanings such as unhealth and disease. "Yellow" has gone beyond the scope of color and has become a tool for arrogant Westerners to engage in racial discrimination. At the same time, we can also see that Linnai, who was deeply influenced by Western central ideas, is full of discrimination and disdain for the Chinese.
Linnaire
1750, Linnaire's disciple Orov Torun was appointed to China. Based on actual observations, he made a more detailed division of the skin color of the Chinese. He believed that Chinese men were yellow, aristocratic women were brown, and lower women were black. It is obvious that Torun's division was influenced by his teacher to a certain extent.
At the end of the 18th century, German genius anthropologist Blumenbach incredibly divided humans into five types according to the shape of the skull: Caucasians, Ethiopians, , Americans, Malays, and Mongolians. However, Blumenbach still did not break away from the shackles of dividing races by skin color. He combined skull analysis with skin color, and referred to Linnaeus' classification method to divide East Asians represented by Chinese into the "yellow Mongolian race". In his racial classification, the white Caucasians are considered the most noble and have superior intelligence levels than other races. The black Ethiopians have the lowest intelligence and are similar to those of apes. Yellow Mongolian race is in the middle, but it is still a very stubborn and dark-hearted race.
Why did the "Mongol race" become a label for the West to describe Chinese people? The fundamental reason is the huge trauma caused by the Mongols' Western Expedition to the Europeans. Genghis Khan's 's Golden Family made them deeply frightened.
Genghis Khan
Due to the huge influence of Linnai and Blumenbach, "yellow" and "Mongolian race" have gradually become labels for the Chinese. "Yellow race people" come from this.
In essence, Linnaeus and Blumenbach's ethnic classifications are serious pride and prejudice. As world-renowned experts, the two are doing dirty things under the cover of science, imposing their terrifying prejudice and discrimination on the world outside the whites. Classifying fair-skinned Chinese people as "yellow race" is not out of public interest, but because "yellow" is a vulgar color in the West. In addition, I don’t know what kind of "scientific truth" the two of them combined race with intelligence, personality and other factors to deliberately create a situation where race confrontation and white people are supreme. It can be said that the racial discrimination issues that frequently plague countries around the world today are inseparable from the "contribution" of these two people.
Anti-racism
3. Embrace: Chinese people’s acceptance of “yellow people”
Since the name of yellow people is a prejudice imposed on us by the West, why do we still accept this title and take it as pride?
In ancient China, if a person is described as "yellow face", then he must be unhappy, because in ancient times, yellow complexion was a sign of unhealthy body. For example, "yellow face and thin skin" were often used to describe others' malnutrition or illness. However, in modern times, the situation has reversed. We are happy to accept the title of "yellow race" in imported products, and our Chinese people have begun to be proud of their yellow skin and as yellow races. There are many reasons for the change.
In ancient China, although "yellow" had a little negative meaning, "yellow" was still noble. The exclusive nouns with the word "yellow" such as Huangdi , Yellow River , Yellow Earth and " Huangdi Neijing " were respected by the ancients. Yellow was also the emperor's special color for a long time, which further strengthened the lofty status of yellow in the hearts of the Chinese. In modern times, the five-color flag , which symbolizes the Republic of China, also used yellow as one of the colors, which shows the status of yellow in the hearts of the Chinese people.
Beiyang government's five-color flag
After the Opium War , under the power of Western guns and cannons, the Chinese started the process of " learning from the barbarians' skills ", which included the introduction of the Western racial classification theory. The statement that "Chinese are yellow people" was regarded as "science" at that time, so advanced intellectuals such as Kang Youwei introduced them to China. However, when the "yellow race" was introduced to our country, Kang Youwei and others deliberately erased the racial discrimination part.In " Datong Book ", Kang Youwei fantasizes about building a utopian Datong world. In the society of " Datong ", yellow people and white people are equal, and there is no distinction between high and low as Westerners think.
is based on the fact that yellow has long been a noble color in China, and Kang Youwei and others’ transformation of Western racial classification theory has led to the statement of "yellow people" gradually taking root and sprouting in China and being widely accepted.
kang Youwei
Wenshijun said
Behind the "yellow people" are full of Western contempt and hostility towards us Chinese. It is a concept that the West deliberately created to belittle the Chinese under the cover of "science". Our skin is not actually yellow, but it is unfounded by the self-righteous Westerners. It can be said that "yellow race" is a word that contains racist meaning. But when it crossed the ocean to China and after the creative transformation of the Chinese people, it became a positive and healthy word that we are willing to accept. We are the descendants of Yanhuang and yellow-skinned people. Their high and low lies in the evaluation of others, but in how we view ourselves.
References
[US] Chimike: "Becoming a Yellow Race Man: A Brief History of Asian Race Thinking", translated by Fang Tianxiao, Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 2016.
(Author: Haoran Literature and History·Revitalize Ding Fang)
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