Generality:“Yellow”. 209
Anonymous | nationality & ethnicity: Chinese
“Yellow”.
"Yellow" is a generalising term for East Asians, butit is also a term that
is internalised and used to gain subjectivity andnational identity.
I'm not sure if the situation is similar in the restof East Asia, so this
relate only to what I know about China. Some historicalfacts have
been simplified and may be inaccurate and are forreference only.
If I remember correctly, the term "yellow" or "yellow-skinned"goes
back to the ethnic theories of 18th and 19th centuriesdeveloped by
Linnaeus (the four ethnic categories) and Blumenbach(the first
definitive association of “yellow” with Asian people).Until then, the
skin colour of Asians had not been specifically defined.The distinction
of races by European anthropologists and biologistswas a direct
reflection of the establishment of the "Other" towhiteness and white
superiority.
Interestingly, when the term "yellow" and ethnologytheories reached
China, it was accepted and promoted by many reformersin late 19th
century and early 20th century who aspired to Westernscholarship, and
became a driving force in the construction of nationalidentity. In the
history of modern China, the West has been both animperialist power
and a beacon of civilisation. A reforming China needsits own discourse,
and accepting Western ethnography means inhabitingan already
constructed hierarchy and expanding from it to buildits own cultural
self-confidence.
On the other hand, “yellow” is widely used in theChinese language as
a sign of 'sameness' and national pride. One exampleis sporting
events, such as the Olympic Games, which are oftencommented with
phrases such as "This is the first time an Asian (ora yellow-skinned
person if you translate it word-by-word) has won amedal in this event".
It is worth mentioning that the imagery of the colouryellow in Chinese
and English is very different. In English, it canbe used to describe a
person who looks ill and pale, whereas in Chineseit connotes earth
and nobility (according to Chinese Ying-Yang theory,yellow is earth in
the Five Elements, and "the earth is respectful").The Yellow River is a
good example). Therefore there may not have been manyobstacles in
China in internalising the term “yellow”.
However, along with “yellow”, there are also ethnicdifferences and
hierarchies that have been internalised. In China,internationality and
the West are both "white". The hierarchy of race hasled many Chinese
not only to accept the culture of racial discrimination,but also to side
with the discriminators when the issue of racial discriminationis
fought against, because to fight against racial discriminationis to
destroy the picture of Western superiority in theirminds.
mchaos
(mchaos)
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