JayAtl
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“From the most ancient times, the Chinese chose to call themselves White, with a light complexion highly valued and likened to white jade,” Martin Jacques wrote in When China Rules the World. “By the beginning of the twelfth century, the elite attached a heightened meaning to being white, with colour consciousness amongst the elite sensitized by the maritime contacts established during the Southern Song dynasty (AD 1127-1279).
During this period even the newly popular Buddha was converted from a ‘swart half-naked Indian to a more decently clad divinity with a properly light complexion,’ rather as Jesus was whitened in the Western Christian tradition.”
Sun Yat-sen, who led the revolution to overthrow the Qing dynasty in 1911, had a clear-cut view on race.
“Mankind is divided into five races,” he said. “The yellow and white races are relatively strong and intelligent. Because the other races are feeble and stupid, they are being exterminated by the white race. Only the yellow race competes with the white race. This is so-called evolution among the contemporary races that could be called superior, there are only the yellow and white races. China belongs to the yellow race.”
In both old and new China, whiteness—or proximity to it—is prized.
“In the China today there is a clear racial social hierarchy based on the assumption of racial superiority,” wrote M. Dujon Johnson, author of Race & Racism in the Chinas: Chinese Racial Attitudes Toward Africans and African-Americans. “The comfort level and the acceptance of a foreigner in the Chinas are directly proportional to the skin pigmentation of that non-Chinese.”
Interestingly, that hasn’t always been the case, according to writer Johnson.
“In traditional Chinese opera one who had a black face or darker skin features indicated either a rough, bold or noble character and a person of courage, righteousness and incorruptibility, or an impartial and selfless personality,” he wrote. “The noted jurist during the Ming Dynasty, Bao Zheng (999-1062), was known for his dark complexion and black face and is a symbol of justice, fair play, incorruptibility in Chinese history.
“In contrast a white face in Chinese opera meant a perfect villain. The color white is the trait that highlights all that is bad in human nature: cunning, craftiness, deceit and treachery.”
Now, that’s been flipped.
“At some point in modern Chinese history the view of blackness, Africans and other dark skinned people changed from a positive or indifferent view to a negative and vociferous one,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
He argues that rather than having a genuine dislike of African Americans, Chinese, like people around the world, were heavily influenced by Westerners “who have transferred their negative racial views and perceptions of people of color to the Chinese.”
Unlike the U.S., where racial views are openly discussed—though not always with civility—there is little discussion of race in China. Zhao Ziyang, then-general secretary of the Communist Party, provided a possible rationale in 1988 when he said at a national meeting on unity that racial discrimination was common “everywhere in the world except China.”
Acknowledged or not, racial discrimination is indeed a problem in China that manifests itself in strange and sometimes unique ways.
“The general perception in the Chinas is that Africans and African-Americans are inferior persons and thus, are inferior teachers irrespective of their educational training, teaching ability or experience,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “Many African-Americans and Africans have accepted teaching jobs (including this author) when hired via the phone, the internet or having applied while still in their native country only to receive a phone call or email, and in a few cases, arrive in the Chinas and be told that their employment is revoked because the Chinese employer did not know that the applicant was Black or had dark skin.”
Lynne Coleman, a former school administrator in China, has been a recipient of White preference.
“China is a place where my White skin-color gains me much broader entry to places than my Chinese counterparts, particularly those who do not speak Mandarin with the proper accent,” Ms. Coleman recalled.
She and her husband would be walking down a street in Beijing and suddenly find themselves surrounded by Chinese eager to take a photo with her.
Ms. Coleman said, “I’ve had my photo taken with un-numbered families who wanted my blond self to hold their babies for luck.”
And Chinese women make no secret of wanting to climb the social ladder by marrying Mr. White. They go to great lengths to alter their color as Julia Wilson, a chocolate-colored Black American, discovered firsthand.
“I went to the grocery store to get some lotion,” said Ms. Wilson, CEO of Wilson Global Communications in Washington, D.C. “I said to this girl, ‘I want the best body lotion you have because my skin is really dry.’ She said, ‘Fine’ and took me by the hand to the lotion section and said, ‘Here you go.’ She handed me skin whitener. I looked at her and said, ‘No, no, no, Sweetie. I don’t want to lighten my skin.’ She said, ‘You don’t want to lighten your skin?’ I said, ‘No, honey, I love this.”
http://www.martinjacques.com/when-china-rules-the-world/china-in-denial-about-its-race-problem-2/
During this period even the newly popular Buddha was converted from a ‘swart half-naked Indian to a more decently clad divinity with a properly light complexion,’ rather as Jesus was whitened in the Western Christian tradition.”
Sun Yat-sen, who led the revolution to overthrow the Qing dynasty in 1911, had a clear-cut view on race.
“Mankind is divided into five races,” he said. “The yellow and white races are relatively strong and intelligent. Because the other races are feeble and stupid, they are being exterminated by the white race. Only the yellow race competes with the white race. This is so-called evolution among the contemporary races that could be called superior, there are only the yellow and white races. China belongs to the yellow race.”
In both old and new China, whiteness—or proximity to it—is prized.
“In the China today there is a clear racial social hierarchy based on the assumption of racial superiority,” wrote M. Dujon Johnson, author of Race & Racism in the Chinas: Chinese Racial Attitudes Toward Africans and African-Americans. “The comfort level and the acceptance of a foreigner in the Chinas are directly proportional to the skin pigmentation of that non-Chinese.”
Interestingly, that hasn’t always been the case, according to writer Johnson.
“In traditional Chinese opera one who had a black face or darker skin features indicated either a rough, bold or noble character and a person of courage, righteousness and incorruptibility, or an impartial and selfless personality,” he wrote. “The noted jurist during the Ming Dynasty, Bao Zheng (999-1062), was known for his dark complexion and black face and is a symbol of justice, fair play, incorruptibility in Chinese history.
“In contrast a white face in Chinese opera meant a perfect villain. The color white is the trait that highlights all that is bad in human nature: cunning, craftiness, deceit and treachery.”
Now, that’s been flipped.
“At some point in modern Chinese history the view of blackness, Africans and other dark skinned people changed from a positive or indifferent view to a negative and vociferous one,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
He argues that rather than having a genuine dislike of African Americans, Chinese, like people around the world, were heavily influenced by Westerners “who have transferred their negative racial views and perceptions of people of color to the Chinese.”
Unlike the U.S., where racial views are openly discussed—though not always with civility—there is little discussion of race in China. Zhao Ziyang, then-general secretary of the Communist Party, provided a possible rationale in 1988 when he said at a national meeting on unity that racial discrimination was common “everywhere in the world except China.”
Acknowledged or not, racial discrimination is indeed a problem in China that manifests itself in strange and sometimes unique ways.
“The general perception in the Chinas is that Africans and African-Americans are inferior persons and thus, are inferior teachers irrespective of their educational training, teaching ability or experience,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “Many African-Americans and Africans have accepted teaching jobs (including this author) when hired via the phone, the internet or having applied while still in their native country only to receive a phone call or email, and in a few cases, arrive in the Chinas and be told that their employment is revoked because the Chinese employer did not know that the applicant was Black or had dark skin.”
Lynne Coleman, a former school administrator in China, has been a recipient of White preference.
“China is a place where my White skin-color gains me much broader entry to places than my Chinese counterparts, particularly those who do not speak Mandarin with the proper accent,” Ms. Coleman recalled.
She and her husband would be walking down a street in Beijing and suddenly find themselves surrounded by Chinese eager to take a photo with her.
Ms. Coleman said, “I’ve had my photo taken with un-numbered families who wanted my blond self to hold their babies for luck.”
And Chinese women make no secret of wanting to climb the social ladder by marrying Mr. White. They go to great lengths to alter their color as Julia Wilson, a chocolate-colored Black American, discovered firsthand.
“I went to the grocery store to get some lotion,” said Ms. Wilson, CEO of Wilson Global Communications in Washington, D.C. “I said to this girl, ‘I want the best body lotion you have because my skin is really dry.’ She said, ‘Fine’ and took me by the hand to the lotion section and said, ‘Here you go.’ She handed me skin whitener. I looked at her and said, ‘No, no, no, Sweetie. I don’t want to lighten my skin.’ She said, ‘You don’t want to lighten your skin?’ I said, ‘No, honey, I love this.”
http://www.martinjacques.com/when-china-rules-the-world/china-in-denial-about-its-race-problem-2/
, my superior is darker than me, really very dark, hehe.
