Racism in the People's Republic of China
Encyclopedia
Ethnic issues in the People's Republic of China are complex and arise from the influences of Chinese history
, Chinese nationalism
, and many other factors. Ethnic issues have driven multiple Chinese historical movements, including Red Turban Rebellion
— which targeted Mongol leaderships of the Yuan Dynasty
— as well as in the Xinhai Revolution
which overthrew the Qing Dynasty
. An ethnic dynamic is sometimes seen in modern unrest, such as the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.
, a Han chinese leader, massacred non Chinese Wu Hu
peoples around 350 A.D.
The Arab historian Abu Zayd Hasan of Siraf reports when Huang Chao
captured Guang Prefecture, his army killed a large number of foreign merchants resident there: Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Parsees.
divided different races into a four-class caste system
during the Yuan dynasty
.
The Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan
had introduced a hierarchy of reliability by dividing the population of the Yuan Dynasty into the following classes:
Partner merchants and non-Mongol overseers were usually either immigrants or local ethnic groups. Thus, in China they were Turkestani and Persian
Muslims, and Christian
s. Foreigners from outside the Mongol Empire entirely, such as the Polo family
, were everywhere welcomed.
Despite the high position given to Muslims, the Yuan Mongols severe discriminated against them, restricting Halal slaughter and other islamic practices like Circumcision, as well as Kosher butchering for Jews, forcing them to eat food the Mongol way. Genghis Khan directly called Muslims "slaves". Toward the end, corruption and the persecution became so severe that Muslim Generals joined Han chinese
in rebelling against the Mongols. The Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang had Muslim Generals like Lan Yu
who rebelled against the Mongols and defeated them in combat. Some Muslim communities had the name in chinese which meant "baracks" and also mean "thanks", many Hui Muslims claim it is because that they also played an important role in overthrowing the Mongols and it was named in thanks by the Han chinese.
Uyghurs have also exhibited racism as well. the Uyghur leader Sabit Damulla Abdulbaki
made the following proclamation on Han chinese and Tungans (Hui Muslims):
"The Tungans, more than the Han, are the enemy of our people. Today our people are already free from the oppression of the Han, but still continue under Tungan subjugation. We must still fear the Han, but cannot not fear the Tungans also. The reason we must be careful to guard against the Tungans, we must intensely oppose, cannot afford to be polite. Since the Tungans have compelled us, we must be this way. Yellow Han people have not the slightest thing to do with Eastern Turkestan. Black Tungans also do not have this connection. Eastern Turkestan belongs to the people of Eastern Turkestan. There is no need for foreigners to come be our fathers and mothers...From now on we do not need to use foreigners language, or their names, their customs, habits, attitudes, written language, etc. We must also overthrow and drive foreigners from our boundaries forever. The colors yellow and black are foul. They have dirtied our land for too long. So now it is absolutely necessary to clean out this filth. Take down the yellow and black barbarians! Long live Eastern Turkestan!"
American telegrams reported that certain Uyghur mobs in parts of Xinjiang were calling for White Russians to be expelled from Xinjiang, now that they had expelled Han Chinese. They said, "We freed ourselves from the yellow men, now we must destroy the white". White Russians were in terror of the uprising. The Uighur, themselves foreigners to Xinjiang, attacked people of other races.
During the late 19th century around Qinghai
tensions exploded between different muslim sects, between different ethnic groups, with enminty and division rising between Hui muslims and Salar Muslims, and all tensions rising between muslims, Tibetans and Han.
The "Encyclopædia of religion and ethics, Volume 8" stated that the Dungan and Panthay revolts by the Muslims was set off by racial antagonism and class warfare, rather than the mistaken assumption that it was all due to Islam and religion that the rebellions broke out.
of foreigners were passed by the Han chinese
during the Tang Dynasty
. In 779 AD, Tang dynasty issued an edict
which forced Uighurs
to wear their ethnic dress, and restricted them from marrying Chinese. Chinese disliked Uighurs because they practiced usury
.
In 836 AD Lu Chun was appointed as governor of Canton
, he was disgusted to find Chinese living with foreigners and intermarriage. Lu enforced separation, banning interracial marriage
s, and restricting foreigners to own properties. The 836 law specifically banned Chinese from forming relationships with "Dark peoples" or "People of colour", which was used to describe foreigners, such as "Iranians, Sogdians, Arabs, Indians, Malays, Sumatrans", etc.
, other ethnicities are Mongols
, Zhuang, Miao
, Hui
, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Koreans.
Some ethnic groups are more distinguishable due to physical appearances and relatively low intermarriage rates. Many others have intermarried with Han Chinese, and have similar appearances. They are therefore less distinguishable from Han Chinese people, especially because a growing number of ethnic minorities are fluent at a native level in Mandarin Chinese. In addition, children often adopts "ethnic minority status" at birth if one of their parents is an ethnic minority, even though their ancestry is overwhelmingly Han Chinese. There is a growing number of Caucasians
, South Asians, and Africans living in large Chinese cities. Although relatively few acquire Chinese citizenship, the number of immigrants of from different racial groups have markedly increased recently due to China's economic success. There are concentrated pockets of immigrants and foreign residents in some cities.
committed in the country during the Second Sino-Japanese War
. History textbook revisionism
in Japan and the denial or whitewashing of events such as the Nanking Massacre
by right-wing Japanese groups has continued to inflame anti-Japanese feelings in China. It has been alleged that anti-Japanese sentiment in China is partially the result of political manipulation by the Communist Party of China
. According to a BBC
report, anti-Japanese demonstrations are said to have received tacit approval from Chinese authorities, although the Chinese ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, stated that the Chinese government does not condone such protests.
proverb says "Protect religion, Kill the Han and destroy the Hui".(baohu zongjiao, sha Han mie Hui 保護宗教，殺漢滅回).
Anti Hui poetry was written by Uyghurs.
It was also alleged that a Uyghur would not enter the mosque of Hui people
, and Hui and Han households were built closer together in the same area while Uyghurs would live farther away from the town.
Sometimes Uyghurs regard Hui muslims from other provinces of China as fakes and refuse to eat food prepared by them. Uyghurs view food prepared by Hui as unpure and will not buy meat from Hui, and protests by Uyghur teachers in 1989 at Turpan erupted because Uyghurs refused to eat food prepared by Hui.
Children who are of mixed Han and Uyghur ethnicities are known as erzhuanzi (二转子) and Uyghurs call them piryotki. They are shunned by Uyghurs at social gatherings and events.
Some have accused the Chinese government as well as certain Han Chinese citizens of alleged discrimination against the Turkic Muslim Uyghur
minority. This was used as a partial explanation for the July 2009 Ürümqi riots which pitted residents of the city against each other along largely racial lines. An essay in the People's Daily
described the events as "so-called racial conflict" while several Western media sources labeled them as "race riots".
In July 2009, a report in the The Atlantic highlighted a help wanted sign in the traditionally Uyghur city of Kashgar
which explicitly stated that "this offer is for Han Chinese only."
It has also been reported that unofficial Chinese policy is to deny passports to Uyghurs until they reach retirement age, especially if they intend to leave the country for the pilgrimage to Mecca
.
Tensions between Hui
and Uyghurs arose because Qing and Republican Chinese authorities used Hui troops and officials to dominate the Uyghurs and crush Uyghur revolts.
Hui population of Xinjiang increased by 520 percent from 1940–1982, average annual growth of 4.4 percent, the Uyghur population grew at 1.7 percent. This increase in Hui population led to tensions between the Hui Muslim and Uyghur Muslim populations. Some old Uyghurs in Kashgar
remember that the Hui army at the Battle of Kashgar (1934)
massacred 2,000 to 8,000 Uyghurs, which caused tension as more Hui moved into Kashgar from other parts of China.
, and other ethnic Tibetan areas in China, many people of mixed Chinese-Tibetans were found. These half-Chinese, half-Tibetans were despised by pure Tibetans.
Ethnic Tibetan Muslims
(called Kache in Tibetan) have lived peacefully alongside Tibetan Buddhists for over a thousand years, because Buddhist Tibetans are prohibited by their religion from killing animals, yet require meat to survive in their mountain climate. However, Tibetans have severe problems with Chinese muslims (called Kyangsha in Tibetan).
In history, Tibetans and Mongols
refused to allow other ethnic groups such as Kazakhs
to participate in the Kokonur ceremony in Qinghai
, until the Muslim General Ma Bufang
urged to stop the practice.
featured Chinese students rioting against African students studying in Nanjing
. In 2007, police anti-drug crackdowns in Beijing's Sanlitun
district were reported to target people from Africa
as suspected criminals, though police officials denied targeting any group.
A Hui
soldier of the 36th division called Sven Hedin
a "foreign devil", which is a now antiquated derogatory Chinese term used to describe any foreigner.
The Tungans (Chinese Muslims) were reported to be "strongly anti-Japanese".
In the 1930s, a White Russian
driver accompanying the Nazi agent Georg Vasel in Xinjiang
was afraid to meet the Hui
General Ma Zhongying
, saying "You know how the Tungans hate the Russians." Tungan is another name for Chinese Muslim. Georg passed the Russian driver off as German to get through.
One of the Chinese Muslim generals encountered by Peter Fleming was concerned that his visitor was a foreign "barbarian" and was only impressed when he found out his outlook was Chinese in nature. The racist atmosphere made a Uighur feel inclined to grovel at the General's feet when asking for help. Other Uighur notables were forced to pay respect to the General, while his soldiers showed contempt. Racial slurs were allegedly used by the Chinese Muslim troops against Uighurs.
Hui General Ma Qi
launched a racial war against the Tibetan Ngoloks, in 1928, inflicting a defeat upon them and seizing the Labrang Buddhist monastery. The Hui had a feud against the Ngoloks for a long time. Ma Qi's Muslim forces also machine-gunned Tibetan monks and ravaged the monastery several times, leaving thousands dead in bloody battles.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai
expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui
led by General Ma Bufang
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
The Empress Dowager Cixi
was known for her xenophobia
against non-Chinese peoples despite being a non-Han Chinese herself, also using the term foreign devils to describe them. Lao She
, a Manchu writer, also called Europeans foreign devils.
The historian Frank Dikötter
explains.
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
, Chinese nationalism
Chinese nationalism
Chinese nationalism , sometimes synonymous with Chinese patriotism refers to cultural, historiographical, and political theories, movements and beliefs that assert the idea of a cohesive, unified Chinese people and culture in a unified country known as China...
, and many other factors. Ethnic issues have driven multiple Chinese historical movements, including Red Turban Rebellion
Red Turban Rebellion
The Red Turban Rebellion was an uprising much influenced by the White Lotus Society members that targeted the ruling Yuan Dynasty.- Causes :...
— which targeted Mongol leaderships of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
— as well as in the Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
which overthrew the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. An ethnic dynamic is sometimes seen in modern unrest, such as the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.
Racism in Ancient China
Ran MinRan Min
Ran Min , also known as Shi Min , posthumously honored by Former Yan as Heavenly Prince Daowu of Wei , courtesy name Yongzeng , nickname Jinu , was a military leader during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China and the only emperor of the short-lived state Ran Wei . Ran is an uncommon Chinese...
, a Han chinese leader, massacred non Chinese Wu Hu
Wu Hu
Wu Hu was a Chinese term for the northern non-Chinese nomadic tribes which caused the Wu Hu uprising, and established the Sixteen Kingdoms from 304 to 439 AD.-Definition:...
peoples around 350 A.D.
The Arab historian Abu Zayd Hasan of Siraf reports when Huang Chao
Huang Chao
Huang Chao was the leader of the Huang Chao Rebellion , known in mainland China as the Huang Chao Revolution in China that seriously weakened the once mighty Tang Dynasty of China...
captured Guang Prefecture, his army killed a large number of foreign merchants resident there: Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Parsees.
Major ethnic conflicts in China
- Opium WarsOpium WarsThe Opium Wars, also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, divided into the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860, were the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire...
- Boxer RebellionBoxer RebellionThe Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
- Second Sino-Japanese WarSecond Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
- Nanjing anti-African protestsNanjing anti-African protestsThe Nanjing Anti-African protests were mass demonstrations and riots against African students in Nanjing, China, which lasted from December 1988, to the following January.-Background:...
Racism by minorities
The MongolsMongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
divided different races into a four-class caste system
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
during the Yuan dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
.
The Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
had introduced a hierarchy of reliability by dividing the population of the Yuan Dynasty into the following classes:
- Mongols
- SemuSemuSemu is the name of a caste established in China under the Yuan Dynasty. Contrary to popular belief, the term "Semu" did not imply that caste members had "colored eyes" in contrast with black-eyed Mongol Yuan people...
ren, including Uyghurs, immigrants from the west and some clans of Central AsiaCentral AsiaCentral Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north... - North Chinese, Kitans, JurchensJurchensThe Jurchens were a Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century, when they adopted the name Manchu...
and Koreans - Southerners, or all subjects of the former Song Dynasty
Partner merchants and non-Mongol overseers were usually either immigrants or local ethnic groups. Thus, in China they were Turkestani and Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
Muslims, and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s. Foreigners from outside the Mongol Empire entirely, such as the Polo family
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
, were everywhere welcomed.
Despite the high position given to Muslims, the Yuan Mongols severe discriminated against them, restricting Halal slaughter and other islamic practices like Circumcision, as well as Kosher butchering for Jews, forcing them to eat food the Mongol way. Genghis Khan directly called Muslims "slaves". Toward the end, corruption and the persecution became so severe that Muslim Generals joined Han chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
in rebelling against the Mongols. The Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang had Muslim Generals like Lan Yu
Lan Yu (general)
Lan Yu was a Chinese general who contributed to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. His ancestral home was in present-day Dingyuan County, Anhui. In 1393 Lan was suspected and accused of plotting a rebellion and eventually put to death by the Hongwu Emperor...
who rebelled against the Mongols and defeated them in combat. Some Muslim communities had the name in chinese which meant "baracks" and also mean "thanks", many Hui Muslims claim it is because that they also played an important role in overthrowing the Mongols and it was named in thanks by the Han chinese.
Uyghurs have also exhibited racism as well. the Uyghur leader Sabit Damulla Abdulbaki
Sabit Damulla Abdulbaki
-Life:Sabit Damulla Abdulbaqi was born in 1883, in county of Atush in theKashgar vilayet, in Qeshqer -Life:Sabit (Sawut) Damulla Abdulbaqi was born in 1883, in county of Atush in theKashgar vilayet, in Qeshqer -Life:Sabit (Sawut) Damulla Abdulbaqi was born in 1883, in county of Atush in theKashgar...
made the following proclamation on Han chinese and Tungans (Hui Muslims):
"The Tungans, more than the Han, are the enemy of our people. Today our people are already free from the oppression of the Han, but still continue under Tungan subjugation. We must still fear the Han, but cannot not fear the Tungans also. The reason we must be careful to guard against the Tungans, we must intensely oppose, cannot afford to be polite. Since the Tungans have compelled us, we must be this way. Yellow Han people have not the slightest thing to do with Eastern Turkestan. Black Tungans also do not have this connection. Eastern Turkestan belongs to the people of Eastern Turkestan. There is no need for foreigners to come be our fathers and mothers...From now on we do not need to use foreigners language, or their names, their customs, habits, attitudes, written language, etc. We must also overthrow and drive foreigners from our boundaries forever. The colors yellow and black are foul. They have dirtied our land for too long. So now it is absolutely necessary to clean out this filth. Take down the yellow and black barbarians! Long live Eastern Turkestan!"
American telegrams reported that certain Uyghur mobs in parts of Xinjiang were calling for White Russians to be expelled from Xinjiang, now that they had expelled Han Chinese. They said, "We freed ourselves from the yellow men, now we must destroy the white". White Russians were in terror of the uprising. The Uighur, themselves foreigners to Xinjiang, attacked people of other races.
During the late 19th century around Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
tensions exploded between different muslim sects, between different ethnic groups, with enminty and division rising between Hui muslims and Salar Muslims, and all tensions rising between muslims, Tibetans and Han.
The "Encyclopædia of religion and ethics, Volume 8" stated that the Dungan and Panthay revolts by the Muslims was set off by racial antagonism and class warfare, rather than the mistaken assumption that it was all due to Islam and religion that the rebellions broke out.
Racial segregation
Several laws enforcing racial segregationRacial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
of foreigners were passed by the Han chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. In 779 AD, Tang dynasty issued an edict
Edict
An edict is an announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism. The Pope and various micronational leaders are currently the only persons who still issue edicts.-Notable edicts:...
which forced Uighurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
to wear their ethnic dress, and restricted them from marrying Chinese. Chinese disliked Uighurs because they practiced usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
.
In 836 AD Lu Chun was appointed as governor of Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, he was disgusted to find Chinese living with foreigners and intermarriage. Lu enforced separation, banning interracial marriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
s, and restricting foreigners to own properties. The 836 law specifically banned Chinese from forming relationships with "Dark peoples" or "People of colour", which was used to describe foreigners, such as "Iranians, Sogdians, Arabs, Indians, Malays, Sumatrans", etc.
Racial composition
China's racial composition is overwhelmingly homogeneous with 91.9% of the population being Han ChineseHan Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
, other ethnicities are Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
, Zhuang, Miao
Miao people
The Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
, Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Koreans.
Some ethnic groups are more distinguishable due to physical appearances and relatively low intermarriage rates. Many others have intermarried with Han Chinese, and have similar appearances. They are therefore less distinguishable from Han Chinese people, especially because a growing number of ethnic minorities are fluent at a native level in Mandarin Chinese. In addition, children often adopts "ethnic minority status" at birth if one of their parents is an ethnic minority, even though their ancestry is overwhelmingly Han Chinese. There is a growing number of Caucasians
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, South Asians, and Africans living in large Chinese cities. Although relatively few acquire Chinese citizenship, the number of immigrants of from different racial groups have markedly increased recently due to China's economic success. There are concentrated pockets of immigrants and foreign residents in some cities.
Anti-Japanese sentiment
Anti-Japanese sentiment exists in China, most of it stemming from Japanese war crimesJapanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Some of the incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities...
committed in the country during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
. History textbook revisionism
Japanese history textbook controversies
Japanese history textbook controversies refers to controversial content in government-approved history textbooks used in the secondary education of Japan...
in Japan and the denial or whitewashing of events such as the Nanking Massacre
Nanking Massacre
The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a mass murder, genocide and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing , the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second...
by right-wing Japanese groups has continued to inflame anti-Japanese feelings in China. It has been alleged that anti-Japanese sentiment in China is partially the result of political manipulation by the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
. According to a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
report, anti-Japanese demonstrations are said to have received tacit approval from Chinese authorities, although the Chinese ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, stated that the Chinese government does not condone such protests.
Tensions with Uyghurs
A UyghurUyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
proverb says "Protect religion, Kill the Han and destroy the Hui".(baohu zongjiao, sha Han mie Hui 保護宗教，殺漢滅回).
Anti Hui poetry was written by Uyghurs.
In Bayanday there is a brick factory,
it had been built by the Chinese.
If the Chinese are killed by soldiers,
the Tungans take over the plundering.
It was also alleged that a Uyghur would not enter the mosque of Hui people
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
, and Hui and Han households were built closer together in the same area while Uyghurs would live farther away from the town.
Sometimes Uyghurs regard Hui muslims from other provinces of China as fakes and refuse to eat food prepared by them. Uyghurs view food prepared by Hui as unpure and will not buy meat from Hui, and protests by Uyghur teachers in 1989 at Turpan erupted because Uyghurs refused to eat food prepared by Hui.
Children who are of mixed Han and Uyghur ethnicities are known as erzhuanzi (二转子) and Uyghurs call them piryotki. They are shunned by Uyghurs at social gatherings and events.
Some have accused the Chinese government as well as certain Han Chinese citizens of alleged discrimination against the Turkic Muslim Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
minority. This was used as a partial explanation for the July 2009 Ürümqi riots which pitted residents of the city against each other along largely racial lines. An essay in the People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
described the events as "so-called racial conflict" while several Western media sources labeled them as "race riots".
In July 2009, a report in the The Atlantic highlighted a help wanted sign in the traditionally Uyghur city of Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
which explicitly stated that "this offer is for Han Chinese only."
It has also been reported that unofficial Chinese policy is to deny passports to Uyghurs until they reach retirement age, especially if they intend to leave the country for the pilgrimage to Mecca
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
.
Tensions between Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
and Uyghurs arose because Qing and Republican Chinese authorities used Hui troops and officials to dominate the Uyghurs and crush Uyghur revolts.
Hui population of Xinjiang increased by 520 percent from 1940–1982, average annual growth of 4.4 percent, the Uyghur population grew at 1.7 percent. This increase in Hui population led to tensions between the Hui Muslim and Uyghur Muslim populations. Some old Uyghurs in Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
remember that the Hui army at the Battle of Kashgar (1934)
Battle of Kashgar (1934)
The Battle of Kashgar was a military confrontation that took place in 1934 during the Xinjiang Wars. Turkic Muslim Uighur and Kirghiz fighters under Emir Abdullah Bughra and the other Turkic separatists began four separate attacks over a six-day period on Hui and Han Chinese soldiers led by General...
massacred 2,000 to 8,000 Uyghurs, which caused tension as more Hui moved into Kashgar from other parts of China.
Tibetan racism
In the frontier districts of SichuanSichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, and other ethnic Tibetan areas in China, many people of mixed Chinese-Tibetans were found. These half-Chinese, half-Tibetans were despised by pure Tibetans.
Ethnic Tibetan Muslims
Tibetan Muslims
The Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Kachee , form a small minority in Tibet. Despite being Muslim, they are classified as Tibetans, unlike the Hui Muslims, who are also known as the Kyangsha or Gya Kachee...
(called Kache in Tibetan) have lived peacefully alongside Tibetan Buddhists for over a thousand years, because Buddhist Tibetans are prohibited by their religion from killing animals, yet require meat to survive in their mountain climate. However, Tibetans have severe problems with Chinese muslims (called Kyangsha in Tibetan).
In history, Tibetans and Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
refused to allow other ethnic groups such as Kazakhs
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
to participate in the Kokonur ceremony in Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
, until the Muslim General Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
urged to stop the practice.
Anti-African sentiment
Several clashes between African and Chinese students have occurred since the arrival of Africans to Chinese universities in the 1960s. Many African students come to China on a scholarship through the government to study at a university. The African students were often perceived as threatening and not puncutal. A well-documented incident in 1988Nanjing anti-African protests
The Nanjing Anti-African protests were mass demonstrations and riots against African students in Nanjing, China, which lasted from December 1988, to the following January.-Background:...
featured Chinese students rioting against African students studying in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
. In 2007, police anti-drug crackdowns in Beijing's Sanlitun
Sanlitun
Sanlitun is an area of the Chaoyang District, Beijing containing many popular bar streets and international stores.The area has been under almost constant regeneration since the late 20th century as part of a city-wide project of economic regrowth...
district were reported to target people from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
as suspected criminals, though police officials denied targeting any group.
Other racism
Hatred of foreigners from high ranking Chinese Muslim officers stemmed from the arrogant way foreigners handled Chinese affairs, rather than for religious reasons, the same reason other non muslim Chinese hated foreigners. Promotion and wealth were other motives among Chinese Muslim military officers for anti foreignism.A Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
soldier of the 36th division called Sven Hedin
Sven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin KNO1kl RVO was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, and travel writer, as well as an illustrator of his own works...
a "foreign devil", which is a now antiquated derogatory Chinese term used to describe any foreigner.
The Tungans (Chinese Muslims) were reported to be "strongly anti-Japanese".
In the 1930s, a White Russian
White Russian
White Russian may refer to:* White Russian , an alcoholic beverage* White movement members during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1923* A White émigré from the Russian Civil War...
driver accompanying the Nazi agent Georg Vasel in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
was afraid to meet the Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
General Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying
Ma Zhongying, also Ma Chung-ying was a Tungan Chinese Muslim warlord during the Warlord era of China. Ma Zhongying's birth name was Ma Buying . Zhongying was a warlord of Gansu province in China during the 1930s. He allied himself with the Kuomintang, which gave his soldiers an official...
, saying "You know how the Tungans hate the Russians." Tungan is another name for Chinese Muslim. Georg passed the Russian driver off as German to get through.
One of the Chinese Muslim generals encountered by Peter Fleming was concerned that his visitor was a foreign "barbarian" and was only impressed when he found out his outlook was Chinese in nature. The racist atmosphere made a Uighur feel inclined to grovel at the General's feet when asking for help. Other Uighur notables were forced to pay respect to the General, while his soldiers showed contempt. Racial slurs were allegedly used by the Chinese Muslim troops against Uighurs.
Hui General Ma Qi
Ma Qi
Ma Qi was a Chinese Muslim warlord in early 20th century China.-Early life:His grandfather Sa-la Ma , is a Salar. He was born in 1869 in Daohe, now part of Linxia, Gansu, China. His father was Ma Haiyan...
launched a racial war against the Tibetan Ngoloks, in 1928, inflicting a defeat upon them and seizing the Labrang Buddhist monastery. The Hui had a feud against the Ngoloks for a long time. Ma Qi's Muslim forces also machine-gunned Tibetan monks and ravaged the monastery several times, leaving thousands dead in bloody battles.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who "ruled" Xinjiang province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944....
expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
led by General Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
The Empress Dowager Cixi
Cixi
Cixi may refer to:*Empress Dowager Cixi , empress of the Qing Dynasty*Cixi City, in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China...
was known for her xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
against non-Chinese peoples despite being a non-Han Chinese herself, also using the term foreign devils to describe them. Lao She
Lao She
Shu Qingchun , better known by his pen name Lao She was a notable Chinese writer. A novelist and dramatist, he was one of the most significant figures of 20th century Chinese literature, and is perhaps best known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse . He was of Manchu ethnicity...
, a Manchu writer, also called Europeans foreign devils.
Against Europeans and Westerners
- 洋鬼子 (yáng guǐzi) - "Western devil", a slur for White peopleWhite peopleWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
or CaucasiansCaucasian raceThe term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
popularized during the Opium War, when the British empire waged and won a war so that their merchants could legally sell opium. - 鬼佬 (guǐlǎo) - Borrowed from Cantonese "GweiloGweiloGweilo or Gwailo is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use. If there is some racially deprecatory meaning or it is expressive of hate, it is shown by the addition of the adjective, sei or as a prefix: seigwailo...
", literally "ghost guy", a slur for White people. The term, arguably derogatory, emphasizes the perception that the skin color of Europeans is very pale compared to the Chinese. - 红毛 (Ang moAng MoAng mo or Ang moh is a racial epithet describing Caucasian , mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. It literally means "red-haired" and originates from Hokkien...
) - "Red Hair", a slur used by Hokkian people to call primarily refer to Dutch colonists settled in TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
during the 17th century.
The historian Frank Dikötter
Frank Dikötter
Frank Dikötter is a Dutch historian and author of Mao's Great Famine. The book won the 2011 Samuel Johnson Prize. Dikötter is Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses on both Mao and the Great Chinese Famine, and Professor of the Modern History of...
explains.
A common historical response to serious threats directed towards a symbolic universe is 'nihilation', or the conceptual liquidation of everything inconsistent with official doctrine. Foreigners were labelled 'barbarians' or 'devils' to be conceptually eliminated. The official rhetoric reduced the Westerner to a devil, a ghost, an evil and unreal goblin hovering on the border of humanity. Many texts of the first half of the nineteenth century referred to the English as 'foreign devils' (yangguizi), 'devil slaves' (guinu), 'barbarian devils' (fangui), 'island barbarians' (daoyi), 'blue-eyed barbarian slaves' (biyan yinu), or 'red-haired barbarians' (hongmaofan).
Against Indigenous peoples
- 番鬼 (Fan Guai) - a slur used to describe foreigners, where 番 (Fan) means "Tribal people". The Minnan and Chaozhou
ChaozhouChaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
people would used 山番 (mountain tribal people) and 生番 (raw tribal people) to describe natives and aboriginals. It is also used by people of southern China to describe foreigners.
Against Japanese
- 小日本 (xiǎo Rìběn) — Literally "little Japan"(ese). This term is so common that it has very little impact left (Google Search returns 21,000,000 results as of August 2007). The term can be used to refer to either Japan or individual Japanese. "小", or the word "little", is usually construed as "puny", "lowly" or "small country", but not "spunky".
- 日本鬼子 (Rìběn guǐzi) — Literally "Japanese ghost". This is used mostly in the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, when Japan invaded and occupied large areas of China. This is the title of a Japanese documentary on Japanese war crimes during WWIIJapanese DevilsJapanese Devils is a Japanese documentary about the war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II...
.- 倭 (Wō) — An ancient Chinese
Chinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
name for Japan, but it was also adopted by the Japanese, pronounced WaWa (Japan)Japanese is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".- Historical references :The earliest...
. In current Chinese usage, Wō is usually intended to give a negative connotation (see Wōkòu below). Two commonly proposed etymologies for this word are "submissive; obedient" or "dwarf; short person". In the 7th century, Japanese scribes replaced 倭 (Wō/Wa) with 和 (Hé/Wa) meaning "harmony."- 倭寇 (Wōkòu) — Originally referred to Japanese pirates and armed sea merchants who raided the Chinese coastline during the Ming Dynasty
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
(see WokouWokouWokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
). The term was adopted during the Second Sino-Japanese WarSecond Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
to refer to invading Japanese forces, (similarly to Germans being called Huns). The word is today sometimes used to refer to all Japanese people in negative contexts.- 自慰队 (zì wèi duì) - A pun on the homophone "自卫队" (zì wèi duì, literally "Self-Defence Forces", see Japan Self-Defense Forces
Japan Self-Defense ForcesThe , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established after the end of the post–World War II Allied occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the JSDF was confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed...
), the definition of 慰 (wèi) used is "to comfort". This phrase is used to refer to Japanese (whose military force is known as "自卫队") being stereotypically hypersexual, as "自慰队" means "Self-comforting Forces", referring to masturbationMasturbationMasturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
.- 架佬 (Ga Lou)-A neutral term for Japanese used by Cantonese (especially Hong Kong Cantonese), because Japanese use a lot of "Ga" at the end of a sentence. 架妹 (Ga Mui) is used for female Japanese.
Against Koreans
- 高丽棒子 (Gāolì bàng zǐ) - Derogatory term used against all ethnic Koreans. 高丽 (Traditional
Traditional Chinese characterTraditional Chinese characters refers to Chinese characters in any character set which does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. It most commonly refers to characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, or in the Kangxi...
: 高麗) refers to Ancient Korea (KoryoKoryoKoryo may refer to:*The Goryeo Dynasty of Korea. It is spelt Koryŏ in McCune-Reischauer Romanization.*Koryo, a pumsae in Taekwondo.*Kōryō, Nara, a town in Japan.*Air Koryo, a North Korean airline company....
), while 棒子 means "club" or "corncob", referring to the weapon used by the puppet Korean police during the Anti-Japanese War of China.- 二鬼子 (èr guǐ zǐ) - A disparaging designation of puppet armies and traitors during the Anti-Japanese War of China. Japanese were known as "鬼子" (devil), and the 二鬼子 literally means "second devils". During World War II, some Koreans
Korean peopleThe Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
were involved in Imperial Japanese Army, and so 二鬼子 refers to hanjianHanjianIn Chinese culture, a Hanjian is a derogatory and pejorative term for a race traitor to the Han Chinese nation or state, and to a lesser extent, Han ethnicity. The word Hanjian is distinct from the general word for traitor, which could be used for any race or country...
and ethnic Koreans. The definition of 二鬼子 has changed throughout time, with modern slang usage entirely different from its original meaning during World War II and the subsequent Chinese civil warChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
.
Against Africans and Blacks
- 黑鬼 (hei guǐ) - "Black ghost"
- 老黑 (lao hei) - "Old black", although this can be used in a non-pejorative fashion similar to laowai - though recipients of the term 老外 are not unanimous that it is non-pejorative.
Against Indians
- 阿差 (Ah Cha)-Ah Cha means "Good" in some Indian languages, is a derogatory Cantonese term used against Indians. During the 1950s-1970s, there were many Indians working in Hong Kong as laborers, or doormen, especially doormen for hotels.
- 阿三 (A Sae) or 红头阿三 (Ghondeu Asae) - Originally a Shanghainese term used against South Asians. This term is now used in Mandarin as well.
Against Russians
- 毛子 (máo zi) - literally “body hair”, it is a derogatory term against Caucasian peoples. However, because most white people in contact with China were Russians before the 19th century, 毛子 became a derogatory term specifically against Russians.
Against Uyghurs
- Ch'an-t'ou (纏頭; turban heads) (used during the Republican period)
- nao-tzu-chien-tan (脑子简单; simple-minded) (used during the Republican period)
Against Mixed Races
- erzhuanzi (二转子) refers to children who are mixed Uyghur and Han. This term "Erh-hun-tze, was said by European explorers in the 19th century to describe a people who were descended from a mixture of Chinese, Taghliks, and Mongols living in the area from Ku-ch'eng-tze to Barköl in Xinjiang.
Graphic pejoratives
Some Chinese characters for non-Chinese peoples were covert ethnic slurs, which Paul K. BenedictPaul K. BenedictPaul K. Benedict was an American linguist who specialized in languages of East and Southeast Asia. He is well-known for his 1942 proposal of the Austro-Tai language family and also his reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan and Proto-Tibeto-Burman.-References:...
called the "pejorativization of exonymized names." WaWa (Japan)Japanese is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".- Historical references :The earliest...
倭, the oldest recorded Japanese name of JapanNames of JapanThere are many names of Japan in the English, Japanese, and other languages. The word "Japan" is an exonym, and is used by a large number of languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon . They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本...
, is a well-known example. The original Chinese exonym for "Japan; Japanese" was Wo 倭 "dwarf barbarian", which Japanese scribes initially used for their autonym Wa 倭 "Japan", but later replaced with Wa 和 "harmony; peace".
Chinese characters typically combine a semantic element or radicalRadical (Chinese character)A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...
and a phonetic element. For instance, the above Wo 倭 exonym has a wei 委 "bend" phonetic and the 亻 "human radical"Radical 9Radical 9 meaning "person" is one of 23 of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of 2 strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 794 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 9:- Literature :...
. James A. Matisoff noted how "The Chinese writing system provided unique opportunities for graphic pejoratives. The 'beast-radical' 犭used to appear in the characters for the names of lesser peoples (e.g., 猺 'Yao'), though now the 'person-radical' 亻has been substituted (傜)." Namely, the Chinese character exonym for the Yao peopleYao peopleThe Yao nationality is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south...
changed from yao 猺 "jackal; Yao people", to yao 傜 "Yao people", to yao 瑤 "precious jade; green jasper; Yao people" (with the "jade radical").
In addition to this Yao 猺 exonym, language reformLanguage reformLanguage reform is a type of language planning by massive change to a language. The usual tools of language reform are simplification and purification. Simplification makes the language easier to use by regularizing vocabulary and grammar...
s in the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
have changed characters for other minority peoples from the derogatory 犭 "dog/beast radical"Radical 94Radical 94 meaning "dog" is 1 of 34 Kangxi radicals composed of 4 strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 444 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 94:-External links:*...
to the neutral 亻"human/person radical".
John DeFrancisJohn DeFrancisJohn DeFrancis was an American linguist, sinologist, author of Chinese language textbooks, lexicographer of Chinese dictionaries, and Professor Emeritus of Chinese Studies at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa....
described how the PRC removed the "ethnic slur" Zhuang 獞 for the Zhuang people. Their first Chinese exonym was Zhuang 獞, with the "dog radical" and a tong 童 phonetic, which was also read tong 獞 "a dog name". In 1949, after the Chinese civil warChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
, the offensive exonym was officially replaced by Zhuang 僮, with the "human radical" and same phonetic, which was commonly read tong 僮 "child; boy servant". In 1965, during the standardization of simplified Chinese characters, the Zhuang exonym was changed to a completely different character Zhuang 壮 "strong; robust".
The Yi peopleYi peopleThe Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
or Lolo, whose current Chinese exonym is yi 彝 "sacrificial wine vessel; Yi peoples", used to be condescendingly called the Luoluo 猓猓. This character guo 猓 originally named the guoran 猓然 or 果然 "Proboscis monkeyProboscis MonkeyThe proboscis monkey or long-nosed monkey, known as the bekantan in Malay, is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey that is endemic to the south-east Asian island of Borneo...
", and was later read luo for the Luoluo. That exonym was first changed to 倮倮, with the "human radical" and same phonetic, but 倮 was a graphic variant characterVariant Chinese characterVariant Chinese characters are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Almost all variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting...
for luo 裸 "naked" with the "clothing radical". Luoluo was later changed to 羅羅 or 罗罗, with an unrelated homophoneHomophoneA homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
luo 羅 or 罗 "bird net; gauze". Benedict noted that, "a leading Chinese linguist has remarked that the name 'Lolo' is offensive only when written with the 'dog' radical. Guoluo 猓玀 or 猓猡 was an alternate Chinese slur for the Lolo/Yi people, with a character used in zhuluo 猪玀 "pig; swine".
This simian luo 猓 character was further used in an uncomplimentary exonym for the Lahu peopleLahu peopleThe Lahu are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia and China.They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 450,000 live in Yunnan province. An estimated 150,000 live in Burma. In Thailand, Lahu are one of the six main hill tribes; their...
. Luohei 猓黑, "with the pejorative character 黑 'black' as the second element" was replaced by Lahu 拉祜, using the graphs for la 拉 "pull; drag" and hu 祜 "favor or protection from heaven".
Some additional "dog/beast radical" ethnophaulisms were Gelao 犵狫 or 仡佬 "Gelao people", Xunyu 獯鬻 "XunyuXunyuThe Xunyu is the name of an ancient nomadic tribe which invaded China during legenary times. They are often identified as the Xiongnu.-Identification:...
people", and Xianyun 獫狁 "XianyunXianyunThe Xianyun is the name of an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded China during legenary times.They are usually associated with the Xiongnu.-Overview:...
people" (with 獫 "long-snouted dog"). Anciently, there were the QuanrongQuanrongThe Quǎnróng , literally "Dog Rong", were an ethnic group active in the north western part of China during the Zhōu and later dynasties. Their language is classified as part of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages family....
犬戎 "dog barbarians".
A few denigrating exonyms have graphic significs besides the "dog/beast radical". The "sheep radical"Radical 123Radical 123 meaning "sheep" is 1 of 29 Kangxi radicals composed of 6 strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 156 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 123:-External links:*...
羊 is seen in Qiang 羌 "shepherd; Qiang people" and Jie 羯 "castrated; Jie people"; the "insect/reptile radical"Radical 142Radical 142 meaning "insect" or "worm" is 1 of 29 Kangxi radicals composed of 6 strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 1067 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 142:...
虫 is in both Man 蠻 "southern barbarians" and Min 閩 "southeastern barbarians" (see Fujian#History); and the "cat/beast radical"Radical 153Radical 153 meaning "cat" or "badger" is 1 of 20 Kangxi radicals composed of 7 strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 140 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 153:...
豸 is seen in Mo 貊 "leopard; northeastern barbarians" (modern Huimo 濊貊 "YemaekYemaekYemaek were an ethnic group who dwelt in Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. They had ancestral ties to various Korean kingdoms including Gojoseon, Gori , Buyeo, Goguryeo, Baekje, Okjeo, Dongye, Yangmaek and Sosumaek , and is believed to be one of the ancient tribes that were formed into the...
people"). Few ethnonymic characters have the neutral "people/human radical", for instance, Bo 僰 "Bo peopleBo people (China)The Bo people are a small minority population in Southern China, famous for their hanging coffins.The Bo people dominated their area for some four centuries, but were massacred by the Ming army and were thought to be extinct...
."
Additional source
程映虹︰80年代的校園反黑人運動 漫談中國的種族主義