https://www.scmp.com/rss/330347/feed Michael Keevak is Professor of Foreign Languages at National Taiwan University and author of ‘Becoming Yellow: A Short History of Racial Thinking’. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Even the most casual student of the history of China’s relations with the West will know something about the famous failed embassy of George Macartney to the Qianlong Emperor in 1793. Reading the king of England’s haughty letter to the Chinese emperor alongside the emperor’s equally haughty reply remains an excellent object lesson in nonconversation. George III asked for the right for English merchants to live and work in China and to have access to Chinese markets. He sent presents. Qianlong... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2186830/us-china-trade-talks-has-beijing-been-playing-ancient-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2186830/us-china-trade-talks-has-beijing-been-playing-ancient-game?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Mar 2019 15:49:33 +0000 How did East Asians come to be referred to as yellow-skinned? It was the result of a series of racial mappings of the world and had nothing to do with the actual color of people’s skin. In fact, when complexion was mentioned by an early Western traveler or missionary or ambassador (and it very often wasn’t, because skin color as a racial marker was not fully in place until the 19th century), East Asians were almost always called white, particularly during the period of first modern contact in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/michael-keevak-asians-were-called-yellow-they-were-called-white/article/3000772?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/michael-keevak-asians-were-called-yellow-they-were-called-white/article/3000772?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Feb 2019 09:23:12 +0000 How did East Asians come to be referred to as yellow-skinned? It was the result of a series of racial mappings of the world and had nothing to do with the actual colour of people’s skin. In fact, when complexion was mentioned by an early Western traveller or missionary or ambassador (and it very often wasn’t, because skin colour as a racial marker was not fully in place until the 19th century), East Asians were almost always called white, particularly during the period of first modern contact in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2184754/chinese-were-white-until-white-men-called-them-yellow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2184754/chinese-were-white-until-white-men-called-them-yellow?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Feb 2019 10:00:15 +0000