A non-existent Chinese who has scared foreign countries for more than 100 years. It is the character of Fu Manchu created by the British writer Saxe Romer. Since his inception in 1913, Fu Manchu has become one of the most evil characters in the world.
Fu Manchu's creative inspiration came from the "Yellow Peril Theory" that was prevalent in the West at that time. This theory was first proposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who declared that the yellow race was a threat to the white race, bringing poverty, disease and crime, and called on the countries of Europe to unite against the yellow race. It was in this context that the character of Fu Manchu was born.
Fu Manchu is portrayed as a yellow man, and his image is very prominent. He has a long hooked nose and rosy cheeks, and his eyes are sharp and sharp, especially his two goatee, which is full of oriental characteristics. Fu Manchu often wore the costumes of Qing Dynasty officials, a bit like the zombie image in horror movies.
At the same time, he is also portrayed as an extremely cruel figure. He constantly tries to hurt white people in Western countries and has children with young and beautiful white women, and then draws lives from these children to prolong life, but this is only a fictional storyline.
In the artistic creation of the Fu Manchu series, in order to highlight the ugly image of the Chinese, the author Sachs Romer specially designed a special double-eye design, with the eye distance wide and super high, and the tail of the eye upward, which is the origin of squinting eyes.
Although Sachs Romer had never been to China, he considered the Chinese insidious and evil, and put these negative images on Fu Manchu, portraying him as "the most evil Chinese in the world."
He also received nearly $2 million in remuneration for his work. By the time of his death in 1959, he had created more than a dozen novels on the theme of Fu Manchuria.
In films, this distorted portrayal of the Orient becomes even more intensified, such as "The Mask of Fu Manchu" and so on.
At that time, the Fu Manchu series of films was released in many Western countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In a short period of time, his evil and obscene image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Since the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century to the present day, we have been reminded. Chinese should be wary of the West's image of Fu Manchu insulting China. It was not until 1980, after the strong containment and rebuke of the Chinese in the United States, that the film Fu Manchu's intrigues and tricks were banned from distribution.
But despite this, his squinting image has become a model for Europeans to discriminate against Asians. Therefore, the image of Fu Manchu also damages our image in the world.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with elongated eyes in itself, it is only a superficial feature, but when such images are associated with the rejection of Chinese, there is an additional layer of unacceptable and unforgivable color.
Whether it's Fu Manchu or Squinting, it all stems from the fear of Europeans for Asians, despite the humiliation of our modern history.
However, in ancient history, our country not only completely surpassed Western countries in science and technology and economy, but also conquered them many times. Whether it is the Huns or the Mongols, we have left a deep impression and a lesson on Westerners.
Therefore, Europeans are worried about the awakening of our oriental dragon, which is why the role of Fu Manchu appeared, which is why we must revitalize China.