爾有黃禍之先兆，爾有種族之勢力：「黃禍」 與近代中國國族共同體想像*

.108. 國 立 政 治 大 學 歷 史 學 報 第 26 期
“Thou Have Yellow Peril as an Omen, Thou Have the Racial
Power”: “Yellow Peril” and the Imaged Community of the
Modern Chinese Nation
Yang, Jui-sung
Department of History, National Chengchi University
Yellow Peril discourse figured prominently during the period between the late
19 th century and the early 20 th century in the Western discourse of the Other. By
way of Japan, it was introduced into China. At that time, Qing China was full of a
variety of discourses aiming to construct new collective national identity of the
Chinese people. Either reformers or revolutionaries were eager to appeal to new
collective identity in order to mobilize people to support their causes. Under such
circumstances, Yellow Peril was reinterpreted as a terrifying racial power of the
Chinese people, a power now recognized by the West. In other words, in order to
boost the national confidence of the Chinese people. a “heroic” image of Yellow
Peril was invented in China as an “evidence” of the Westerners’ recognition of
China’s potential power. Moreover, this dramatic development of cross cultural
“creative interpretation” of Yellow Peril discourse still has lasting impact on the
modern Chinese consciousness in terms of the construction of collective national
identity.
Keywords: Yellow Peril, Lu Xun, Self-orientalization, Yellow-White racial
wars