The Origin of the Phrase 'Yellow People' in 'Racial Discourse in China'

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Book report on Frank Dikotter’s “Racial Discourse in China”
Frank Dikotter’s book, “The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan” published in 1997 in Hawaii describes the origin of vocabularies, names and racial phrases in the Asian countries. The first part of the historical book called “Racial Discourse in China”, focuses on China and looks into the discourse used by people to describe China and where they first began. Essentially, it examines the origin of modern terms used by people to identify the Chinese people.
The chapter is written for the lovers of history, and scholars who search for in-depth information about the history of Chinese discourse. Moreover it aims at addressing the issue of racism through analysis of what is considered racist, and why it started. Dikotter has lived most of his life in China and specializes in the history of modern China. Throughout his life, he has done research on the Chinese culture which he wrote down in this book. Throughout the chapter, the writer maintains clarity and concentration through use of rhetorical questions and Chinese words in order to involve the reader into his work. Moreover he brings history to life by description of ancient Chinese stories and origins of certain events in the Chinese culture.
Using a narrating tone he introduces the chapter with a question to catch the mind of the reader. The main theme of the chapter is racism where he mainly focuses on the origin of the phrase “Yellow People”. According to the writer, the phrase was not initially racially provocative and was on the contrary a source of natural heritage and pride. The Chinese r...