“黄祸论”:一个帝国主义的政治修辞

The "Yellow Peril Discourse" : A Rhetorical Device of Imperialism

“黄祸论”是19~20世纪之交出现的帝国主义政治话语,是西方列强对自身基于强权得到的利益有可能丧失的恐惧的表征。本文梳理了这一政治话语的产生及其在经济和政治上的意味,考察了无政府主义者巴枯宁在陈述“黄祸论”时不同于资本主义的逻辑,最后概观了中国舆论和知识人对“黄祸论”的批判,指出“黄祸论”不过是帝国主义之间博弈的修辞,与中国无关。

The "Yellow Peril Mystique" is a political discourse of imperialism that emerged at the turn of the 19the and 20th centuries, manifesting the Western powers’ fear of losing their benefits gained by force. This paper outlines the emergence of this discourse and its economic and political implications, and explores the anti-capitalist logic of Bakunin, an anarchist, when he accounts the "Yellow Peril Mystique". Finally, it concludes with an overview of various critiques of the "Yellow Peril Mystique" made by the Chinese public opinion and the intellectuals, and states that this mystique is merely a wordplay employed in the game of imperialist powers, which has little to do with China.