History Main / StereotypesOfChinesePeople

* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Yep.]] Because before and after [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan]] [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld made her bid at military conquest, failed, seemingly made a bid at global economic dominance, and also failed]], global conquest predictions have to go ''somewhere'' other than [[AmericaTakesOverTheWorld The USA]].

* ChineseLaunderer: In TheWildWest, and the 19th century inner-city slums of Britain, many launderers were ethnic Chinese, and were just as frowned upon as the laborers.

* AnimeChineseGirl: A [[{{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} cute]] Chinese girl, usually with a [[JustAStupidAccent variable accent]].

* OldMaster: An old Chinese man is nearly always this in anime.
* StockForeignName: A high chance of having the last name 'Li/Lee', although this does have some basis in fact with Li, Wang, and Zhang being the three most common Chinese surnames. Wong is a variant that almost every character from Hong Kong gets... which, to be fair, is one of the most common surnames in Hong Kong when romanized (which would then include two common surnames and several more unusual ones).

->♫ ''[[TheStinger Dadadada]] [[StandardSnippet dun-dun,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_riff dun-dun-DAAAA!]]'' ♫

UsefulNotes/{{China}} has the largest population of any nation in the world (1.4 billion as of 2024). Chinese people are often stereotyped as being of a single ethnicity, when in fact the population of China is made up of many ethnic groups. The stereotypes of Chinese people in fiction are nearly always applied to the dominant ethnic group -- the Han Chinese, who were the [[UsefulNotes/HanDynasty founders]] of the [[ImperialChina Chinese civilization]]. The Han themselves have great internal variation regarding [[UsefulNotes/ChineseLanguage linguistic]], cultural, genetic, and [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents regional]] features -- they are often classified into sub-groups of the larger Han ethnicity.

UsefulNotes/{{China}} has the largest population of any nation in the world (1.4 billion as of 2024). Chinese people are often stereotyped as being of a single ethnicity, when in fact the population of China is made up of many ethnic groups. The stereotypes of Chinese people in fiction are nearly always applied to the dominant ethnic group -- the Han Chinese, who were the [[UsefulNotes/HanDynasty founders]] of [[ImperialChina Chinese civilization]]. The Han themselves have great internal variation regarding [[UsefulNotes/ChineseLanguage linguistic]], cultural, genetic, and [[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents regional]] features -- they are often classified into sub-groups of the larger Han ethnicity.

China has the largest population of any nation in the world. Chinese people are often stereotyped as being of a single ethnicity, when in fact the population of China is made up of many ethnic groups. The stereotypes of Chinese people in fiction are nearly always applied to the dominant ethnic group -- the Han Chinese, who were the founders of Chinese civilization. The Han themselves have great internal variation regarding linguistic, cultural, genetic, and regional features -- they are often classified into sub-groups of the larger Han ethnicity.

!!Western tropes specific to Chinese people alone include:

* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Yep.]] Because before and after [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan]] [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld made her bid at military conquest, failed, seemingly made a bid at global economic dominance, and also failed]], global conquest predictions have to go ''somewhere'' other than [[AmericaTakesOverTheWorld The USA]].
* ChineseLaborer: Thousands of young Chinese men migrated to western North America and Australia in the hope of striking it rich off the [[GoldFever gold rushes]] of the mid-19th century. They quickly became resented for "stealing" jobs from British and American workers, particularly the more successful individuals. The fact that some did well for themselves, and almost all of them were men, led to seemingly well-founded fears that [[MalignedMixedMarriage Europeans in both countries would be 'out-bred']] by the YellowPeril -- since foolish, easily-swayed (and impoverished) European girls in both countries were obviously too illogical and hysterical [[EntitledToHaveYou to be trusted to do the right thing and marry another European]].
* ChineseLaunderer: In TheWildWest, and the 19th century inner-city slums of Britain, many launderers were ethnic Chinese, and were just as frowned upon as the laborers.

----
In '''Japanese media''', Chinese people often have a [[NationalStereotypes much more specific depiction]]. They have prominent roles in many anime, especially in fighting anime. Not surprising, given the length of China and Japan's relationship, plus the fact that there are a lot of Chinese people on the planet. Very seldom born in Japan, members of this trope are usually from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan.

!!Japanese tropes specific to Chinese people include:
* AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu: An unusually high percentage [[PlanetOfHats will know a martial art]], and it will always be a form of Kung Fu, never a Japanese style.
* AnimeChineseGirl: A [[{{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} cute]] Chinese girl, usually with a [[JustAStupidAccent variable accent]].

In '''Japanese media''', Chinese people often have a [[NationalStereotypes much more specific depiction]]. They have prominent roles in many anime, especially in fighting anime. Not surprising, given the length of China and Japan's relationship, plus the fact that there are a lot of Chinese people on the planet. Very seldom born in Japan, members of this trope are usually from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Often drawn in anime with narrower eyes, though this may not be the case with a main character or cute AnimeChineseGirl. Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', who frequently has "[[{{Mukokuseki}} normal eyes]]", is a case in point, with every other Chinese character in the series appearing with narrower than normal eyes. Even though in RealLife, Japanese people are more likely to have narrower eyes than Chinese people do.

* DragonLady: Chinese villainesses are often portrayed as cool, mysterious, and deadly. She will most likely have a lot of sex appeal in the form of LegFocus, ImpossibleHourglassFigure, and BuxomIsBetter.

* ChineseLaborer: Thousands of young Chinese men migrated to western North America and Australia in the hope of striking it rich off the [[GoldFever gold rushes]] of the mid-19th century. They quickly became resented for "stealing" jobs from British and American workers, particularly the more successful individuals. The fact that some did well for themselves, and almost all of them were men, led to seemingly well-founded fears that [[MalignedMixedMarriage Europeans in both countries would be 'out-bred']] by the YellowPeril - since foolish, easily-swayed (and impoverished) European girls in both countries were obviously too illogical and hysterical [[EntitledToHaveYou to be trusted to do the right thing and marry another European]].
* ChineseLaunderer: In TheWildWest, and the 19th century inner-city slums of Britain, many launderers were ethnic Chinese, and were just as frowned upon as the laborers.

* StockForeignName: A high chance of having the last name 'Li/Lee," although this does have some basis in fact with Li, Wang, and Zhang being the three most common Chinese surnames. Wong is a variant that almost every character from Hong Kong gets... which, to be fair, is one of the most common surnames in Hong Kong when romanized (which would then include two common surnames and several more unusual ones).
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Will often be part of families, or organizations with a lot of power and wealth, implied to be the Triads. E.g. Mr. Chang from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', the Tao family from ''Shaman King'', or the Li family from CCS.
* VerbalTic: They will be portrayed with particular speech idiosyncracies (such as ending sentences with ''"aru yo"''), although there's a decent chance their Chinese will actually be intelligible. This actually had to do with Japanese-Chinese relations in the 1930s. When Chinese people in Manchuria[[note]]Where the Japanese established a puppet state called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo Manchukuo]][[/note]] tried to speak Japanese, they sometimes pronounced it incorrectly, and also used the word "aru" and the like. Website/TheOtherWiki has an article on this pidgin language, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyowa-go Kyowa-go ]] (協和語).

* DragonLady: Chinese villainesses are often portrayed as cool, mysterious, and deadly. She will most likely have a lot of sex appeal in the form of ShesGotLegs, ImpossibleHourglassFigure, and BuxomIsBetter.

[[TheThemeParkVersion The author did clearly]]\\
[[CriticalResearchFailure No research at all]]''

* VerbalTic: They will be portrayed with particular speech idiosyncracies (such as ending sentences with ''"aru yo"''), although there's a decent chance their Chinese will actually be intelligible. This actually had to do with Japanese-Chinese relations in the 1930s. When Chinese people in Manchuria[[note]]Where the Japanese established a puppet state called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo Manchukuo]][[/note]] tried to speak Japanese, they sometimes pronounced it incorrectly, and also used the word "aru" and the like. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has an article on this pidgin language, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyowa-go Kyowa-go ]] (協和語).

* {{Qipao}}: It is almost inevitable that a female Chinese character will wear this dress in a piece of Japanese media.

* ChineseLaborer - Thousands of young Chinese men migrated to western North America and Australia in the hope of striking it rich off the [[GoldFever gold rushes]] of the mid-19th century. They quickly became resented for "stealing" jobs from British and American workers, particularly the more successful individuals. The fact that some did well for themselves, and almost all of them were men, led to seemingly well-founded fears that [[MalignedMixedMarriage Europeans in both countries would be 'out-bred']] by the YellowPeril - since foolish, easily-swayed (and impoverished) European girls in both countries were obviously too illogical and hysterical [[EntitledToHaveYou to be trusted to do the right thing and marry another European]].
* ChineseLaunderer - In TheWildWest, and the 19th century inner-city slums of Britain, many launderers were ethnic Chinese, and were just as frowned upon as the laborers.
* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld - [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Yep.]] Because before and after [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan]] [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld made her bid at military conquest, failed, seemingly made a bid at global economic dominance, and also failed]], global conquest predictions have to go ''somewhere'' other than [[AmericaTakesOverTheWorld The USA]].

* AllChinesePeopleKnowKungFu - An unusually high percentage [[PlanetOfHats will know a martial art]], and it will always be a form of Kung Fu, never a Japanese style.
* AnimeChineseGirl - A [[{{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} cute]] Chinese girl, usually with a [[JustAStupidAccent variable accent]].

* FunnyForeigner - Chinese is a stock funny foreigner type in anime.
* StockForeignName - A high chance of having the last name 'Li/Lee," although this does have some basis in fact with Li, Wang, and Zhang being the three most common Chinese surnames. Wong is a variant that almost every character from Hong Kong gets... which, to be fair, is one of the most common surnames in Hong Kong when romanized (which would then include two common surnames and several more unusual ones).
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs - Will often be part of families, or organizations with a lot of power and wealth, implied to be the Triads. E.g. Mr. Chang from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', the Tao family from ''Shaman King'', or the Li family from CCS.
* VerbalTic - They will be portrayed with particular speech idiosyncracies (such as ending sentences with ''"aru yo"''), although there's a decent chance their Chinese will actually be intelligible. This actually had to do with Japanese-Chinese relations in the 1930s. When Chinese people in Manchuria[[note]]Where the Japanese established a puppet state called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo Manchukuo]][[/note]] tried to speak Japanese, they sometimes pronounced it incorrectly, and also used the word "aru" and the like. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has an article on this pidgin language, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyowa-go Kyowa-go ]] (協和語).

-> ''Q is for Qing''
-> ''She's the Chinese exchange''
-> ''Her manners are foreign''
-> ''Her habits are strange''
-> ''She's odd and exotic''
-> ''She dresses in silk''
-> ''Eats rice for her breakfast''
-> ''And never drinks milk''
-> ''A stereotype walking''
-> ''On feet bound up small''
-> ''[[TheThemeParkVersion The author did clearly]]''
-> ''[[CriticalResearchFailure No research at all]]''

* StockForeignName - A high chance of having the last name 'Li/Lee," although this does have some basis in fact with Li, Wang, and Zhang being the three most common Chinese surnames. Wong is a variant that almost every character from Hong Kong gets.

In '''Japanese media''', Chinese people often have a [[NationalStereotypes much more specific depiction]]. They have prominent roles in many anime, especially in fighting anime. Not surprising, given the length of China and Japan's relationship, plus the fact that there are a lot of Chinese people on the planet. Very seldom born in Japan, members of this trope are usually from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Often drawn in anime with narrower eyes, though this may not be the case with a main character or cute AnimeChineseGirl. Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', who frequently has "[[{{Mukokuseki}} normal eyes]]", is a case in point, with every other Chinese character in the series appearing with narrower than normal eyes. Even though in RealLife, Japanese people are more liely to have narrower eyes than Chinese people do.

In '''Japanese media''', Chinese people often have a [[NationalStereotypes much more specific depiction]]. They have prominent roles in many anime, especially in fighting anime. Not surprising, given the length of China and Japan's relationship, plus the fact that there are a lot of Chinese people on the planet. Very seldom born in Japan, members of this trope are usually from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Often drawn in anime with narrower eyes, though this may not be the case with a main character or cute AnimeChineseGirl. Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', who frequently has "[[{{Mukokuseki}} normal eyes]]", is a case in point, with every other Chinese character in the series appearing with narrower than normal eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In '''Japanese media''', Chinese people often have a [[NationalStereotypes much more specific depiction]]. They have prominent roles in many anime, especially in fighting anime. Not surprising, given the length of China and Japan's relationship, plus the fact that [[CaptainObvious there are a lot of Chinese people on the planet]]. Very seldom born in Japan, members of this trope are usually from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Often drawn in anime with narrower eyes, though this may not be the case with a main character or cute AnimeChineseGirl. Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', who frequently has "[[{{Mukokuseki}} normal eyes]]", is a case in point, with every other Chinese character in the series appearing with narrower than normal eyes.

* VerbalTic - They will be portrayed with particular speech idiosyncracies (such as ending sentences with ''"aru yo"''), although there's a decent chance their Chinese will actually be intelligible. This actually had to do with Japanese-Chinese relations in the 1930s. When Chinese people in Manchuria[[note]]Where the Japanese established a puppet state called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo Manchukuo]][[/note]] tried to speak Japanese, they sometimes pronounced it incorrectly, and also use the word "aru" and the like. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has an article on this pidgin language, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyowa-go Kyowa-go ]] (協和語).

->''[[TheStinger Dadadada]] [[StandardSnippet dun-dun,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_riff dun-dun-DAAAA!]]''

->''[[TheStinger Dadadada]] [[StandardSnippet dun-dun,]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_riff dun-dun-DAAAA!]]''

* AnimeChineseGirl - A [[{{Kawaisa}} cute]] Chinese girl, usually with a [[JustAStupidAccent variable accent]].

* VerbalTic - They will be portrayed with particular speech idiosyncracies (such as ending sentences with ''"aru yo"''), although there's a decent chance their Chinese will actually be intelligible. This actually had to do with Japanese-Chinese relations in the 1930s. When Chinese people in Manchuria[[note]]Where the Japanese established a puppet state called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo Manchukuo]][[/note]] tried to speak Japanese, they sometimes pronounced it incorrectly, and also use the word "aru" and the like. TheOtherWiki has an article on this pidgin language, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyowa-go Kyowa-go ]] (協和語).