"Lemon yellow", "onion yellow", "olive yellow", "tea yellow". Since the 18th century, European travelers have been quite inspired in describing Orientals. When westerners began to look down on the Far East, they made the ambivalent color yellow a basic part of the stereotypical perception of Orientals, people previously classified as white-skinned. We do not associate light and warmth with this color, but rather diseases of the gall bladder and liver, envy, cunning, and danger. The clichŽ of the yellow Oriental continues to be widespread today. Things that seem even the slightest bit Oriental are quickly painted yellow - from Oriental snacks to book covers.
A variety of heads from Asia Before 1945, ten heads in a wooden box; painted wood, glass, hair Bremen, †bersee-Museum




Just like the yellow skin of the Orientals, their eyes look suspicious to us. "Slants" do not comply with our idea of the open gaze of an upright person. The face and expression of each individual remain sealed to us, and so we tend to see Orientals as part of a crowd, not as individuals. Since the last century, we have perceived their intentions as aggressive. We fear the frequently evoked "Yellow Peril". The sheer number of people living in Asia arouses fears of being overrun.

Street Scene in Shanghai, 1999 Leipzig, Jens Riemer (photo and audio)