The Image Of The Chinese In Mark Twain's Works

From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century,the American writer Mark Twain,in his political attitudes towards and literary representations of the Chinese,goes through three phases.In Twain's youth and early adulthood,due to indoctrination with the idea of white supremacy and American superiority,he tends to have discriminations against the Chinese,though with intermittent paternalist sympathy for them;in the meanwhile,Twain enforces a lot of stereotypes unto the Chinese and degrades the Chinese as inferiors in terms of mentality,morality,religion,language and lifestyles.From 1868 to 1878,with a gradual awakening to the fallacy of racial discriminations,alongside with practical considerations for American economic expansion and his own class interests,Twain's attitudes shifted to a more pro-Chinese stance and supported the legal rights of the Chinese;accordingly,Twain established some positive Chinese images while praising their merits.Firstly,the Chinese with pleasant traits of docile and cordial behaviour towards foreigners,are likely to become friends with the Americans if they are treated with kindness.Secondly,the Chinese as diligent workers who only demand low payments are valuable assets for the growing American economy.Thirdly,in order to make compensations for the reality that the Chinese were wronged and persecuted by white villains,Twain deliberately reversed the reality and created the image of a smart and shrewd Chinese who successfully manipulates the vicious white men and ultimately dispense social justice.After Twain's international lecture tours and long years of residence in Europe,in 1900 Twain announced himself to a staunch anti-imperialist who saw through the facade of his own country and the entire Western Civilization.Twain showed great compassion for Chinese people and castigates the colonizers with a deep sense of disillusionment.In the prevalence of “the Yellow Peril”,Twain refutes the slanders thrown at the Chinese by suggesting a reverse binary between the savage and the civilized;however,by comparing the antithesis between the East and the West to the relation between “sheep” and “tiger” with a determinist philosophy,Twain vindicates for the colonialization of the westerners.Furthermore,Twain forecasts a potential menace from the Chinese,who with great potential to assimilate the wickedness of the Western Civilization,may seek revenge from the Westerners by dominating the Asian markets and engage in territorial annexation of Western territories.