Before Asians were called yellow, they were called white

Before Asians were called yellow, they were called white
Inkstone-2019/02/12

In fact, when complexion was mentioned by an early Western traveler or missionary or ambassador (and it very often wasn’t, because skin color as a racial marker was not fully in place until the 19th century), East Asians were almost always called white, particularly during the period of first modern contact in the 16th century.

And on a number of occasions, even more revealingly, the people were termed “as white as we are.”

But by the 17th century, the Chinese and Japanese were “darkening” in published texts, gradually losing their erstwhile whiteness when it became clear they would remain unwilling to participate in European systems of trade, religion, and international relations.

Calling them white, in other words, was not based on simple perception either and had less to do with pigmentation than their presumed levels of civilization, culture, literacy, and obedience (particularly if they should become Christianized).

The term “yellow” occasionally began to appear towards the end of the 18th century and then really took hold of the Western imagination in the 19th.

The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes
By Jenée Desmond-Harris and Estelle Caswell Jan 13, 2015, 9:27am EST

The evolution of race in the US Census illustrates just how hard it is to categorize people in a way that is inclusive and accurate. For example, in 1929, people who were of Mexican birth or ancestry in the United States were considered white. In 1930, they were considered non-white. In 1942, they were switched back to white. These dates are interesting because they align directly with the shifting political and economic agendas of the time.

Honorary whites = 出羽守