J. Gobineau, Wagner, China and the emergence of the 'yellow threat

Abstract

The article deals with the views of J.Gobineau of China and the term of the 'Yellow Threat'. Gobineau denied the progress and the social equality and considered China the most sociable community of the world and at the same time developed the concept of the 'Yellow Threat'. Being the logical pessimist, he considered that the major conflict of the XX century will be the conflict between the white and the yellow races. After his death, the views of Gobineau were adopted by R.Wagner's and spread across kaiser Germany. They were also adopted by the imperial Japan, followed by Konoe Atsumaro and Mori Ogai. Despite the attention of Gobineau to the problems of China, his views didn't spread across China.