The do’s and don’ts of writing a Chinese character
Note: I say Chinese characters but tbh given how western society can’t seem to really tell the difference between eastern Asians sometimes, this could probably apply to other EA ethnicities.
Also this is written in the context of writing Chinese characters in realistic world setting, not in a high fantasy... that is a monstrosity of its own.
Also my parents are Han Chinese, (but we speak canto at home). There are multiple ethnic groups in what is now called China. (Heck I think I might make a post on how diverse China and the Chinese diaspora is).
I don’t think people understand where this stereotype came from, much less, why it’s considered offensive. The tl;dr? It reinforces fake racist science which is used to dehumanize racialized minorities . The long answer: ok so you know how race is not inherently biological, but rather a social construct? No? Oh dear ok. I don’t know how or what 23andme are selling, but there is no biological basis for race, as in ‘there are no inherent biological differences between racial groups.’ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10519151/#:~:text=The%20current%20concept%20of%20race,6
This incredibly dangerous idea that race is biological originated from the pseudeo-science phrenology, which in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to "prove" the ‘unintelligence and uncivilized nature’ of mostly Black people. In the context of yellow skin, it was used by Europeans to identify East Asian people in order to uphold white supremacy, by ensuring that we would not be considered ‘white’ and thus, not have access to the benefits of white privilege. (Michael Keevak. Becoming Yellow : A Short History of Racial Thinking. Princeton University Press; 2011. Accessed July 19, 2025.). So don't give us yellow skin, but that being said, if you want to give your Chinese a darker skin tone then rice paper that's fine. I have relatives with dark skin tones. My skin changes like a rabbit when it's winter vs when it's summer in Canada. I know ppl reading this might not know a lot of Chinese ppl. But like, it's not unheard of for a Chinese person to have a dark skin tone?
Don’t switch Eastern Asian culture interchangeably with others
Ok. There is a caveat to this. I know plenty of Chinese diaspora who lived in Vietnam as refugees. I know people who grew up with both Vietnamese and Filipino parents. But what I mean is, do your research; don’t switch eastern Asian culture interchangeably with others. Yes, eastern Asian cultures have influenced each other very much given our long history and close proximity to each other, (like at some point, Japan, Korea and Vietnam did use the Chinese writing system yes) but you’ll figure out how to portray that, if you do your research right.
(Sighs deeply.) Do I need to discuss why someone should not mock one’s endeavors to try and learn something new?
I find this is more of a Japanese stereotype, but I’ve read my fair share of one off mentions of one dimensional Chinese characters who are portrayed as people with weird sexual fetishes (in one short story, the only thing that one Chinese character ever did was like… get murdered and the only thing the author had to say was how the Chinese character was a pervert (eye roll)).
Ask yourself why you want to write a Chinese character
No seriously, why do you want to write a Chinese character in particular? I don’t mean this in a, ‘how their ethnicity must serve as a plot point’ b/c that’s just stupid. You can totally create Chinese characters just because you want to. But like, what do you mean you want to? Like are you just doing this as a diversity checklist, because people can tell when you're doing that.
Ask yourself what does ‘authenticity’ mean to you
If you plan on doing research by looking at biographies and memoirs or just read anything written from the perspective of a Chinese person, you might be asking what you can do to write ‘the authentic Chinese experience.’
Ngl, I myself an Canadian born Chinese person wrestle with this question at times. what I don’t like tho, is how some peoples concept of authenticity is used to shut down and exclude other peoples experiences simply because they don’t ‘seem’ authentic enough. Like? What? Even the most common experiences won’t truly be universal, because there will always be exceptions.
Things I (personally) dgaf about
Note: this is totally open to dispute from my fellow Chinese diaspora Believe it or not, we are not a monolithic hive mind. We can disagree with each other.
So an important concept of martial arts is that anyone can cultivate and learn discipline through martial arts. It’s not a biological thing to know how to do martial arts though, and I think some ppl need to understand that.
Dyed hair/steaked hair trope
I remember one time, I asked my mom why I am not allowed to dye my hair, and she asked me why I would ever dye it in the first place? Since my current hair colour was what I inherited from my ancestors. …Wow mom, way to use the ancestors against me.
I know there are ppl who say dyeing a Chinese characters hair colour is a form of exotic-fication. I can see where they are coming from. The reality is tho, there are Chinese ppl who dye their hair all the time. Just not everyone. So maybe put some Chinese characters who kept their natural hair colour. You can tell Turning Red (2022) was made by a Chinese person tho, bc she didn’t make the protagonists hair purple, she made it red.
I’ve seen American born Chinese people mention that they want LESS BILINGUAL Chinese characters… At first, I thought it was because in America, they don’t see that knowing another language as a sign of intelligence but now I’ve realized they were probably talking about how they want a Chinese character to be alienated from their parents culture through the portrayal of not knowing a dialect of Chinese. That is fine, like that adds complexity to the character’s personality and backstory. I personally, though, would have benefited from having more fictional role models who spoke Chinese freely in an Anglophone world un-apologetically , and I’ve worked with kids who probably could have used a similar role model too. But that's just my opinion.
