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Fu Manchu was the villain in a series of Sax Rohmer novels in the first half of the 20th century and continuing into films.
In popular culture, he is considered an archetype of a “supervillain.” Generally depicted as Asian, with a mustache that extends downwards from the corners of his mouth.
(The type of mustache itself has come to be called a “Fu Manchu.”)
The Manchu people are the natives of Manchuria, which provides some basis for his depiction as Asian.
Why I Looked It Up
Annie and I were playing cards and listening to country music. Tim McGraw’s song Live Like You Were Dying has this lyric:
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named ‘Fu Manchu’
Annie remarked that she thought the name was funny.
I had always had a vague idea of the source, but for some reason I was thinking it was the villain from Flash Gordon (that’s Ming the Merciless), or Sherlock Holmes (that’s Dr. Moriarty).
I suddenly realized that I had no idea what fictional canon Fu Manchu belonged to.
Interestingly, above I note that the character is “generally depicted as Asian.” I understated this – the character is explicitly Asian in the novel, specifically Chinese. At this point, I’m not sure of a depiction that exists which is not Asian.
This was the first of the Fu Manchu novels. It’s over 100 years old, and I’m trying to take that into account when I discuss it. The book is written from the first person perspective of the British Dr. Petrie. On the first page, his friend Nayland Smith shows up at his house and tells him that he’s...
This was the depiction of East Asians as an existential threat to the Western World, mainly during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Asians were used as antagonists in movies, novels, and comic books, often portrayed as criminal masterminds bent on taking over the world. This was partially due to...
The historical name for a region of Eastern Russia, Northeast China and Eastern Mongolia. This was never an official country or territory, just an informal name – like, “the Midwest.” The area referred to as “Manchuria” has been occupied by both China and Russia. It comprises the extreme Eastern...
This was the first of the Fu Manchu novels. It’s over 100 years old, and I’m trying to take that into account when I discuss it. The book is written from the first person perspective of the British Dr. Petrie. On the first page, his friend Nayland Smith shows up at his house and tells him that he’s...