From “barbarian rat-eater” to “Chinese rat-eater”

During the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, China&s;s wildlife markets prominently emerged in international media discourse, with a recurrent emphasis on the consumption of rats within certain Chinese communities. Although some archaeologists and folklorists present evidence asserting rats as a traditional delicacy in China, a detailed examination of historical records suggests that ancient Chinese scholars often associated the consumption with the perceived “barbaric” traits of the Lingnan inhabitants. The depiction of the dish of raw suckling rats extended from the Tang Dynasty through to the Qing Dynasty. The “barbaric” narrative surrounding Lingnan has since been a stigmatic label these regions have sought to shed. Notably, during the late Qing Dynasty, around post-1840, British colonial narratives co-opted this depiction, popularizing the notion of the “Chinese rat-eater” in the West. This portrayal served to paint China in broader “barbaric” strokes, justifying British imperialistic “lesson.” By the close of the 19th century, this characterisation was notably intensified within anti-Chinese movements in the United States and Australia, a sentiment that occasionally resurfaces in Western narratives. By analysing the evolution of this “barbaric” portrayal, transitioning from the “barbarian rat-eater” of Lingnan to the broader “Chinese rat-eater,” one gains insight into Lingnan&s;s transformation from an imperial frontier to a gateway of the empire. This also underscores the consistent strategies employed by the empires in their portrayal of the “other.”