Wu Dingliang (1894–1969) and the Statistical Definition of a Chinese Race

Abstract

Chinese characteristics began to be defined in quantitative terms in the early twentieth century. This allowed comparisons and provided scientific answers in the search for the relative position of the Chinese in the historical evolution of human beings and the origins of mankind, thereby challenging earlier culturally defined notions of a Chinese race. By focusing upon the scientific work and network of Wu Dingliang 吳定良 (1894–1969), this contribution looks at the statistical construction of a notion of the Chinese race and complements the history of Karl Pearson’s (1857–1936) Biometric Laboratory in London, a history which has overlooked the circulation and nationally contoured fate of biometric knowledge and approaches to the notion of “race” on a more global scale, including China.