The Forgotten Faces of China: Unveiling the Black Chinese

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A whole identity seems to have existed in long, unspoken silence within China. The idea of the Black Chinese may not have crossed many people’s minds, largely due to the near-total absence of awareness about their existence in the outside world.

The history of the Black Chinese, also referred to as “Negritos,” dates back over 30 millennia in the southern regions of what is now China. These people who hold ancestry in Africa are believed to have been among the earliest inhabitants of ancient China, due to early human migrations out of Africa (Barnett, 2024). They were widely known as “Black Dwarfs” up to the Qing Dynasty, which ended in 1911 (Rashidi, 2014).

'Manchu ladies at a meal table' by John Thomson. Peking, China, 1869. Credit: Wellcome Collection

While the Black Chinese once clearly existed, the intriguing question remains: Do they still exist and why did they suddenly disappear from Chinese history? The mysterious existence of Black Chinese communities has appeared in several historical texts, yet the world has failed to take proper cognizance. In Destruction of Black Civilization (1971), Chancellor Williams affirms the presence of a large population of Black aborigines in southern China between 4500 B.C. and 2000 A.D. (Rashidi, 2014).

Wilensky (2002) also highlighted the presence of Black foreign slaves, often called Kunlun, in premodern China, some of whom remained as settlers and integrated into local cultures. Similarly, a study reported in the Los Angeles Times contended that Africa remains the genetic origin of much of China’s modern population (Rashidi, 2014).

These connections reinforce the belief that the Black Chinese predate modern China itself. Yet, they have never received official ethnic recognition, are absent from media coverage, and remain invisible in global discourse. Their historical presence has largely faded from public memory, silenced over centuries by Han expansion, cultural assimilation, and marginalization. As dominant Chinese identities crystalized, early Black populations were either absorbed, reclassified, or erased entirely from historical narratives.

A recent video surfaced online in which a Nigerian content creator (PRECIOUS_KOLLINS) described receiving alleged threats from Chinese spies after reacting to a clip showing an elderly Black Chinese man dining at a meal table with others. In his original video, the creator expressed astonishment at never having encountered a Black Chinese person online or in real life. In a follow-up post, he claimed he was warned to delete the video.

'An elderly black Chinese man at meal table.' Retrieved from: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMSjCNrtn/ 

Could it be that Black Chinese communities still exist, hidden from the public eye? This near-total erasure seems less accidental and more like the result of layered historical, political, and cultural forces, a quiet conspiracy that continues to push these identities to the margins of memory.

References

Barnett, K. (2024). What are the Black Tribes in China. NCESC. https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/what-are-the-black-tribes-in-china/

Kollins, P. (2025, April 21). Threats to Take Down Black Chinese Video [video]. Tiktok. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMSjCNrtn/

Rashidi, R. (2014). The Black Presence in Early China. Dr. Runoko Rashidi. https://drrunoko.com/african-history/article-the-black-presence-in-early-china/

Wilensky, J. (2002). The Magical Kunlun and "Devil Slaves": Chinese Perceptions of Dark-Skinned People and Africa before 1500. Sino-Platonic Papers, 122. https://sino-platonic.org/abstracts/spp122_chinese_africans.html#:~:text=This%20essay%20examines%20a%20combination%20of%20nonfiction%20accounts%2C,skin%20and%20Chinese%20knowledge%20of%20Africa%20and%20Africans.

Williams, C. (1971). The Destruction of Black Civilization. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/the-destruction-of-black-civilization/page/370/mode/2up