The term “Yellow Peril” supposedly derives from German Kaiser Wilhelm II's warning following Japan’s defeat of China in 1895 in the first Sino-Japanese War. This was a popular theme in the day's literature and journalism, which London knew well. But in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Westerners' dreams about the "superiority" of their civilization competed with their nightmares of Oriental hordes swarming from the East to engulf the advanced West.
Today the term “The Yellow Peril” - but not necessarily the fears and fantasies that it engenders - has gone out of fashion. They evidence his keen intelligence, painfully accurate vision of the future and the progressive and humane values that are still needed to bridge the East and West. These salient aspects of London's life deserve to be remembered and respected. However, his visits to Japan, Korea and Manchuria his factual, hard hitting coverage of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) his astute short stories about Sino-Japanese competition his prophetic essays predicting the rise of the Pacific Rim, and his call for respect and constructive interaction between Americans and Asians over "yellow peril" hysteria are undeservedly forgotten. Jack London (1876-1916), easily the most popular American writer a century ago, is still praised for his Yukon novels and short stories such as The Call of the Wild, White Fang and To Build a Fire. London negotiates passage with a Japanese officer in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 A photographer present immortalized London looking like the adventurer and writer that he was, one drawn to the battle like a missionary to his calling, who skillfully recorded the machinations of great powers while sympathizing with the underdogs who struggled to survive. As they studied documents, the Japanese troops contrasted with Jack London in their box hats and high collared uniforms. He stood among the Japanese soldiers wearing a weather-beaten visored cap over his short, dark hair and a rough hewn jacket covering his broad soldiers, a cigarette angling away from his square jaw and a camera dangling from his gloved hand. Jack London: The Adventurer-Writer who Chronicled Asian Wars, Confronted Racism-and Saw the Future (Revised)
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