The Trolls Who Divided China | Chapter 2

After a while, another division happened in China. A group of people left and formed their own nation.

Many of the people who left had slanted eyes, small eyes, or monolids. They no longer felt welcome in their own country because they were constantly mocked and treated as unattractive or embarrassing because of their ethnic features. Over time, the harassment became unbearable, so they decided to leave and create a separate nation called Yǎtíng, named after their leader.

In Yǎtíng, entertainment industries followed strict rules regarding representation. If an animated Chinese character had slanted eyes, small eyes, or monolids, there usually had to be another Chinese character designed with opposite features to “balance” them out. If one character had buck teeth, there would often be multiple other Chinese characters shown without them, including one who had undergone orthodontic treatment and another who naturally never had those features.

Another major rule involved Western distribution. Animated productions from Yǎtíng could only air in America or other Western countries if they followed strict regulations. At least one major character had to visually contrast another character’s facial features. If every main character shared similar facial traits, Western broadcasters would often reject the production.

The only exception involved real people. These standards applied strictly to animation and fictional media. Real people could have any facial features, eye shape, or appearance, and forcing someone to undergo plastic surgery for a television role was illegal.

One of the biggest issues involved Chinese people with phoenix eyes—large eyes with a noticeable slant. They were among the last to migrate to Yǎtíng because they were generally considered more acceptable by mainstream beauty standards. However, despite being accepted socially, they often struggled to find work in commercial entertainment. If they accepted certain acting or modeling jobs, they were frequently accused of being “racist representations” by critics online.

Many people in the industry told them things like:

“In America, Chinese people & White people people don’t like Chinese people with those eyes.”

or

“The company could get into trouble for hiring you.”

As a result, many of them became ashamed of their appearance and eventually moved to Yǎtíng, where they received more opportunities and government protection against harassment.

The situation eventually spiraled out of control. Online trolls encouraged Chinese people without these features yet to be mentioned to turn against those with small eyes, slanted eyes, and even monolids, provoking arguments and harassment campaigns. Chinese Americans began attacking other Chinese people online simply for accepting roles in advertisements, movies, or television with those features.

In response in America, some Chinese women deliberately created commercials featuring women with slanted eyes, small eyes, monolids, and phoenix eyes specifically to push back against the discrimination and spite the other Chinese people. Most of these women had experienced the same prejudice themselves. However, instead of calming tensions, the conflict worsened. People were harassed or attacked simply for appearing in the media or participating in society.

Eventually, the division became so severe that entire communities split apart.

One American town where this took place, though it took place all over China, originally called Timville, became infamous for conflict between Chinese Americans. Many residents attacked or harassed other Chinese people with said features for taking entertainment jobs. Over time, the town divided into two sections: North Shī jìng Timville and South Jǐn yáo Timville.

Originally, Timville had been named after a white mayor named Tim. However, tensions became so intense that many Chinese residents with slanted eyes, monolids, or small eyes relocated into one district together. Their leader, a woman named Shī jìng, took control of the area and transformed it into a haven for those communities.

Meanwhile, South Jǐn yáo Timville was renamed after Mayor Tim and his wife, Jǐn yáo, who was half-Chinese and half-Korean. Because she had grown up in America, she viewed slanted eyes as something shameful and believed plastic surgery was harmless. Ironically, she herself had possessed slanted eyes as a child and had been bullied for them while watching Chinese children without slanted eyes be bullied for having them... Even though they didn't even have them.

As mayor's wife, she passed a horrifying local law requiring Chinese babies born with slanted eyes or very small eyes to undergo cosmetic surgery as newborns. Parents had no right to refuse.

Monolids alone were technically permitted, but babies with strongly slanted or narrow eyes were often targeted for plastic surgery. While many children survived the procedures, 40% suffered terrible complications.

Doctors attempting to create artificial double eyelids sometimes damaged the babies’ eyes due to how delicate the tissue was. Some children lost their eyesight permanently.

What happened was the doctors accidentally stabbed the babies in the eyes not only due to the delicacy but also due to how thin their eyelids were.

All of this stemmed from Eurocentric beauty standards that had spread through media influence and social pressure.

Online trolls played a massive role in escalating the hatred. They flooded Chinese forums, mocking models and actors with slanted eyes, calling them ugly or evil-looking. Whenever anyone tried defending themselves, they were attacked even harder.

Eventually, China split politically, and Yǎtíng became prosperous partly because it outlawed forced plastic surgery entirely unless needed for medical purposes.

One famous model named Ruòlán became a symbol of the conflict. She had phoenix eyes—large slanted eyes that were often considered beautiful in parts of northern China. When she moved to Timville and was mocked for those same features, attacked by her own kind and treated like a symbol of racism. It devastated her emotionally. Eventually, she relocated to North Shī jìng Timville.

Ruòlán especially resented Jǐn yáo because Jǐn yáo herself had once had slanted eyes before undergoing surgery. To Ruòlán, seeing someone erase those features while forcing surgeries on children felt deeply insulting.

Jǐn yáo insisted her goal was to make life “easier” for Chinese people by proving they did not all share the same eyes. However, she hated seeing children naturally born with slanted eyes and wanted future generations to stop inheriting them altogether.

She hated people with slanted eyes, finding them an embarrassment as a part of her own self-hatred.

During one debate, a Chinese woman named Lín Xīnyuè said:

“In real life, there are countless slanted-eyed people in China, especially in the north. Automatically treating small eyes as offensive is just another form of fragile thinking.”

Another Chinese man, Zhào Yǔníng, brought up the history of phrenology. He explained that phrenology was a 19th-century pseudoscience claiming that personality and intelligence could be determined by skull shape. Though completely debunked today, it had once influenced racist ideologies and attempts to rank human beings based on appearance.

He explained how phrenologists believed "The brain controlled all personality traits. Different mental abilities existed in separate regions of the brain. The skull reflected those mental traits through bumps and shape."

Zhào Yǔníng explained "Practitioners performed “skull readings,” feeling the head for bumps and comparing them to charts that supposedly revealed intelligence or morality."

"By the early 20th century, phrenology had been discredited because there was no scientific evidence supporting it. It was also heavily tied to scientific racism and attempts to justify racial superiority," Lín Xīnyuè awkwardly tried to explain.

He insisted that "People with small eyes are naturally dimwitted." His comments enraged her, but didn't shock her, and quickly escalated into a heated argument.

To be continued.