Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as ''Northeast China'' (). This region is the traditional homeland of the Xianbei, Khitan, and Jurchen peoples, who built several dynasties in northern China. The region is also the home of the Manchus, after whom Manchuria is named.

Extent of Manchuria

Manchuria can refer to any one of several regions of various size. These are, from smallest to largest:

#Inner Manchuria: Northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning) and part of northeastern Inner Mongolia; #The above, plus the Jehol region of Hebei province; #The above, plus Outer Manchuria (Russian Manchuria), (from the Amur and Ussuri rivers to the Stanovoy Mountains and the Sea of Japan). Russian Far East comprises Primorsky Krai, southern Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Amur Oblast. These were part of Manchu China according to the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689, but were ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Aigun (1858) #The above, plus Sakhalin Oblast, which is generally included on Chinese maps as part of Outer Manchuria, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Treaty of Nerchinsk.

Etymology and names

"Manchuria" is a translation of the Manchu word ''Manju'' (Chinese language: ''Mǎnzhōu''). According to the Manchu ''Veritable Records'', the name ''Manju'' was originally given by the legendary dynastic founder Bukūri Yongšon to the country he established when he united the three warring clans of Odoli, at the location of the modern city of Dunhua in Jilin province. This name was used in Chinese documents until the early 20th century, when Manchuria was converted into three provinces by the late Qing government. Since then, the "Three Eastern Provinces" (東三省) was officially used by the Qing government in China to refer to this region, and the post of Viceroy of Three Northeast Provinces (東三省總督) was established to take charge of these provinces. After the 1911 revolution, which resulted in the collapse of the Manchu-established Qing Dynasty, the name of the region where the Manchus originated was known as ''the Northeast'' in official documents in the newly-founded Republic of China, in addition to the "Three Northeast Provinces".

In current Chinese parlance, an inhabitant of "the Northeast", or Northeast China, is a "Northeasterner" (''Dōngběi rén''). "The Northeast" is a term that expresses the entire region, encompassing its history, culture, traditions, dialects, cuisines and so forth, as well as the "Three East Provinces" or "Three Northeast Provinces" (東三省 or 東北三省), which replaced the concept of "Manchuria" in the early 20th century. Though geographically also located in the northeastern part of China, other provinces such as Hebei are not considered to be a part of "the Northeast". After the Second Sino-Japanese War, the People's Republic of China has refused recognition of the name ''Mǎnzhōu'' (Manchuria), only using "the Northeast" for the region to avoid acknowledging the Japanese imperial legacy in the area; the title of Manchuria is still often associated in China with the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Manchuria has historically also been referred to as Guandong (), which literally means "east of the pass", a reference to Shanhai Pass in Qinhuangdao in today's Hebei province, at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China. This usage is seen in the expression ''Chuǎng Guāndōng'' (literally "Rushing into Guandong") referring to the mass migration of Han Chinese to Manchuria in the 19th and 20th centuries. An alternate name, Guanwai (關外; 关外; ''Guānwài''; "outside of the pass"), was also used for the region. The name Guandong later came to be used more narrowly for the area of the Kwantung Leased Territory on the Liaodong Peninsula.

Geography and climate

Manchuria consists mainly of the northern side of the funnel-shaped North China Craton, a large area of tilled and overlaid Precambrian rocks. The North China Craton was an independent continent prior to the Triassic period, and is known to have been the northernmost piece of land in the world during the Carboniferous. The Khingan Mountains in the west are a Jurassic mountain range formed by the collision of the North China Craton with the Siberian Craton, which marked the final stage of the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea.

Although no part of Manchuria was glaciated during the Quaternary, the surface geology of most of the lower-lying and more fertile parts of the region consists of very deep layers of loess, which have been formed by the wind-born movement of dust and till particles formed in glaciated parts of the Himalayas, Kunlun Shan and Tien Shan, as well as the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts. Soils are mostly fertile Mollisols and Fluvents, except in the more mountainous parts where they are poorly developed Orthents, as well as the extreme north where permafrost occurs and Orthels dominate.

The climate of Manchuria has extreme seasonal contrasts, ranging from humid, almost tropical heat in the summer to windy, dry, Arctic cold in the winter. This occurs because the position of Manchuria is on the boundary between the great Eurasian continental landmass and the huge Pacific Ocean causes complete monsoonal wind reversal.

In the summer, when the land heats up faster than the ocean, low pressure forms over Asia and warm, moist south to southeasterly winds bring heavy, thundery rain, yielding annual rainfall ranging from 400 mm (16 in.), or less in the west, to over 1150 mm (45 in.) in the Changbai Mountains. Temperatures in the summer are very warm to hot, with July average maxima ranging from 31°C (88°F) in the south to 24°C (75°F) in the extreme north. Except in the far north near the Amur River, high humidity causes major discomfort at this time of year.

In the winter, however, the vast Siberian High causes very cold, north to northwesterly winds that bring temperatures as low as −5°C (23°F) in the extreme south and −30°C (−22°F) in the north, where the zone of discontinuous permafrost reaches northern Heilongjiang. However, because the winds from Siberia are exceedingly dry, snow falls only on a few days every winter and it is never heavy. This explains why, whereas corresponding latitudes of North America were fully glaciated during glacial periods of the Quaternary, Manchuria, though even colder, always remained too dry to form glaciers – a state of affairs enhanced by stronger westerly winds from the surface of the ice sheet in Europe.

History

Early history

Manchuria was the homeland of several nomadic tribes, including the Manchu, Ulchs and Hezhen. Various ethnic groups and their respective kingdoms, including the Sushen, Donghu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, Mohe, Khitan and Jurchens have risen to power in Manchuria. At various times in this time period, Han Dynasty, Cao Wei Dynasty, Western Jin Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and some other minor kingdoms of China occupied significant parts of Manchuria. Various kingdoms in Korea, such as Gojoseon, Buyeo, Goguryeo and Balhae were also established in parts of this area. With the Song Dynasty to the south, the Khitan people of Western Manchuria created the Liao Empire in the region, which went on to control adjacent parts of Northern China as well.

In the early 12th century the Tungusic Jurchen people, who were Liao's tributaries, overthrew the Liao and formed the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234), which went on to control parts of Northern China and Mongolia. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), Manchuria was divided into Liaoyang and Zhendong districts. In 1375, Nahacu, a Mongol official of the Northern Yuan in Liaoyang province invaded Liaodong, but later surrendered to the Ming Dynasty in 1387. In order to protect the northern border areas the Ming decided to "pacify" the Jurchens in order to deal with its problems with Yuan remnants along its northern border. The Ming solidified control over Manchuria under Yongle Emperor (1402–1424). Starting in the 1580s, a Jianzhou Jurchen chieftain, Nurhaci (1558–1626), started to unify Jurchen tribes of the region. Over the next several decades, the Jurchen, took control over most of Manchuria. In 1616, Nurhaci founded the Later Jin Dynasty.

In 1644, after the Ming Dynasty's capital of Beijing was sacked by the peasant rebels, the Jurchens (now called Manchus) allied with Ming general Wu Sangui and seized control of Beijing, overthrowing the short-lived Shun Dynasty and establishing Qing Dynasty rule (1644–1912) over all of China. But in 1858, a weakening Qing Empire was forced to cede Manchuria north of the Amur to Russia under the Treaty of Aigun. In 1860, at the Treaty of Peking, the Russians managed to obtain a further large slice of Manchuria, east of the Ussuri River. As a result, Manchuria was divided into a Russian half known as "Outer Manchuria", and a remaining Chinese half known as "Inner Manchuria". In modern literature, "Manchuria" usually refers to Inner (Chinese) Manchuria. As a result of the Treaties of Aigun and Peking, China lost access to the Sea of Japan.

History after 1860

Inner Manchuria also came under strong Russian influence with the building of the Chinese Eastern Railway through Harbin to Vladivostok. In Chuang Guandong many Han farmers, mostly from Shandong peninsula moved there. Japan replaced Russian influence in the southern half of Inner Manchuria as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905. Most of the southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway was transferred from Russia to Japan, and became the South Manchurian Railway. Japanese influence extended into Outer Manchuria in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917, but Outer Manchuria had reverted to Soviet control by 1925. Manchuria was an important region for its rich mineral and coal reserves, and its soil is perfect for soy and barley production. For pre–World War II Japan, Manchuria was an essential source of raw materials. Without occupying Manchuria, the Japanese probably could not have carried out their plan for conquest over Southeast Asia or taken the risk to attack Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December, 1941.

Around the time of World War I, Zhang Zuolin established himself as a powerful warlord with influence over most of Manchuria. During his rule, the Manchurian economy grew tremendously, backed by immigration of Chinese from other parts of China. The Japanese assassinated him on June 2, 1928, in what is known as the Huanggutun Incident. Following the Mukden Incident in 1931 and the subsequent Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the Japanese declared Inner Manchuria an "independent state", and appointed the deposed Qing emperor Puyi as puppet emperor of Manchukuo. Under Japanese control Manchuria was one of the most brutally run regions in the world, with a systematic campaign of terror and intimidation against the local Russian and Chinese populations including arrests, organised riots and other forms of subjugation. Manchukuo was used as a base to invade the rest of China.

After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, the Soviet Union invaded from Soviet Outer Manchuria as part of its declaration of war against Japan. Soon afterwards, the Chinese communists and nationalists started fighting for the control over Manchuria. The communists won in the Liaoshen Campaign and took complete control over Manchuria. With the encouragement of the Soviet Union, Manchuria was then used as a staging ground during the Chinese Civil War for the Communist Party of China, which emerged victorious in 1949. Ambiguities in the treaties that ceded Outer Manchuria to Russia led to dispute over the political status of several islands. This led to armed conflict in 1969, called the Sino-Soviet border conflict. In 2004, Russia agreed to transfer Yinlong Island and one half of Heixiazi Island to the PRC, ending an enduring border dispute.

See also

War crimes in Manchukuo

Northeastern Chinese cuisine

References

Bibliography

Elliott, Mark C. "The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies." ''Journal of Asian Studies'' 59, no. 3 (2000): 603-46.

Jones, Francis Clifford, ''Manchuria Since 1931'', London, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1949

Tao, Jing-shen, ''The Jurchen in Twelfth-Century China''. University of Washington Press, 1976, ISBN 0-295-95514-7.

Category:Northeast Asia Category:Regions of China Category:Traditional subdivisions of Russia

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Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century. The character was also featured extensively in cinema, television, radio, comic strips and comic books for over 90 years, and has become an archetype of the evil criminal genius while lending the name to the Fu Manchu moustache.

Characters

Fu Manchu

A master criminal, Fu Manchu's murderous plots are marked by the extensive use of arcane methods; he disdains guns or explosives, preferring dacoits, Thuggee, and members of other secret societies as his agents armed with knives, or using "pythons and cobras... fungi and my tiny allies, the bacilli... my black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons.

In the 1933 novel, ''The Bride of Fu Manchu'', Fu Manchu claims to hold doctorates from four Western universities. In the 1959 novel, ''Emperor Fu Manchu'', he reveals he attended Heidelberg, the Sorbonne, and Edinburgh. In the early books, Dr. Petrie, believed that Fu Manchu was around 70 years old in 1911 at the time of their first encounter. This would have placed Fu Manchu in the West studying for his first doctorate in the 1870s.

According to Cay Van Ash, Rohmer's biographer and former assistant who became the first author to continue the series after Rohmer's death, "Fu Manchu" was a title of honor, which meant "the Warlike Manchu." Van Ash speculates that Fu Manchu had been a member of the Imperial family who backed the losing side in the Boxer Rebellion. In the earliest books, Fu Manchu is an agent of the secret society, the Si-Fan and acts as the mastermind behind a wave of assassinations targeting Western imperialists. In later books, he vies for control of the Si-Fan which is more concerned with routing Fascist dictators and halting the spread of Communism. The Si-Fan is largely funded through criminal activities, particularly the drug trade and white slavery. Dr. Fu Manchu has extended his already considerable lifespan by use of the elixir vitae, a formula he spent decades trying to perfect.

Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie

Opposing Fu Manchu in the early stories are Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. John Petrie. They are in the Holmes and Watson tradition, with Dr. Petrie narrating the stories while Nayland Smith carries the fight, combating Fu Manchu more by dogged determination than intellectual brilliance (except ''in extremis''). Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu share a grudging respect for one another, as each believes a man must keep his word even to an enemy.

In the first three books, Nayland Smith is a colonial police commissioner in Burma granted a ''roving commission'' which allows him to exercise authority over any group that can help him in his mission. He resembles Sherlock Holmes in physical description and acerbic manner, but not in deductive genius. He has been criticized as being a racist and jingoistic character, especially in the early entries in the series, and gives voice to anti-Asian sentiments. When Rohmer revived the series in the early 1930s, Smith (who has been knighted) is Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard. He later resigns this post and accepts a position with British Intelligence. Several books have him placed on special assignment with the FBI.

Over the years, Smith has been played by many actors, all of them middle-aged. This is despite the original character's age ranging from a young man in the early books in the 1910s to an old man in the books from the late 1950s:

O.P. Heggie (52-53) in ''The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1929) and ''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1930)

Lewis Stone (53) in ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932)

William Royle (53) in ''Drums of Fu Manchu'' (1940)

Lester Matthews (56) in ''The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1956)

Nigel Green (41) in ''The Face of Fu Manchu'' (1965)

Douglas Wilmer (46-47) in ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' (1966) and ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' (1967)

Richard Greene (50-51) in ''The Blood of Fu Manchu'' (1968) and ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'' (1969)

Peter Sellers (54) in ''The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1980)

Kâramanèh

Prominent among Fu Manchu's agents was the "seductively lovely" Kâramanèh. Her real name is unknown. She was sold to the Si-Fan by Egyptian slave traders while still a child. Kara falls in love with the narrator of the first three books in the series, Dr. Petrie. She rescues Petrie and Nayland Smith many times. Eventually the couple are united and she wins her freedom. They marry and have a daughter, Fleurette, who figures in later novels. Author Lin Carter later created a son for Dr. Petrie and Kara, but this is not considered canonical.

Fah lo Suee

Fu Manchu's daughter, Fah lo Suee, is a devious mastermind in her own right, frequently plotting to usurp her father's position in the Si-Fan and aiding his enemies within and outside of the organization. Her real name is unknown; Fah lo Suee was a childhood term of endearment. She was introduced anonymously while still a teenager in the third book in the series and plays a larger role in several of the titles of the 1930s and 1940s. She was known for a time as Koreani after being brainwashed by her father, but her memory was later restored. She is infamous for taking on false identities, like her father, among them Madame Ingomar and Queen Mamaloi. In film, she has been portrayed by numerous actresses over the years. Her character is usually re-named in film adaptations because of difficulties with pronunciation. Anna May Wong played Ling Moy in 1931's ''Daughter of the Dragon''. Myrna Loy was the similarly named Fah lo See in 1932's ''The Mask of Fu Manchu''. Gloria Franklin was Fah lo Suee in 1940's ''Drums of Fu Manchu''. Laurette Luez played Karamaneh in 1956's ''The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu'', but the character owed more to Fah lo Suee than Rohmer's depiction of Karamaneh. Tsai Chin was Fu Manchu's daughter, Lin Tang in the five Christopher Lee films of the 1960s.

Controversy

After the 1932 release of MGM's adaptation of ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'', which featured the Asian villain telling an assembled group of Muslims that they must "kill the white men and take their women", a Harvard University student group petitioned MGM producer William Randolph Hearst (who had also serialized the novel in his ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine) to cease making further films based on the property.

Following the 1940 release of Republic Pictures' serial adaptation of ''Drums of Fu Manchu'', the U.S. State Department requested the studio make no further films with the character as China was an ally against Japan. Likewise Rohmer's publisher, Doubleday, refused to publish further additions to the bestselling series for the duration of the Second World War once the United States entered the conflict. BBC Radio and Broadway investors subsequently rejected Rohmer's proposals for an original Fu Manchu radio serial and stage show during the 1940s.

A planned 1972 U.S. network television screening of the 1966 Warner Bros. film ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' was cancelled due to protests from an Asian anti-defamation group.

Rohmer himself was quoted in the biography his wife co-authored ''Master of Villainy'' to respond to charges that Fu Manchu had demonized all Chinese people by stating that :Of course, not the whole Chinese population of Limehouse was criminal. But it contained a large number of persons who had left their own country for the most urgent of reasons. These people knew no way of making a living other than the criminal activities that had made China too hot for them. They brought their crimes with them. It was Rohmer's contention that he based Fu Manchu and other "Yellow Peril" mysteries on real Chinese crime figures he knew during his brief stint as a newspaper reporter covering Limehouse activities.

Cultural impact

The character of Fu Manchu became a stereotype often associated with the Yellow Peril. Fu Manchu has inspired numerous other characters, and is the model for most villains in later "Yellow Peril" thrillers. Examples include Pao Tcheou, Ming the Merciless from ''Flash Gordon'', Dr, Goo-Fee from ''Fearless Fly'',Li Chang Yen from ''The Big Four'', James Bond adversary Dr. No, The Celestial Toymaker from the Doctor Who story of the same name, Dr. Benton Quest's archenemy Dr. Zin from the ''Jonny Quest'' television series, Dr. Yen-Lo from ''The Manchurian Candidate'', Lo-Pan from ''Big Trouble in Little China'', Marvel Comics foes the Mandarin and the Yellow Claw, DC Comics' Rā's al Ghūl, Wo Fat from the CBS TV series ''Hawaii Five-O'', and Ancient Wu from the video game ''True Crime: Streets of LA''. Fu Manchu and his daughter are the inspiration for the character Hark and his daughter Anna Hark in the comic book series ''Planetary''.

He was also parodied by Kenneth Williams in the radio show Round the Horne as the Oriental criminal mastermind Dr Chou En Ginsberg MA (failed), accompanied by his common-as-muck concubine Lotus Blossom, played by a cockney Hugh Paddick. Appearing in ten minute sketches within the show he was the villain for Kenneth Horne's masterspy in adventures such as "The Man with the Golden Thunderball", which also spoofed James Bond.

While not of Chinese descent, "Egyptian" arch-villain "Kathulos" (then revealed to be a survived Atlantean) of Robert E. Howard's ''Skull-Face'' novella is inspired by Fu Manchu. "Comrade Li" in Peter George's ''Commander-1'' (1965) is essentially the same type of villain—despite his name having only a thin veneer of Communism or Marxism, being rather a suave philosopher steeped in ancient Chinese learning whose cold-blooded machinations bring about a nuclear holocaust in which nearly all humanity perishes (including China, which he sought to make great) and who eventually meets a suitable gruesome and ignominious end.

A character with the name "Fred Fu Manchu" appeared as a ''famous Chinese bamboo saxophonist'' as part of The Goon Show, a 1950's British radio comedy programme. He appeared in his very own episode, "The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu Manchu" in 1955 (announced as "Fred Fu-Manchu and his Bamboo Saxophone"), as well as making minor appearances in other episodes (including "China Story", "The Siege of Fort Night" and "The Lost Emperor"(as "''Doctor Fred Fu Manchu: oriental tattooist''")). The character was invented and performed by Spike Milligan, who used the character to mock British xenophobia and self-satisfaction, the traits summoning the original Fu Manchu into existence, and not as a slur against Asians.

Fu Manchu is also one of the earliest known examples of an evil scientist or archenemy, with Professor Moriarty, Doctor Jack Quartz (from Nick Carter), Zenith the Albino (from Sexton Blake), and some others being among the few other precedents. The style of facial hair associated with him in film adaptations has become known as the Fu Manchu moustache, although Rohmer's writings described the character as wearing no such adornment.

Books

''The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu'' (1913) (US Title: ''The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu'').

''The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu'' (1916) (UK Title: ''The Devil Doctor'')

''The Hand of Fu Manchu'' (1917) (UK Title: ''The Si-Fan Mysteries'')

''Daughter of Fu Manchu'' (1931)

''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932)

''The Bride of Fu Manchu'' (1933) (original US Title: ''Fu Manchu's Bride'')

''The Trail of Fu Manchu'' (1934)

''President Fu Manchu'' (1936)

''The Drums of Fu Manchu'' (1939)

''The Island of Fu Manchu'' (1941)

''The Shadow of Fu Manchu'' (1948)

''Re-Enter: Fu Manchu'' (1957) (UK Title: ''Re-Enter: Dr. Fu Manchu'')

''Emperor Fu Manchu'' (1959) was Rohmer's last novel.

''The Wrath of Fu Manchu'' (1973) was a posthumous anthology containing the title novella, first published in 1952, and three later short stories: "The Eyes of Fu Manchu" (1957), "The Word of Fu Manchu" (1958), and "The Mind of Fu Manchu" (1959).

''Ten Years Beyond Baker Street'' (1984). The first of two authorized continuation novels by Cay Van Ash, Sax Rohmer's former assistant and biographer. The novel is set in a narrative gap within ''The Hand of Fu Manchu'' and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, ''His Last Bow'' (both published in 1917). Holmes comes out of retirement to aid Dr. Petrie when Nayland Smith is abducted by the Si-Fan.

''The Fires of Fu Manchu'' (1987). The second of two authorized continuation novels by Cay Van Ash. The novel is set in 1917 and documents Smith and Petrie's encounter with Fu Manchu during the First World War culminating in Smith's knighthood. A third Van Ash title, ''The Seal of Fu Manchu'' was underway when Van Ash died in 1994. The incomplete manuscript is believed lost.

''The Terror of Fu Manchu'' is the first of a new series of authorized period Fu Manchu thrillers by William Patrick Maynard. It is set on the eve of the First World War and is narrated by Dr. Petrie. The novel was published in April 2009 by Black Coat Press. A second title by the same author, ''The Destiny of Fu Manchu'' set on the eve of the Second World War will be published in December 2011 by Black Coat Press.

''The League of Dragons'' by George Alec Effinger was an unpublished, unauthorized novel involving a young Sherlock Holmes matching wits with Fu Manchu in the nineteenth century. Chapters have been published in the anthologies, ''Sherlock Holmes in Orbit'' (1995) and ''My Sherlock Holmes'' (2003). This lost university adventure of Holmes is narrated by Conan Doyle's character Reginald Musgrave.

Fu Manchu also made appearances in the following non-''Fu Manchu'' books:

''Anno Dracula'' (1994) by Kim Newman. An alternate histories adventure with Fu Manchu in a anonymous cameo appearance as one of the London crime lords of the nineteenth century.

"Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong" and "Part of the Game" are a pair of related short stories by F. Paul Wilson appearing in his collection, ''Aftershocks and Others: 19 Oddities'' (2009) and feature anonymous appearances by Dr. Fu Manchu and characters from Little Orphan Annie.

Fu Manchu also appears anonymously in several stories in August Derleth's Solar Pons detective series. Derleth's successor, Basil Copper also made use of the character.

Fu Manchu is the name of the Chinese ambassador in Kurt Vonnegut's ''Slapstick (novel)'' (1976)

It is revealed that Chiun, the Master of Sinanju has worked for the Devil Doctor, as have previous generations of Masters in the The Destroyer novel #83 ''Skull Duggery''.

In other media

Film

Fu Manchu first appeared on the big screen in the 1923 British silent film serial ''The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu'' starring Harry Agar Lyons. Lyons returned to the role the next year in ''The Further Mysteries of Dr. Fu Manchu.''

In 1929 Fu Manchu made his American film debut in Paramount's early talkie, ''The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' starring Warner Oland, best known for his portrayal of Charlie Chan. Oland repeated the role in 1930's ''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' and 1931's ''Daughter of the Dragon'' as well as in the short, ''Murder Will Out'' as part of the omnibus film, ''Paramount on Parade'' where the Devil Doctor confronts both Philo Vance and Sherlock Holmes.

The most infamous incarnation of the character was MGM's ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) starring Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy. The film's tone has long been considered racist and offensive, but that only added to its cult status alongside its campy humor and Grand Guignol sets and torture sequences. The film was suppressed for many years, but has since received critical re-evaluation and been released on DVD uncut.

Fu Manchu returned to the serial format in 1940 in Republic Pictures' ''Drums of Fu Manchu'', a 15-episode serial considered to be one of the best the studio ever made. It was later edited and released as a feature film in 1943.

Other than an obscure, unauthorized 1946 Mexican film ''El Otro Fu Manchu'', the Devil Doctor was absent from the big sceen for 25 years, until producer Harry Alan Towers began a series starring Christopher Lee in 1965. Towers and Lee would make five Fu Manchu film through the end of the decade: ''The Face of Fu Manchu'' (1965), ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' (1966), ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' (1967), ''The Blood of Fu Manchu'' (1968), and finally ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'' (1969).

Fu Manchu, portrayed by actor David T. Bramberg appeared as the main character on 3 Mexican films of the Golden Age, El Museo del Crimen, Asesinato en los Estudios and La Mujer sin Cabeza, all detectivesque plots around murders.

The character's last authorized film appearance was in the 1980 Peter Sellers spoof, ''The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu'' with Sellers featured in a double role as both Fu Manchu and Nayland Smith. The film bore little resemblance to any prior film or the original books. In the film, Fu Manchu claims he was known as "Fred" at public school, a reference to the character of "Fred Fu Manchu" from The Goon Show which had co-starred Sellers.

Jess Franco, who had directed ''The Blood of Fu Manchu'' and ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'', also directed ''The Girl From Rio'' the second of three Harry Alan Towers films based on Rohmer's female Fu Manchu character, Sumuru. He later directed an unauthorized 1986 Spanish film featuring Fu Manchu's daughter, ''Esclavas del Crimen''.

Nicolas Cage made a camp cameo appearance as Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's faux trailer ''Werewolf Women of the SS'', which is part of the 2007 film ''Grindhouse''.

There have been several unsuccessful plans to revive the character for the big screen since the early 1970s. The most recent project was announced by Distant Horizons at Cannes in 2007.

Television

Fu Manchu was first brought to television in an unsold pilot for NBC in 1952, ''The Zayat Kiss'' starred John Carradine and Cedric Hardwicke.

In 1956, the television arm of Republic Pictures produced a 13-episode syndicated series, ''The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu'' starring Glen Gordon as Dr. Fu Manchu, Lester Matthews as Sir Denis Nayland Smith, and Clark Howat as Dr. John Petrie. The title sequence depicted Smith and Fu Manchu in a game of chess as the announcer stated that "the Devil is said to play for men's souls. So does Dr. Fu Manchu, Evil Incarnate." At the conclusion of each episode, after Nayland Smith and Petrie had foiled Fu Manchu's latest fiendish scheme, he would be seen breaking a black chess piece as the closing credits rolled. It was directed by noted serial director Franklin Adreon as well as William Witney. Unlike the Holmes/Watson type relationship of the films, the series featured Smith as a law enforcement officer and Petrie as a staff member for the Surgeon General.

In 1990, TeleMundo broadcast an affectionate spoof, The Daughter of Fu Manchu featuring Paul Naschy as the Devil Doctor and starring the Hispanic comedy troupe, The Yellow Squad.

On the first episode of the second season of Viva La Bam, Don Vito is, while attached, being drawn a mustache similar to that of Fu Manchu. This prank is referred to as Fool Manchu.

Music

Guy Lombardo had a 1935 song entitled "Fu Manchu, Why Don't You Behave"

The Rockin' Ramrods had a 1965 song titled "Don't Fool With Fu Manchu"

The stoner rock band Fu Manchu was named after him.

Jamaican reggae pioneer Desmond Dekker recorded a song titled "Fu Man Chu" in 1968 with the chorus, "This is the face of Fu Manchu."

Frank Black (of the Pixies) recorded a song called "Fu Manchu" in 1993.

In the song, "We Want Freedom", by Dead Prez, Fu Manchu is referred to in the 2nd verse as a man who "dominated the land and accumulated wealth".

Fu Manchu was the name of a bull, mentioned in Tim McGraw's song "Live Like You Were Dying".

Fu Manchu was also mentioned in Travis Tritt's song "It's a Great Day to Be Alive".

Northern Irish band Ash include Fu Manchu in the lyrics to their songs "Kung Fu" and "Day of the Triffids".

British band The Wildhearts include Fu Manchu on their list of admired villains in the song "Rooting For The Bad Guy".

"The Village Green Preservation Society" on the similarly titled album by The Kinks mentions Fu Manchu, alongside other fictional villains, Moriarty and Dracula, in its list of things to preserve, "Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula". 30 years later, front man Ray Davies again name-checked the character in his 1998 solo song, "London Song."

Hip Hop group The Fugees briefly mention Fu Manchu in the song "Vocab", from the album ''Blunted on Reality''.

Montréal French speaking rock singer Robert Charlebois composed a song entitled "Fu Man Chu (Chus d'dans)" in 1972, in which he refers to the Fu Man Chu and Gene Autry black and white movies of the 1950-1960s. Through the story of Bill, the hero, the song highlights the main events of the second half of the 20th Century, starting with Bill initially dreaming about being attached to a railway track when the train is coming, then his posting abroad to war (presumably Vietnam) and finally ends with Lady Trenton losing her virginity to Bill, whom she saved from the villains after his trip to the milky way.

Drum and bass duo Drumsound & Bassline Smith recently released a song called "Fu Manchu", with a dubstep edit.

Radio

Fu Manchu's earliest radio appearances were on the ''Collier Hour'' 1927-31 on the Blue Network. This was a radio programme designed to promote ''Collier's'' magazine and presented weekly dramatizations of the current issues stories and serials. Fu was voiced by Arthur Hughes. A self titled show on CBS followed in 1932-33. John C. Daly, and later Harold Huber, played Fu.

Additionally, there were "pirate" broadcast from the Continent into Britain, from Radio Luxembourg and Radio Lyons in 1936 through 1937. Frank Cochrane voiced Fu Manchu. The BBC produced a competing series, ''The Peculiar Case of the Poppy Club'' starting in 1939. That same year ''The Shadow of Fu Manchu'' aired in the United States as a thrice weekly serial dramatizing the first nine novels.

Comic strips

Fu was first brought to newspaper comic strips in a black and white daily strip drawn by Leo O'Mealia and ran from 1931 to 1933. The strips were adaptations of the first two Fu Manchu novels and part of the third. They were copyrighted by "Sax Rohmer and The Bell Syndicate, Inc".

Graphic novels

Fu Manchu made his first comic book appearance in ''Detective Comics'' # 17, and continued, as one feature among many in the anthology series, until #28. These were reprints of the earlier Leo O'Mealia strips. Original Fu stories in comics had to wait for Avon's one-shot ''The Mask of Dr. Fu Manchu'' in 1951. A similar British one-shot ''The Island of Fu Manchu'' was published in 1956.

In the 1970s, Fu Manchu appeared as the father of the character Shang-Chi in the series ''Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.'' However Marvel Comics canceled the book in 1982, and issues over licensing the character and concepts from the novels (such as his daughter) have hampered Marvel's ability to both collect the series in trade paperback format and reference Fu Manchu as Shang-Chi's father. As such, the character is either never mentioned by name, or by alias ("Mr. Han"). Though Fu Manchu himself was killed off in #100 of his son's comic, he has since been (partially) resurrected by an evil terror group known as the Shadow Council.

Fu Manchu appeared as a villain in the first volume of Alan Moore's comic book series ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' where he attempts to steal a piece of Cavorite to make an airforce and attack England, but was referred to only as "the Doctor" or "the Devil Doctor" as the character is not in the public domain.

In the first edition of ''Docteur Mystery'', Fu Manchu is a leader of a cult that tries to resurrect a giant dragon to take over Europe.

Martin Gilfryd/Memnan Saa of the ''BPRD'' comics by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis is modeled after Dr. Fu Manchu. Before the mysterious character's identity was revealed Mignola referred to the villain as "that Fu Manchu-looking guy."

Sweets

Trebor's had a 1977 Fu Munchews candy

See also

Charlie Chan - the positive opposite of Fu Manchu

References

External links

"The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu" (1956 TV Series)

''The Page of Fu Manchu''

''The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu'' by Sax Rohmer

''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' by Sax Rohmer

Hermes Reviews'' reviews of all the Fu Manchu books as well as those featuring Sax Rohmer's other criminal mastermind, Sumuru

A database and cover gallery of Fu Manchu comic book appearances

Theater of the Ears: ''The Shadow of Fu Manchu'' Radio Dramas

The Chronology of Fu Manchu http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Fumanchu.htm

Fu Manchu and the Yellow Peril http://dspace.wul.waseda.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2065/10005/1/40050_3_2.pdf

Fu Manchu in Edinburgh (BBC Radio 4 programme)

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