COLOR-BLINDNESS IN CHINA

In the June-number of the »China Medical Missionary Journal” in Shanghai, Miss Aveze Frezos has published an article on Daltonism or color-blindness among the Chinese. She examined 1200 Chinese among whom 20 were redblind or oreenblind. Among 600 Chinese females was found only one colorblind according to the Berlin-wool test of Thomson. Among 600 males, 19 were found to be colorblind, 13 totally greenblind and 6 redblind. We may draw the attention to the fact that the Chinese were already aware of this disease in the seventh century before our era. We find it mentioned in the Tso-chuen commentary on the 24h year of Duke He (B. C. 636), in a speech made by Foo-shin (5 +) to King

Siang when he wished to invade the state of Ch'ing. The passage

nus: HRÉILÉ LAS E. HR LE Fi BR. 6 RAI R CR RU. DRE E € FF Fà ÉÆ , which Legse has rather mistranslated: »He whose ear does not hear the harmony of the five sounds is deaf; he whose eye does not distinguish the beauty of the five colours is blind; he whose mind does not accord with the rules of virtue and righteousness is wayward; he whose mouth does not speak the words of loyalty and faith is a stupid chatterer” (Legge, Chinese Classics, V, 1, p. 192). Now it is too absolute to speak in this case of deafness and blindness. Æoo-shin points only to those people who have ears and listen not, and eyes and see not, who are by perversity wayward in the face of virtue and righteousness, and who are disloyal and faithless knowing it all the while better.

I think we ought to translate: »He whose ear does not dis-

eriminate the harmony of the five sounds has no musical ear (is

musicdeaf); he whose eye does not distinguish the shades !) of the five colors is colorblind”.

The D'4 defines the char. FJk by Æ HF Eu » The eye not clear”; and the É He by H +4, »the eye dim”. And Æhanghi cites the abovementioned passage from the T%so-chuen as an example of what FA is meant by. There is no question of absolute blindness, but only of a defect in the powers of vision.

This is confirmed by the following statement in the BEA À + À N<S fn (middle of the 8th century. Comp. Wylie, Notes on Chin. Lit. p. 175—176): R Æ Th & LA KE 8 7h > The color-blind mistake yellow for carnationcolor” ?).

It is evident by these two passages that the Chinese were fully aware of this deficiency in the eyes of some of their fellow countrymen, long before we had discovered it in Europe.

1) ZLiterally; the division between the 5 colors.

2) The DE À .. was written originally by ES Se LES of the Chow-dynasty

but edited in the 8th century by + + TÉ Wang-sze-yuen.

VARIÉTES.