Why do Buryats have narrow eyes? Why do Chinese people have narrow eyes?

There is no clear answer to this question. There are several versions about this. According to the first, all Asians, including the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Mongols, belong to the Mongoloid race. According to historians, this is quite ancient people, which originated on our planet at least thirteen thousand years ago. Scientists agree that it was life in rather harsh climatic conditions that made its own adjustments to their appearance, which, in particular, were reflected in the shape of their eyes. To put it simply, this happened due to their adaptation to existing climatic conditions.

At that harsh time, the Asian continent was dominated by winds that raised huge clouds of sand and dust into the air. It is quite understandable that people living in such conditions had to constantly squint. In the process of long evolution, nature took care to somehow protect people's eyes from such harmful effects. She made their eyes narrower and their eyebrows thicker.

And yet, how does the face of a European differ from the face of an Asian?

There are several main differences:

1. There is no eye fold on the upper eyelid.
2. The presence of a narrowed palpebral fissure.
3. The lacrimal tubercle is closed by the internal orbital fold.

All these features are genetic in nature and are passed on from generation to generation. Asians are very skeptical about them, counting them among their shortcomings. Although, such a judgment can be considered incorrect. After all, the narrow shape of the eyes has its own charm, and Asian women, in their beauty, are in no way inferior to European ones. In addition, every nation has a similar twist.

And so, we came to the conclusion that the presence of epicanthus in Asians is due to the need to protect their eyes from sun rays, cold, dust and sand. Although, one can argue with this, even for the reason that most peoples living in similar conditions have a completely normal eye shape. So it turns out that for now this is just an unconfirmed hypothesis.

According to another opinion, the presence of a narrow eye shape in Asians is due to purely genetic reasons. These people settled all over the planet. Some tribes lived in complete isolation. It is quite possible that a narrow eye shape was present in most representatives of the tribe, and could well have been fixed genetically. However, there are some nuances here too. For example, the Chinese have never been a single people. This is a kind of symbiosis of Asian peoples, the mixing of which occurred in the process of evolution.

There is another hypothesis that explains the origin of the narrow eye shape of Asians. She denies the fact of resettlement and influence climatic conditions, but is based on purely physiological principles. In other words, the man preferred a woman with a narrow eye shape, considering her more attractive. This gene was passed on by inheritance, and gradually became a characteristic feature of a given people. This is how peoples with narrow eyes arose.

Epicanthus- a special fold at the inner corner of the eye, to a greater or lesser extent covering the lacrimal tubercle. Epicanthus is a continuation of the fold upper eyelid. One of the characteristics characteristic of the Mongoloid race is rare in representatives of other races. Anthropological examinations determine not only the presence or absence epicanthus a, but also its development.

Development epicanthus but reveals great geographical differentiation. Highest concentration epicanthus and occurs in the population of Central, Eastern and large parts of Northern Asia - usually over 60% in adult men: among Kazakhs it does not exceed 40%. Among the Turks there is a fairly high percentage of distribution epicanthus and among the Yakuts, Kyrgyz, Altaians, Tomsk Tatars - (60-65%), 12% - among Crimean Tatars, 13% - Astrakhan Karagash, 20-28% - Nogais, 38% - Tobolsk Tatars. epicanthus also common among the Eskimos and sometimes found among the indigenous peoples of America. Absence epicanthus but is typical for the European population as a whole. It is also not found among the indigenous populations of Australia, Melanesia, India (except for a number of Tibetan-speaking peoples in the Himalayas), and Africa.
Some anthropologists have hypothesized that Mongoloid-type facial features are a special adaptive feature for living in severe cold conditions. Connecting the origin of the Mongolian race with the continental regions of Central Asia, they indicate that the special features of the Mongolian eye (eyelid fold, epicanthus) arose as a protective device that protects the organ of vision from winds, dust and the harmful effects of reflected solar radiation in snowy areas.

However, the emergence epicanthus but could be due to other reasons. Thus, an intragroup connection between the severity of epicanthus and the flattening of the nose bridge, namely, it is shown that the higher the nose bridge, the less on average epicanthus. This connection was found in all series studied in this regard: Buryats, Kazakhs, Yakuts, coastal Chukchi, Eskimos, Kalmyks, Tuvans. However, a low nose bridge is not the only and not a sufficient condition for the occurrence of epicanthus A. Apparently epicanthus also depends on the thickness of the fat layer under the skin of the upper eyelid. epicanthus to a certain extent, it is a “fatty” fold of the upper eyelid. When studying epicanthus and among some of the Turkmens of Ashgabat, who had noticeable mild Mongoloid features (5-9% of the total population), it was found that in individuals with very strong fat deposits on the face epicanthus was noted significantly more often than in persons with weak degree fat deposits [source not specified 1208 days]. It is known that increased fat deposition on the face is characteristic of children of the Mongoloid race, who, as is known, have particularly strong development epicanthus A. Local deposition of fatty tissue in children of the Mongoloid race may have had different meaning: As an anti-freezing agent in cold winters and, less likely, as a local supply of a high-calorie nutrient. The steatopygia of the Bushmen and Hottentots is also an example of local fat deposition in a population whose physical type was formed in an arid climate.

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“Cross-eyed” is how white people unencumbered by internal culture sometimes call Asians. We will not talk here about the ethics of such statements. Everything is clear here. But with “squint” (and at the same time with narrow-eyed) Asians, let's try to figure it out.

So, there is general confidence that the distinctive physical feature of the Mongols, Japanese, Chinese, Thais and other representatives of the Mongoloid race are the so-called “slanting” eyes . However, this is just one of the most common Asian myths (along with the misconception that Asians have yellow skin). Characterizing people belonging to this race as cross-eyed is not only unethical, but also just as wrong as characterizing people of the European race as long-nosed, as, for example, the same people of the Mongoloid type believe.

The “squint” of the Mongoloids is just an optical illusion. It arises due to the fact that representatives of the Mongoloid race have a less prominent nose, while Caucasians usually mentally “link” their eyes to their nose. In Mongoloids, the nose “begins” lower, which is why it seems to us that the eyes are somewhat slanted.

Glen Doman, author of popular books on child development, writes about this: “... after all, everyone knows that the Japanese have slanted eyes. Now close your own eyes and imagine a typically Japanese face. Do you see those slanted eyes? And in fact, aren't they the most characteristic feature of Japanese faces? Yes, of course, you say, unless you are Japanese yourself. But the Japanese do not have slanted eyes, they have a straight eye shape, that is, they are not located at an angle to each other, but absolutely parallel! Why don't you experiment right now? Close your own eyes again and imagine a Japanese face. But you see slanted eyes again?”

An optical illusion also explains the idea of ​​Asians as “ narrow-eyed X". This is also a misconception. In fact, the eye socket itself is even larger in Mongoloids than in Caucasians. But representatives of the Mongoloid race have the so-called “Mongoloid fold of the upper eyelid” (epicanthus), which fills the “empty” space of the orbit. Since we are accustomed to a different ratio of the sizes of the eye and the orbit (and we are accustomed to considering its size constant), we have the illusion that the eyes of Asians are narrower than those of Caucasians.

Interestingly, Asians themselves do not perceive European eyes as wider. Nevertheless, the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans and other Mongoloids, when they first went to Europe or America, have difficulty distinguishing between Caucasians. Thus, the wife of the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi, the only ruler of China who traveled outside his country and visited Europe, writes in her memoirs how difficult it was for her to participate in official ceremonies due to the fact that it was difficult for her to distinguish faces - for example, faces of members of the royal family of England or relatives of the German emperor.

Almost Asian.

And I can’t help but mention one funny story here.

They say that in the famous film “Mimino” there was one episode cut out by censors, when the heroes of Kikabidze and Mkrtchan were riding in the same elevator with a group of Japanese in a hotel. Coming out of the elevator, one Japanese said to another:

- These Russians all look the same...

The appearance of the Chinese is easy to recognize thanks to the expressive shape of the eyes. And many curious individuals are interested in why the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire look this way and not otherwise. Other, no less curious people offer a huge number of different answers to the same question. Here are some of the most popular theories that could explain everything, regardless of what you used to believe.

If we consider people from the point of view of evolution, we can understand that their appearance changed as required by the conditions in which certain tribes lived. It so happened that Asians did not live in the most comfortable conditions, unlike residents of Europe or America. The territory of modern Mongolia and China has always had very cold winters and dry summers. During the hot season, the sun literally blinded the eyes of everyone who went outside. And the periodically rising wind threw sand straight into the eyes of all travelers risking a walk in the sun. Therefore, I had to protect my face all the time. It is believed that it was under such conditions that the body tried to adapt. An epicanthus appeared above the eye of local residents. This is the same wide fold that hides the inner corner of the eye along with the lacrimal tubercle. Beneath it lies an additional layer of fat that protects the eyes. Hiding along with the corner top part century. Because of this, the eyes appear narrower and smaller than those of Europeans, Americans and Africans. The same fold, together with the characteristic wide nose, distinguishes the modern Chinese from all their neighbors.

Since most people in modern Asia for a long time lived far from other peoples, this genetic change was fixed. That's why modern Chinese look exactly like this. But there are those who do not accept this simple explanation. Opponents of the simplest theory say that in many other corners of the globe there were the same unpleasant conditions, but the appearance of the local residents was not transformed in any way. An example is the same Arabs who lived in the desert, where the sun shines even brighter and sandstorms occur even more often. On the contrary, their eyes remained wide and their skin was light. But here everything can be justified by the fact that they defended themselves more diligently, hiding their bodies under long clothes, and traveling mostly at night, and hiding during the day.

There is one more interesting version origin of the narrow-eyed inhabitants of the East. It is believed that the appearance of the Chinese could be influenced by which women in the country were considered the most beautiful. After all, they were the ones chosen to start a family, leaving the less attractive ones alone and unclaimed. Therefore, children were born with the same eye shape and light yellowish skin. Thus, over the course of many centuries, the characteristic features of a certain nation were formed. It is surprising that many modern Chinese and Chinese women do not accept their appearance and, to some extent, “go against nature.” The same applies to narrow eyes. In the last few years, many have even undergone surgery, trying to make their facial features more “European.” This operation allows you to “open” your eyes and make them wider. Many also change the shape of their cheekbones, lips and others. distinctive features. But in essence, all this does not so much make one’s appearance better as it deprives people of their individuality.

But, according to the following theory, modern residents of the People's Republic of China should be truly proud of their origins, and characteristic features that remind him of him. For centuries, the Chinese considered themselves descendants of the dragon. They claimed that the first children of the Celestial Empire were born from a heavenly dragon and an ordinary woman. Many myths tell that fire-breathing dragons often flew to the Celestial Empire, conquered by the beauty of local young ladies. It was thanks to this union that children with an unusual appearance appeared: narrow eyes, light yellow skin and short stature. It would sound quite logical, considering how, according to Chinese myths, dragons looked like - fire-breathing creatures with narrow eyes, red scales and an almost snake-like tail.

Another funny but attractive version is that the Chinese are from another planet. There is a theory of the creation of the world, according to which people not only appeared on this planet, but were thrown here from space. This theory could explain a lot. Her fans claim that the people inhabiting the Earth are so different from each other precisely because they came here from different planets. According to this theory, the Chinese flew from some distant planet, where everyone looked like the modern inhabitants of the Celestial Empire.

Many who are familiar with the Chinese worldview would have no difficulty believing the following story. This is not an entirely real theory, but more of a parable. It is said that when the Chinese had hard times, they would go outside and look at the scorching sun, hoping to see their happy future. And then, for the rest of the day, they walked and squinted so as not to notice the poor living conditions and the problems that they had to face every day. This became a habit, and the eyes “adjusted” to this squint, narrowing slightly. It doesn't sound entirely plausible, but it's very romantic. After all, despite the fact that the Chinese are great workaholics and realists, they still have time to sometimes dream about more happy life and about the future they truly deserve.

If we recall different theories of the creation of life on earth, then we can talk about the one according to which everything was created by the hands of the Creator. And here the Chinese also have their own interesting myth. He talks about how when the Creator decided to create a planet inhabited by living beings, he decided to make them from dough. Having made different figures, the Creator put them in the oven. And then either I got distracted or simply forgot about my important work. And it turned out that all the figures were baked unevenly. Some turned out raw and white - they were sent to Europe, others - well baked and dark. These figures populated Africa. And the Mongolian and Chinese figures came out low and slightly baked. Yellow color and an interesting eye shape, according to this story, are the standard of beauty invented by the creator. After all, it was the Chinese figures that came out as originally intended. Of course, this is definitely not the most truthful theory. But it sounds interesting. And it definitely pleases the pride of the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom.

Answering a child’s question about why the Chinese have narrow eyes, one could easily brush it off: precisely because the earth is round, the grass is green, and the hare long ears. Are differences between people really that important? We are all different, nature (or, if you prefer, God) created us that way. But the human mind tries to find logic in everything, and this is quite natural.

Perhaps Chinese children attack their parents with equally challenging questions, wondering why Europeans have too white skin, Blue eyes or red hair. Let's try to explain the mysteries of genetics from the point of view of science, science fiction and folklore.

Epicanthus is a distinctive feature of the eye structure

There is a misconception that the eye size of Asians is much smaller than that of the indigenous inhabitants of other continents. In fact, the Koreans, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese are in no way inferior to the rest of humanity by this criterion. The only difference is that their eyes are often located on the face with a slight slope, that is, the inner edge is slightly lower than the outer, and upper eyelid equipped with an epicanthic fold that almost completely covers tear duct. In addition, Asians, unlike Europeans, have a dense layer of fat under the skin of the eyelids, so it seems that the area around the eyes is somewhat swollen, and the incision resembles a thin slit.

Evolutionary processes

Scientists, answering the question of why the Chinese have narrow eyes, refer to changes in the structure visual organ during evolution. You probably know what race the Chinese belong to - most Asian peoples are Mongoloids by race.

The harsh climate of the area where this arose 12,000-13,000 years ago ethnic community, affected the physical characteristics of people. Nature has taken care to protect the eyes from strong winds, sandstorms, and bright sunlight. People's vision was not affected at all by this, but the Japanese and Chinese do not need to squint, protecting their eyes from the effects of adverse natural factors.

By the way, not all Asians like the peculiar structure of their eyes. According to statistics, over the past few years, more than 100 thousand Chinese have undergone surgery in an attempt to give their faces European features. It is interesting that not only the fair sex, but also men go under the knife. To the Europeans themselves, such transformations seem strange, because the narrow eye shape is a kind of “highlight” of the Chinese, this is what attracts attention.

Descendants of the Dragon

It is known that the Chinese themselves consider themselves children of the dragon - this mythical animal is the symbol of the Celestial Empire. According to legend, one of the ancestors was a young man named Yan-di - the son of an earthly woman and a heavenly dragon. If you believe ancient legends, at the dawn of civilization, Chinese girls more than once became objects of desire for fiery, underground and flying dragons.

From these marriages, of course, children were born. Unfortunately, we don’t know what real dragons looked like. But it can be assumed that it was their genetic code that left its mark on the appearance of the modern peoples inhabiting East Asia. Perhaps it is the kinship with dragons that explains why the Chinese have narrow heights and yellow skin?

People from other planets

Despite all scientific achievements, an absolutely reliable version of the origin of humanity has not yet been developed. Some believe in the divine creation of the world, while others are closer to the Darwinian theory, which claims that our closest relatives are monkeys. The hypothesis also has a right to exist that the diversity of earthly races and nationalities is due to the fact that the Earth is a refuge for people from other planets or galaxies.

Assuming that this is indeed the case, one could understand the nature of many incomprehensible mysteries. Why do the Chinese have narrow eyes? It's simple - in the corner of the Universe where they came from, everyone is like that. It is quite possible that at different times our land was visited by giants who built pyramids in Egypt and placed stone idols on Easter Island. But you never know how many unknown secrets our planet holds! The narrow eyes of the Chinese seem like nothing in comparison.

We are all cut from the same cloth

Summing up the results of our not entirely scientific investigation, I would like to tell one very nice parable that explains the racial differences between peoples. Having decided to populate the planet with intelligent beings, the Creator fashioned figures of people from dough and put them in the oven for baking.

Either the Creator dozed off, or was distracted by other more important matters, but an unforeseen situation occurred: some of the figurines remained raw and white - this is how they turned out to be Europeans, others were burnt - it was decided to send them to Africa. And only the Mongoloids came out yellow, strong, moderately baked - exactly as it was originally intended. And the fact that someone’s eyes are not big enough or their cheekbones are too wide is not a flaw, but God’s vision of beauty.

The meaning of this beautiful legend, imbued with good humor, does not aim to emphasize the superiority of some peoples over others. Of course, we are all different, but regardless of eye shape and skin color, we have equal rights and opportunities. Each of the peoples inhabiting planet Earth is unique in its own way. External signs individuals in comparison with the moral and cultural values ​​of the ethnic group have no meaning.