The Sextants of Beijing – Global Currents in Chinese History - Hardcover

Waley–cohen, Joanna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393046931 ISBN 13: 9780393046939

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999

Synopsis

The myth that Chinese civilization is monolithic, unchanging and perenially cut off from the rest of the world has long obscured China's diverse and dynamic history. Drawing on research, the author provides an accessible account of China's fertile relations with other Asian cultures and the West from the days of the Silk Road to the present. The author argues that well before the arrival of Europeans in East Asia, China was integrated into a wide-ranging network of commercial, intellectual, religious and cultural contacts. Among the most influential features of this traffic was the spread of Buddhism from India to China. Later, Catholic missionaries would interpret the Chinese resistance to their religion as evidence of an arrogant complancency, just as Western emissaries would interpret China's objections to trade on Western terms. The author argues that throughout history, in trade, religion, ideology or technology, China has interacted with the rest of the world, so long as the rules of engagement were not externally imposed. She shows the reader a cosmopolitan China, a civilization actively engaged with other cultures and societies.

About this title

Review:

"For such morsels as [this book]...we should be truly thankful." -- T.H. Barrett, The Independent

"If there is one lesson to be learnt from [The Sextants of Beijing], it is that the sooner we understand the true essence of China, ignoring the misrepresentations and misinterpretations of history, the better it will be for all concerned." -- The Sunday Times

About the Author:

Joanna Waley-Cohen is professor of history at New York University.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0393046931
• ISBN 13: 9780393046939
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 334