The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800 (Critical Issues in History) - Hardcover

Mungello, D. E.

3.27

44 ratings by Goodreads

9780847694396: The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800 (Critical Issues in History)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0847694399 ISBN 13: 9780847694396

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999

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For too long, the history of contact between China and the West has been portrayed as a one-sided encounter: Europeans were said to have "discovered" China, while Chinese responses to the West went largely unnoticed. In this volume, D.E. Mungello dispels the myth that China was a silent partner in the dialogue between Eastern and Western civilizations. Although they did not reciprocate in sending ships, cultural emissaries or religious missionaries westward, neither did the Chinese passively accept Europe's enthusiastic embrace of their culture, arts and manufactures. Aspects of Western art, language, science and religion made significant inroads into Chinese culture, which are only just coming to the attention of Western historians. At a time when the West is once again setting its sights on strengthening ties with China, Mungello's text seeks to offer crucial historical perspective. It reminds us that the political and economic dominance of the West is actually characteristic of only the past two centuries, prior to which it was China that led the world in terms of economic and political development, and in the sophistication of its high culture and technological achievement.

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Review:

Ingenious textbook . . . stepping back into the period 1500-1800 must represent the wave of the future, and it is good to see such a thought-provoking example of the practice here already.--T. H. Barrett, University of London "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) "

About the Author:

D.E. Mungello is professor of history and director of Asian Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

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