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

Mungello, D. E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442219769 ISBN 13: 9781442219762

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

For the Chinese, the drive toward growing political and economic power is part of an ongoing effort to restore China's past greatness and remove the lingering memories of history's humiliations. This widely praised book explores the 1500-1800 period before China's decline, when the country was viewed as a leading world culture and power. Europe, by contrast, was in the early stages of emerging from provincial to international status while the United States was still an uncharted wilderness. D. E. Mungello argues that this earlier era, ironically, may contain more relevance for today than the more recent past. This fully revised fourth edition retains the clear and concise quality of its predecessors, while drawing on a wealth of new research on Sino-Western history and the increasing contributions of Chinese historians. Building on the author's decades of research and teaching, this compelling book illustrates the vital importance of history to readers trying to understand China's renewed rise.

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Review

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS I was impressed with the author's erudition and facile writing. The book is scholarly, clear and interesting a marvelous achievement that makes it ideal for my students.--Anthony P. DiPerna, Molloy College

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS Mungello's book presents a lucid, concise, and absorbing account of the first great intellectual encounter between China and Europe, which is both fully accessible to the general reader and challenging to specialists. Not only is it the best available synthetic treatment of this large and important subject, but it also covers facets of the great encounter that are often neglected, such as the aesthetic.--John Henderson, Louisiana State University

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS In this admirable introduction to the great period of China's interactions with the West, D. E. Mungello condenses a lifetime of study into a concise and accessible form. Especially valuable are his analyses of mutual artisticinfluences, of theories of language and race, and of the internal rivalries that split both Chinese intellectuals and the Catholic Church....--Jonathan Spence, Yale University

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS Mungello, one of the world's leading authorities on early modern Sino-Western cultural relations, draws on his own lifelong research and mature interpretive views as well as the work of other scholars to provide us with a concise but rich analysis.--Daniel H. Bays, University of Kansas

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS I am impressed with the depth of the scholarship which informs the descriptions, generalizations, and judgments presented so lucidly in the text. While its subject matter is serious and sometimes complex, it is clearly written in an engaging style and is easily understandable.--Edwin Van Kley, Calvin College

PRAISE FOR EARLIER EDITIONS No one is more qualified to deal with the Encounter of China and the West from 1500 to 1800 than D. E. Mungello, who has devoted a lifetime to its study and indeed has long since established himself as the prime leader in Sino-Western studies in America.--Wm. Theodore de Bary, Columbia University

About the Author

D. E. Mungello is professor of history at Baylor University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1442219769
• ISBN 13: 9781442219762
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 192