The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds

Unmarked. Slight remainder mark on edge. Unclipped dust jacket. 279p. Deckle edge. Measures 6.5x9.5 inches. Explores the West's views of China over the course of seven centuries, from Marco Polo's depiction to that of Franz Kafka.

From Publisher:

China has transfixed the West since the earliest contacts between these civilizations. Now Jonathan Spence, our foremost historian of Chinese politics and culture, tells us, in his elegant new book, how the West has understood China over seven centuries. Ranging from Marco Polo's own depiction of China and the mighty Kublai in the 1270s to the China sightings of three twentieth-century writers of acknowledged genius -- Kafka, Borges, and Calvino -- Spence explores Western thought on China through a remarkable array of expression. Peopling Spence's account are Iberian adventurers, Jesuit missionaries, Enlightenment synthesizers, spinners of the dreamy cult of Chinoiserie, American observers such as Bret Harte and Mark Twain, and diplomats from Lord Macartney to Henry Kissinger. Their visions, alternately coarse and subtle, generous and vicious, outline the West's image as readily as they do China's.

China has commanded the attention of the West for seven centuries, and here Spence once again compels our attention with his new history of China's presence in Western minds.

Product Info

ISBN: 0393027473

ISBN-13: 9780393027471

Publisher: Norton

Year: 1998

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

First Edition

Seller Info

DiatropeBooks

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Country: United States