Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800 - Hardcover

Mungello, D. E.

3.28

43 ratings by Goodreads

9780847694396: Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500-1800

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0847694399 ISBN 13: 9780847694396

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999

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For too long, the history of contract 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.

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About the Author:

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

Review:

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)

No one is more qualified to deal with the Encounter of China and the West 1500-1800 than David 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)

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)

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 artistic influences, of theories of language and race, and of the internal rivalries that split both Chinese intellectuals and the Catholic Church. (Jonathan Spence, Yale University)

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)

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)

Mungello's work provides a welcome addition to the literature on the early period of the Sino-Western encounter. . . . Mungello combines admirable concision with astute insights into the complexities of class, culture, and religion, both within China and among the Westerners vying for trade, influence, and souls there. (C. A. Desnoyers CHOICE)

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))

Mungello has written an excellent summary on Chinese-Western relations (1500-1800). An essential book for historical, theological, and mission libraries, graduate and undergraduate students. (Robert E. Carbonneau, C. P The Catholic Historical Review)

The brevity of Mungello's book might suggest that it was meant only for freshmen-level surveys of world history or Chinese and/or Western history; however, this book, with its wealth of information and insight, can well serve upper-level students embarking on a more in-depth study of the problem of Sino-Western cultural interaction and interpretation, and general readers who seek to enhance their understanding of China and the profound misunderstandings that have so frequently characterized Sino-Western encounter in the past. . . . This [study] is the product of considerable erudition as well as interpretive sensitivity. (China Review International)

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