A Century of Travels in China

A Century of Travels in China
Title A Century of Travels in China PDF eBook
Author Douglas Kerr
Publisher Hong Kong University Press
Pages 255
Release 2007-05-01
Genre Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN 9622098452

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Writings of travelers have shaped ideas about an evolving China, while preconceived ideas about China also shaped the way they saw the country. A Century of Travels in China explores the impressions of these writers on various themes, from Chinese cities and landscapes to the work of Europeans abroad. From the time of the first Opium War to the declaration of the People's Republic, China's history has been one of extraordinary change and stubborn continuities. At the same time, the country has beguiled, scared and puzzled people in the West. The Victorian public admired and imitated Chinese fashions, in furniture and design, gardens and clothing, while maintaining a generally negative idea of the Chinese empire as pagan, backward and cruel. In the first half of the twentieth century, the fascination continued. Most foreigners were aware that revolutionary changes were taking place in Chinese politics and society, yet most still knew very little about the country. But what about those few people from the English-speaking world who had first-hand experience of the place? What did they have to say about the "real" China? To answer this question, we have to turn to the travel accounts and memoirs of people who went to see for themselves, during China's most traumatic century. While this book represents the work of expert scholars, it is also accessible to non-specialists with an interest in travel writing and China, and care has been taken to explain the critical terms and ideas deployed in the essays from recent scholarship of the travel genre.

China Abroad

China Abroad
Title China Abroad PDF eBook
Author Elaine Yee Lin Ho
Publisher Hong Kong University Press
Pages 306
Release 2009-01-01
Genre Literary Collections
ISBN 9622099459

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The book seeks to address how movements across cultures shape the different ways in which China and Chineseness have been imagined and represented since the beginning of the last century. In so doing, it aims to offer an overview of the debate about Chineseness as it has emerged in different global locations.

Asian Crossings

Asian Crossings
Title Asian Crossings PDF eBook
Author Steve Clark
Publisher Hong Kong University Press
Pages 289
Release 2008-07-01
Genre Literary Criticism
ISBN 9622099149

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The fourteen chapters in this book examine various topics and contexts of travel writings on China, Japan and Southeast Asia. From the first Colombian on a trade mission to China, to French women travellers in Asia, and the opening of "Japan Fairs" in the US during the latter half of the nineteenth century, this book offers a kaleidoscopic glimpse of the various cultures in the eyes of their beholders coupled with insightful understanding of the various politics and relationships that are involved. While this book will appeal to expert scholars and students of travel literature and Asian studies, as well as those working on cultural studies, general readers will also find it an interesting and accessible addition to their collections.

Travels in China

Travels in China
Title Travels in China PDF eBook
Author John Barrow
Publisher
Pages 672
Release 1804
Genre British
ISBN

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Wealth and Power

Wealth and Power
Title Wealth and Power PDF eBook
Author Orville Schell
Publisher
Pages 497
Release 2013
Genre China
ISBN 0679643478

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Two leading experts on China evaluate its rise throughout the past one hundred fifty years, sharing portraits of key intellectual and political leaders to explain how China transformed from a country under foreign assault to a world giant.

Wilson's China

Wilson's China
Title Wilson's China PDF eBook
Author Mark Flanagan
Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Pages 256
Release 2009
Genre Science
ISBN 9781842463949

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Ernest Wilson was the foremost plant collector of his generation, responsible for introducing over 1,000 species to our gardens in the West. The authors of this book reveal Wilson’s adventures through excerpts from his own writing as well as describing their own experiences tracing his journeys in the wilds of China today. Wilson’s legacy includes glass plate photographs taken in Sichuan at the beginning of the 20th century depicting landscapes, villages, river scenes, people and plants, veteran and exceptional trees. Armed with copies of these images and with the help of Chinese guides and local knowledge, the authors retraced Wilson’s footsteps, taking photographs themselves. The result, a splendid series of ‘then and now’ images, is a key feature of this informative homage to a great plant hunter. Further photographs provide a fascinating insight into the changes and continuities in China over a hundred year period, and offer a captivating glimpse of people and places in the remote province of Sichuan.

Marco Polo's Journey to China. 2nd Edition

Marco Polo's Journey to China. 2nd Edition
Title Marco Polo's Journey to China. 2nd Edition PDF eBook
Author Diana Childress
Publisher Twenty-First Century Books
Pages 136
Release 2013-01-01
Genre Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN 1467703796

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Can one book really change the world? A handwritten manuscript by Marco Polo in 1288 did. Polo, son of a wealthy Italian merchant, wrote about his incredible experiences traveling to China with his father and uncle on a trade expedition, and also about his adventures as an envoy of Kublai Khan, the ruler of most of China. Polo’s book became a bestseller in Europe in the fourteenth century. It was copied over and over by hand, translated into fourteen languages, and became one of the first books to be printed after the invention of moveable type. The tales inspired others—including Christopher Columbus in the fifteenth century—to seek new sea routes for trade. Polo’s adventures—and manuscript—are one of world history’s most pivotal moments.