This book, first published in 1928, examines the first diplomatic contacts between China and the West. China had not always been isolated from the Western world, as travellers had visited China in the Middle Ages, but it was not until the end of the eighteenth century that efforts were first made to establish regular relations with China. This book traces the development of diplomatic relations from the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 to the start of the twentieth century.

In this volume containing fifteen papers on Sino-German relations since 1800, B. David Honey, R. G. Tiedemann and Timothy M. K. Wong examine German missionary work in China as well as Hong Kong. Papers dealing with German colonial administration in China pay attention to the German interaction with locals and other Europeans. Klaus Mühlhahn, for example, reveals that the German governance of the Chinese Qingdao was not a single track action. Winfried Speitkamp studies how Germans preserved their national identity in the British dominated Hong Kong. On German economic activities, Ricardo K. S. Mak examines the relationship between German politics and the German businessmen in nineteenth century Hong Kong. On mutual perceptions, Thomas Fuchs surveys the changing images of China in German literature. Laurent Pfister studies the case of Ernest Faber's «Sinological Orientalism» to reveal how Europeans created images of China which reflected perhaps more of their own frame of mind than the Chinese reality. On philosophical and linguistic interactions Chiu-yee Cheung examines the two different «faces» of Nietzsche in China. Paul Levine suggests possible influence of Buddhism and Daoism on Nietzsche's views on language and translation. Werner Hess shares with us his analysis supported with first-hand observations of the German language in Chinese mainland. Regarding the influence of German political thought, Yik-yi Chu studies Marxism in China; Youwei Xu and Danny Paau both explore the impact of German Fascism on the Chinese. Qichang Pan reviews PRC-Germany diplomatic relations and expresses optimism in continuous friendly relations between the two countries. With the wide span of training, background and places of origin spacing out from East to West, together the scholars present a multi-disciplinary exploration of Sino-German relations in the past two centuries.