Read more
Encountering China addresses the responses of early modern travelers to China who, awed by the wealth and sophistication of the society they encountered, attempted primarily to build bridges, to explore similarities, and to emulate the Chinese, though they were also critical of some local traditions and practices.
List of contents
Contents
Introduction
by Rachana Sachdev
Part 1
European Responses to Child Abandonment, Sale of Children and Social Welfare Policies in Ming China
by Rachana Sachdev
Of Golden Lilies and Gentlewomen: Constructions of Chinese Women in Early Modern European Travel Narratives
by Qingjun Li
Part 2
Earlier Moderns: The Novel Form as National Development in China and Europe
By Daniel Dooghan
"A Strong Resemblance": Samuel Richardson, Chinese Talent-Beauty Novels, and a Secret Origin of "World Literature"
By Ning Ma
Part 3
"'Magicians, Enchanters, and Professional Crooks': Early Modern Understandings of Daoism"
By Ronnie Littlejohn
Buddhism and Idolatry
By Terry Logan Mazurak
Bibliography
Index
About the Contributors
About the author
Rachana Sachdev is associate professor of English and coordinator of Asian Studies at Susquehanna University. She has published several articles on early modern gynecological discourses, and her current research focuses on representations of infanticide and the position of children in Asia in early modern European travel writing. She is co-editing, with Todd Myers, Teaching Southeast Asia: Culture as a Medium for Meaning Across the Disciplines.
Qingjun Li is assistant professor of Asian Studies and Chinese Language at Belmont University, Tennessee and also associate professor of English at Zhengzhou University, P.R. China, where she has been twice recognized as the Teacher of Excellence. She is author of three books and numerous articles. Her research interests are in Chinese American Literature, Women's Literature, and Comparative Literature.
