The West as the other : a genealogy of Chinese Occidentalism /

Wang, Mingming, 1962-

The West as the other : a genealogy of Chinese Occidentalism / by Mingming Wang. - Hong Kong [China] : Chinese University Press, (c)2014. - 1 online resource (xv, 381 pages) : illustrations, maps

Includes bibliographies and index.

List of figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Notes on transliteration and bibliography -- Introduction : rethinking "the West" -- King Mu (Mu Tianzi) and the journey to the West -- "illusionary" and "realistic" geographies -- Easternizing the West, Westernizing the East -- Chaos and the West -- "Western Territories" (Xiyu), India, and "South Sea" (Nanhai) -- Beyond the seas : other kingdoms and other materials -- Islands, intermediaries, and "Europeanization" -- Conclusion : towards other perspectives of the other -- Postscript -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.

Long before the Europeans reached the east, the ancient Chinese had advanced their perspectives of the west. In this groundbreaking book, Wang explores a fascinating perspective of the Other. He locates the Other in the alternating directionologies of classical and imperial China, leading the reader into a long history of Chinese geo-cosmologies and world-scapes. In his analysis, Wang also delves into the historical records of Chinese "world activities," or the journeys from being the Central Kingdom to reaching to the "outer regions," separating the construction of illusory from realistic geographies while drawing attention to their interconnected natures. Wang challenges an extensive number of critical studies of Orientalist narratives (chiefly including Edward Said's Orientalism), and reframes such studies from the directionological perspectives of an "Oriental" civilization. He challenges the assumption that the Other must be understood in the sense that has been explained in general anthropology, crucially underlining the European foundations that have shaped its traditional interpretations.



9789629968748 9629968746


Intercultural communication--China.
East and West--History.


Electronic Books.

CB251 / .W478 2014