The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800

by David E. Mungello

For the Chinese, the drive toward growing political and economic power is part of an ongoing effort to restore China's past greatness and remove the lingering memories of history's humiliations. This widely praised book explores the 1500–1800 period before China's decline, when the country was viewed as a leading world culture and power. Europe, by contrast, was in the early stages of emerging from provincial to international status while the United States was still an uncharted wilderness. D. E. Mungello argues that this earlier era, ironically, may contain more relevance for today than the more recent past. This fully revised fourth edition retains the clear and concise quality of its predecessors, while drawing on a wealth of new research on Sino-Western history and the increasing contributions of Chinese historians. Building on the author's decades of research and teaching, this compelling book illustrates the vital importance of history to readers trying to understand China’s renewed rise

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction

190 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1999

Reviews

[Robert Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, with an interesting dialectical structure. Particularly valuable for understanding the reception of Christianity in China during this important period of history.

[Chase Pheifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction of the West and China b/w 1500-1800

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two parts of this book look at China’s acceptance and then rejection of the West. Mungello uses “the West” here to describe Europe and cites how in China this was frequently how Europe was referred to. While giving a good overview of the events and conflicts between the two cultures I have a few small criticisms about this part of the book. Firstly he focuses nearly all his attention on China’s acceptance or rejection of Christianity. He interprets the view as almost entirely the relationship between China and Christianity, rather than attempting to take a balanced look between merchants and missionaries. This leads to a rather distorted view, and ignores the conflicts between the two groups, for instance the role the Jesuits had in halting the expansion of trade by the Dutch at the beginning of the Qing. (There is however a small but interesting section looking at the influence of European style painting). The other criticism for this first half is that in his look at why the Chinese rejected the west, (or more precisely Christianity) he cites two different theories by 20th century European sinologists and does not refer to any Chinese sources. Surely if looking for the Chinese position it would be necessary to consult Chinese scholarship on the matter. Another point that came about with the discussion of painting was the lack of mention of India or the Muslim world as existing. Granted the book is looking at China and “the west” however, I think looking at these in isolation, and ignoring the cultural exchange between the different parties is a rather large oversight. The Arab world was having a huge influence on the Renaissance at this time, and it had also been trading with China for centuries. Particularly in art it can not be assumed that there were two ways of doing things. After citing the example of a few artists that used variations on what could be a European sense of perspective, and discussion of some portraits Mungello concludes that the influence on Chinese art was, “limited but significant” (68) as it was a few artists over many centuries and had not influence on techniques in general I’m not sure this warrants the term “significant” to me this is more of a curiosity. As books about art and art techniques, were so common, was there many were European techniques were discussed? (I think this is probably a question for John Cahill the art historian). The next two chapters look at the acceptance and then rejection of China by Europe. He focuses on the acceptance of Confucianism as a moral philosophy by Jesuits and Leibniz, as well as looking at the increased fashion of Chinoisire. He continues to look at the importance of Chinese philosophy in the Renaissance, but there seems to be no clear rejection in the chapter dealing with rejection. Instead it is not till the conclusion where he talks about how in the post 1800 world China is viewed as a barbaric and uncivilised place. Still this book gave a very good overview of the main themes, people and conflict that took place between European thinkers, missionaries and the Chinese elite. The scope was narrower than claimed but it was interesting and a good overview. I think it would have benefitted from reading of more primary historical sources, particularly Chinese sources, and have been longer and encompassed more social and economic history. But for what it was it was informative and interesting.

[Cheryl Gatling]

Much has been written about the stormy history of China and the West, but mostly about later events such as the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion. This book treats an earlier period, where attitudes of the attitudes of both sides were more fluid and mixed. Here are some of the things that happened in that period.

The Jesuits went to China to convert the Chinese to Christianity. The Jesuits, being the educated elite of clergy, concentrated on influencing the educated elite of China, the literati, who were mostly Confucian. The Jesuits impressed with their knowledge of science and technology, and also with perspective in art. The Jesuits tried to be accommodating to Chinese culture. The emphasized the similarities between Christianity and Confucianism. Chinese ancestor worship was a sticking point. Some Europeans argued that it wasn't really worship, just honor, but it was a source of controversy.

Other missionaries to China, such as Franciscans, focused on the poorer people, who were Buddhist or Daoist. They had some success winning converts as the Chinese had a tradition of secret societies, often revolutionary, and Christianity seemed like just another secret society. The problem with that is that it was also viewed as dangerous by the literati.

On the whole, conversions were slow. Among the literati, people converted one, two, or three at a time, so we know their names, and their histories, and often we have their pictures. These stories are fascinating, and sometimes tragic, as converts found themselves suspended between two worlds that they didn't fully belong to.

One of the issues between the Christians and the Chinese was concubinage. The missionaries wanted converts to put away their concubines, which meant putting a woman out of the home she may have lived in for years, which didn't strike the Chinese as consistent with the Christians' message of love. Another issue is that the Christians expected to preach to women as well as men, and to hear their confessions, which the Chinese believed was indecent, and there was a great fear of priests having sex with Chinese women. Another issue was the killing of female infants, which wasn't officially sanctioned, but was done anyway. There were too many to save, but the Christians at least tried to baptize all the dying babies they could find.

Back in Europe, people were at first fascinated by China. They admired their riches and the antiquity of their culture. (The Chinese culture was so old that it predated the beginning of time, as calculated by the events of the Bible, which led European church people to go back and calculate it again, so that they wouldn't have that discrepancy.) Confucianism was seen as a rational way to order society. The philosophes of France especially viewed it as an alternative to organized religion. People thought the Chinese language might contain a key to the universal proto-language.

Then public opinion changed. Europeans saw the Chinese are "the yellow menace," barbaric, backward, and hidebound by tradition. The Chinese still felt themselves superior, the great empire, who needed nothing from the outside except tribute. But the economic, political, and military might of Europe was on the increase, and that of China was on the wane. And that's where this book ends, setting the stage for the next chapter of the great encounter.

[Mike Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I assigned this to students in the first half of my World History since 1500 course. It provided students with an opportunity to recalibrate their perspectives on China and the West, especially since Mungello explicitly makes the point at the beginning of the book that his intention is to provide historical context as China regains parity with the West during the 21st century. Since it required students to understand what was happening on either side of the Eurasian landmass during the three centuries covered in the book, it suited my purpose of getting to read beyond the textbook in a subject that spans a broad regional and chronological range. As reading for students enrolled in a survey course, it's challenging but not excessively so - an asset, since it's important for students to stretch their abilities and expectations without overwhelming them. I particularly appreciate how Mungello manages to integrate some discussion of historiographical debates in an unobtrusive way that's accessible to non-majors.

[Chrism485 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative but it lacked focus in some areas.